Jacob Reese thinks that as he settles into his new place and newly purchased coffee shop in Vermont that he is on the road to leaving his past behind. When things start happening to let him know that his past is right there with him, this story takes a twisty dark turn. Best psychological thriller of 2019 and will be keeping readers up all winter.

Mysterious, atmospheric and twisty.

This novel is very well written, I particularly enjoyed the way the author presents 'the Hollows', it is almost a character in its own right and adds to the creepy, tense atmosphere.

The main character Jacob is seemingly good ones leading a normal life until his past comes back to haunt him! Frech expertly weaves the past and the present together through a series of authentic flashbacks. The mystery and the tension is built up throughout with plenty of twists and turns to keep you entertained.

The ending is ambiguous but it makes you think and poses a few questions - does the punishment fit the crime?

Overall this is a fun, fast-paced read with vivid imagery and the perfect level of creepiness.

Thanks to HQ Stories and Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

The protagonist in this novel is Jacob, and the novel is told from his perspective. I really liked Jacob as a character, he is very intelligent and I was able to learn a few tips and tricks from him. 😉 This character is quite complex and very well developed. His past is very dark and intriguing, and I was waiting for the parts, where Jacob shared his youth days very impatiently. 🙂

This novel had me hooked from the first chapter. The narrative is very well planned out, when it seems that everything calms down and Jacob’s life just plods along, the author always threw in some kind of twist or a turn to “wake” the reader up. 🙂 The plot keeps time travelling between the past and the present, and I loved the way Jacob’s secrets unravelled.

The setting of this book was well set up, small town and forests gave this book a mysterious and eerie atmosphere. I liked the writing style of this novel as well, the author knows how to keep the reader interested and absorbed. The culmination was a little predictable, but I liked the events leading to it. The ending on the other hand kind of annoyed me, I am not a big fan of cliff hangers, and it annoys me not to know what actually happened next. :/ The chapters were quite long, but they were divided into smaller parts, so it didn’t feel boring or long to me.

So, to conclude, it is a very well written psychological thriller, filled with dreadful secrets, complicated protagonist, and choices that can change one’s life forever. I really enjoyed this book, and I strongly recommend this novel to everyone.

Dark Hollows is a novel full of suspense and mystery, which I devoured over a couple of days. It sets out and maintains a steady pace throughout but keeps you hooked.

We delve in to the past and present of our main character, Jacob. Learning about a previous relationship and his journey to where he runs a successful coffee shop and has a content life with his dog. Both of which are very much part of the story.

There is so much tension between the pages, and you instinctively try to determine what is happening. There are a few eventful moments which has you questioning everything. What is happening, why are all these oddities occurring?

The chapters are long but the book is over 350 pages, so be prepared for some lengthy 'Just one more chapter' moments.

This book held my attention and I was rooting for Jacob from the first few pages. My only disappointment was the ending, I wish we had known Jacob's final decision.

An excellent thriller from Steve Frech.

Jacob Reese lives in the quaint small town of The Hollows. Halloween is the their speciality, from the parade to the business owner's costume contest. Jacob is the owner of Groundworks, the local coffee shop, as well as the owner of a small cottage hosting guests looking for something different. He and his beloved dressing, Murphy, live a life that looks good on paper.

Inside, Jacob is tortured by his past and soon, that past comes back to haunt him. A woman who looks like his dead ex-girlfriend stays one night in the cottage and everything starts to unravel.

This was a very fast read, it was hard to put down. My eyes would burning from not blinking because I just couldn't stop reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Jacob Reece is living the quiet , but good life. Owner of an up market coffee shop in the small town of Dark Hollows, he also rents out his up market cottage to well to do people, the money is rolling in and he’s happy, BUT Jacob has a secret...

When Jacob lets his guard slip, and lets an un-vetted resident stay at his cottage, he suddenly opens a Pandora’s box. The reason he lets this guest stay is because she is the spitting image of dead girlfriend Laura. But it’s not Laura? Is it? No it can’t be because Jacob knows where Laura is, he knows what happened on the night of her death. When the resident checks out she leaves a message for Jacob....

Panic sets in, and problems begins to befall Jacob as he desperately tries to get to the bottom of the mysterious resident,

I found myself really motor through this one, it’s a very decent thriller, with plenty of twists and a very decently crafted tale, with an ending that will make you think and ask some questions.

The characters themselves weren’t overly easy to take to, but Murph the dog saved the day.

Dark, a little bit brooding with an atmospheric feel. It’s a good read and I would recommend it to fans of the physiological thrillers.

3.5 🔥🔥🔥

To an outside observer Jacob appears to have it all. A man who is liked by all with a successful business and with both feet firmly placed in the community - what could possibly be wrong with his life? As if that wasn't enough to cement the impression of a person in control of his life and happiness there is also his delightfully droll dog Murphy.

The truth is Jacob does have a secret - the kind of secret he can't afford to let surface. It would destroy the life he has built for himself. But it seems as if someone else knows about his secret and are intent on destroying his life bit by bit.

Laura is back, which is a bit of a conundrum because Jacob is pretty sure she is dead. Very sure actually, which begs the question - who is trying to convince him that she is very much alive and well?

It's interesting how Frech doesn't really take the most obvious path of Jacob being the guilty party and deserving of some kind of punishment. Instead the mystery and tension is built around the Jacob of now, as opposed to the Jacob of then.

It's a psychological thriller that plays with the question of guilt. Does the punishment fit the crime? Is the destruction of his life and those he cares for really the right way to punish him? It's a cat and mouse game and I'm not sure there is a clear victor at the end, which is probably the most satisfying way to end the story.

This was one of the best thrillers I've read this year. It was easy to feel sympathy for Jacob at times, and at other times, well, you knew he may have been just having to suffer the consequences and feel little to no pity. But I tell you what, Murphy the dog is 200% my favorite character. I would say Jacob's torment is easily identifiable as a fellow human and the ending was perfect, I liked that it was ambiguous and I loved the drama and intensity of it all.

Full review to come tomorrow, thanks Netgally and HQ for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the blog tour

I found Dark Hollows while scrolling through Twitter. The name was the first thing to jump out of me, I’m a huge fan of books that have “dark” and “hollows”, it’s the recipe for a great read. Since it was a NetGalley retweet that had featured this title, I jumped over to see if I could snag it for myself, and I rejoiced when I was approved to read the title.

From the beginning, I was in love. Set in a Vermont small town in October with detailed descriptions of an east coast autumn, small town main street, and a bustling coffee shop, it wasn’t long before I was craving a cup of joe and the cozy firepit mentioned early on in the story. Mysteries abound in this tale of a past that has caught up with the future, taunting and threatening to expose horrible truths. A classic battle of conscience, where the truth will set you free, sort of. Murders and kidnappings, sabotage and car crashes, this page-turning thriller has everything to keep you entertained to the very last word.

This story flows effortlessly, the transitions between the past and present are innovative and add life to the page. Steve’s writing is like a familiar friend, it’s comfortable in its skin, it’s your favorite sweatshirt, perfectly broken in. He masterfully crafts suspense in a way that is not easy in written form. I couldn’t read it fast enough but was upset when it ended so quickly.

What I found especially fun was being able to interact with Steve via Twitter while reading. I enjoy following the authors I read, and am thrilled when they follow back, even more so when they interact with my posts as I always want to discuss the book I am currently reading. I am thankful to have found a community on Twitter where I can share what I’m thinking and sometimes receive feedback and commentary. Reading and reviewing becomes so much more fun when you can build a relationship with readers and writers.

Oh what a lovely way to lose an afternoon, curled up in new pjs and slippers warm cup of sugary tea and a gripping book.
There was so much I loved about this book, the descriptive setting of The Hollows in Vermont sounded so beautiful and idyllic I would move there if it wasn't for the cold winters. Also the Halloween timing was perfect especially with the creepiness starting to surround Jacob. I will never again sit in a booth at a coffee shop and I'm glad I drink tea. Still shuddering after that scene.
Jacob was a great protagonist trying to turn a new leaf and escape from his past. But the character who stole my heart was his dog Murphy (and that's coming from someone who is more than a bit a crazy cat lady). The author had me worried for Murphy about three quarters of the way through and I was shocked to discover I cared more about the dog than Jacob, sorry Jacob!
There's snippets of the past dotted throughout the book, induced by either a nightmare or a memory and the author cleverly slots them in with the use of a double word so you soon realise the timeline has changed. I hadn't seen this before in a book and it worked really well. Word of warning your past always catches up to you so be good.
I loved the inclusion of religious undertones and this added to the creep factor alongside the local hanging tree and seeing Laura who he knows to be dead. Or is she?
The plot is gripping as you follow alongside Jacob to work out who is behind the goings on, very Scooby Doo. The pace gets so fast it's almost feels like an action thriller. You do find out who is behind it all but I still think the ending may divide opinion. Not for me though as I love an ambiguous end.
If you like a good creepy mystery with lots of action and charismatic characters then I would highly recommend you give this a read.

I read the synopsis for 'Dark Hollows' and I was immediately intrigued by what I read. It made the book sound like just my kind of read- a psychological thriller with a twist or two. I grabbed a cup of tea, found my comfy spot on the couch and started to read. Now having just finished reading 'Dark Hollows', all I can say is 'wowzers what a read that was'. I absolutely LOVED this book even if it did freak me out at times, but more about that in a bit.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of Jacob Reese at first and after having read the book, I still don't really know what to make of him. When we meet him in the present day, he seems an ok type of person. He is a businessman and he currently owns a couple of businesses which are doing fairly well. It soon becomes apparent that appearances can be deceptive and it emerges that he is trying to forget something that happened in his past. Jacob carries a lot of guilt around with him. He doesn't seem to be particularly close to anybody nor does he have a great deal of friends. He seems to keep people at a distance but I wasn't quite sure to start with whether or not that was intentional. Jacob is freaked out by something that happens when somebody stays in his cottage. Suddenly all his guilt comes crashing down on him and he is convinced that somebody is out to get him. He keeps seeing his former girlfriend but he knows that is impossible because she is dead.....or is she? Little things keep happening which put Jacob even more on edge and I wasn't sure just how much one man could take. Is his former girlfriend really dead? Who is tormenting Jacob and why? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It didn't take me long at all to get into this book. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first dozen pages or so, I knew that this was one book that I would have to binge read over the space of a couple of days and I wasn't wrong either. I couldn't bear to be parted from the book for any length of time and if I did have to put the book to one side then I would immediately look forward to being able to pick the book up again. I made the fatal mistake of beginning to read this book just before I went to bed. Let's just say that I read into the wee small hours and I had to force myself to put the light off and get some sleep. Even whilst I was trying to sleep I was thinking about the book and the book made me feel incredibly on edge, so I was jumping at every little sound that I heard. The pages turned increasingly quickly the closer I got to the end of the story. I ended up finishing the book far quicker than I had intended or expected. I had been enjoying the book so much that I just didn't want it to end.
'Dark Hollows' is superbly written. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and much like an angler reeling in a catch, Steve reels the reader in. The author has a writing style that is easy to take to and easy to get along with. The story narrates things as they happen in the present day but Jacob daydreams and he has flashbacks to what happened in his past. I did think that this might be a bit confusing but the way in which the author has written it really works. The author certainly knows how to create a tense and dramatic atmosphere and as I mentioned above, I did find myself being so creeped out at times that I found myself jumping at every single noise I heard. The author uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I did feel as though I was part of the story myself.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Dark Hollows'. 'Dark Hollows' really is the definition of an unputdownable pageturner of a read. I will definitely be reading more of Steve's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board just has to be 5* out of 5*.

Thoughts:
I was really hoping to love this book, but now that I’ve finished reading it I think this may be more of a “It’s not you, it’s me” type of situation. When I first saw this book on Netgalley, my immediate sense was that it was going to be a gothic, creepy, even perhaps ghostly story. However, upon reading, I found it was more of a psychological thriller about a man who’s past comes back to haunt him. As I read the story and found that it wasn’t quite what I had originally thought, I also ran into a few parts in the book that stuck out a bit and I couldn’t never find my way back into the ‘loving it’ category. So, it really is a case of “It’s me, not you.”

Jacob is a man who runs a coffee house and rents out an guest house room on his property in the idyllic town of The Hollows. Fall is the prime season for tourists and one such tourist comes to stay at Jacob’s guest house. However, the woman leaves quite an impression on Jacob as she leaves a message that terrifies him. At the same time, Jacob’s coffee house is taking off and he is looking to expand and talking to investors.

What I liked:

- Murphy – Jacob’s dog. Pets are such a welcome addition in any book for me. In this story, the author does a good job of bringing out Murphy’s cuteness and playfulness as part of the story. Many authors might mention the pet in passing, or as part of an chore, such as feeding him, but in this case we are shown more of the true nature of man/woman’s best friend. Early on, there is a moment where Murphy clearly wants to continue playing and the author captures Murphy’s internal thought process so well that it made me smile because I know I’ve seen it this internal conversation in my own pet’s eyes.

- The town and coffee house were a nice touch. The town is quaint and you can get that overall sense of fall in the air. How the times at the coffee house were blended into the main story was nicely done too. Plus, it gets used as part of the main story in quite an unusual manner that I won’t soon be forgetting during a meeting between two individuals.

- Loved the cover. So serene yet so dark.

What didn’t work:

- Mostly what didn’t work for me was Jacob’s extreme initial reaction to the message left by the guest as well as the next guests observation. While at that point in the narrative you don’t yet know the whole story all I was thinking was how clear it was that he was being messed with in some way. There just didn’t appear to me to be enough at that moment to give Jacob a good reason to let it affect his guest house business the way he did.

Overall, I do think folks will find this an enjoyable read. Especially those who enjoy thrillers set in Vermont in the early fall part of the year.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The werewolf "brings destruction to itself and all those around it. It is in his nature."

Jacob Reese, former bagman for a small time drug dealer, has gone straight. He's bought himself a coffee shop in The Hollows, a tiny town in Vermont. Once Groundworks was in the red, Jacob decided to turn a cottage on his property into a B&B, taking advantage of the huge tourist traffic in that New England area. Although he's careful about his renters, he makes a mistake when he hosts Rebecca Lowden to stay for just one night. For one thing, she looks eerily like a former girlfriend, Laura Aisling. But, he knows that despite appearances that this cannot be Laura because he knows that Laura is dead. And it all comes rushing back to him...and soon he's in the middle of a nightmare. NO SPOILERS.

The main theme of this quick read is guilt. Jacob can't escape it and can't save himself. In short, he's a mess and runs around like a crazy person trying to figure out what's going on, who's doing this, and why. Every bit as unbelievable as you might imagine, a great deal of suspension of disbelief will be required as the tale unfolds. Perhaps you will be surprised at the twists, but if you're paying attention, you'll see the setup from the start. I was engaged while reading and it kept my attention as I raced through in a couple of hours. The time shifts were interesting because of the way they were inserted into the narrative. Jacob is the main character and basically the total focus and all I could see was a man drowning under the weight of his past and his mistakes. I really didn't care for the ending but I can make a logical guess though I think I really hoped it would conclude another way. I would say this is a mystery more than anything else.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital (HarperCollins Publishers) for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Set in New England and after the death of his parents, Jacob used his inheritance to buy a home in The Hollows, it also has a cottage which he lets out as holiday lets. He also owns a local coffee shop.

He lets out the cottage to a woman who doesn’t fit his usual letting criteria, but it’s only for a short let. When she arrives, she seems a bit familiar and he realises she looks very much like his ex, Laura. But he knows that Laura is dead.

Jacob starts to find out more and as he does, the secrets of his past life and his relationship with Laura come to light.

Soon, odd things keep happening that start to mess with his idyllic life….who is doing this and why?

Beautifully descriptive writing with a clever and at times, creep plot. I enjoyed the gradually building story as you find more about Jacob and his past and how that has lead to where he is now. Oh and the lovely, Murphy is a star…. A thoroughly gripping thriller.

Thank you to Jess at HQ and NetGalley for a free ecopy of the book. This is my honest and unbiased review.

Wow! It took a page or two to get sucked in to this book but once I was in, I was IN!! Ghosts or just the past haunting us? Finally have a good life you work so hard for to at one for the past and THIS happens? This book just pulls you right in. Was he who g? Is he haunted? Is she crazy? Very well written and I couldn't put it down!

Dark Hollows is Steve Frech's latest thriller/horror mash-up and from the get-go, it's chilling and really does a fantastic job of messing with your psyche. The idyllic town of The Hollows in Vermont, New England is home to Jacob Reese. He very much enjoys the quiet lifestyle and his cosy coffee shop which serves the community. He also rents out a cottage to those who wish to live there for a period. However, he starts to become paranoid after seeing someone who looked exactly like his deceased ex-girlfriend, Laura. She stays in the cottage then leaves a mysterious note in the guest book before she leaves. Then Jacob begins to see her everywhere he goes. Is he losing his marbles and becoming delusional or is someone really out to get him? Jacob must return to his past to work out who exactly is tormenting and harassing him and why; he will have to admit the truth of an experience many years prior if he wants to get to the bottom of it all.

This is a dark, compulsive read that emphasises that one's past cannot be escaped and the truth usually comes out in the end. I felt quite sorry for Jacob as he did what he did for a reason and not because he is evil. I picked it up with the intention of reading a few chapters but ended up reading every single page in a single, tension-filled sitting. The perspective and timeline changes are carried out adeptly and flow easily just like the easy writing style. Apart from a few slower moments, it was intense, fast-paced and had ample twists, turns and surprising reveals throughout. Murphy, Jacob's doggo, was one of the stars of the show for me and I found their relationship heartwarming; he sounds like the perfect coffee companion. I can imagine the conclusion being polarising with those who like closure at the end of a story not appreciating it at all but I enjoyed that it was left up to the reader to judge. Many thanks to HQ Digital for an ARC.

Secrets from the past

Jacob Reese had a rocky time during his college years but finally settled down, bought some property with a cottage he rents, and started a successful coffee shop in Vermont in a quaint small town.

He has a past that he put behind him but someone is leaving him clues that they know about the past and aren't going to let it rest.

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller with some twists and turns I didn't expect. I especially liked Murphy, Jacob's dog.

I will definitely keep an eye out for more books by this author.

I received this book from HQ Digital UK through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Elevator pitch:

imagine if Luke of Gilmore girls had a checkered past that came back to haunt him.


Read/Skip:

READ.

In Dark Hollows, Steve French employs a neat cinematic trick to weave past and present together; a word, a sound, triggers the memory of his protagonist, Jacob Reese. These flashbacks make the reader relive the past simultaneously with Jacob. Giving it immediacy. This is a story about guilt, retribution, penance. The impossibility of running from your sins. About not trusting that one stroke of luck, that may change your whole life for the better, when it means that everyone else pays the price, but you.
What I liked about it is a thriller about the consequences. In plays on two familiar feelings: the one you get when everything goes right in your life, and you expect disaster may be lurking around the corner. Now imagine if you did something to deserve having the beautiful life you built destroyed. You could never really enjoy the spoils. This is the second feeling: Impostor syndrome. Jacob is literally an impostor. Looking over your shoulder is a stressful way to live. So it was convincing that when the past finally catches up with Jacob, he gives up the life he created to atone for his crimes.
I loved the setting; it’s very Gilmore girls, loved the Airbnb angle, and the fact that it’s set around Halloween. I was less keen on the scenes set in the past; they are not as strong, fell a bit flat, the drug-dealer angle has been done. Also, like many books I read this year, there’s a slightly negative connotation concerning the gay characters, and I could do without that.
The part I loved most is the relationship between Jacob and his trusted dog Murphy. Putting in peril the pooch was the masterstroke that makes the pages turn at warp speed.

The Gist:


Jacob Reese a bit of a loser. He works as the bagman of a drug dealer and thinks the job isn’t that dangerous because he only traffics with college students. But when someone fails to pay up, it all goes wrong. And Laura, his girlfriends up dead. Scared and eaten up by guilt, Jacob manages to escape. He turns his life around. Opens a coffee shop and an Airbnb in a picture-perfect New England town. And he even gets an offer to open a franchise. Soon he will be a rich man. Then a woman who looks like Laura rents his Airbnb. Laura is dead. Jacob is sure of it. Only somebody is trying to sabotage everything he worked for. When on Halloween, his dog goes missing, Jacobs understands that someone from his past came back to make him pay, once and for all.

The moment I finished reading "Traces Of Her", I came back to the profile of the publisher and browsed through it, hoping to find yet another amazing read. The moment I saw the cover and the title, I was intrigued and I went on to read the description. The description stirred my interest and I went on to grab it! And I am so happy to say that I am so glad and happy to have picked this book!

Jacob Reese lives a quiet and satisfying life in The Hollows, a small victorian town, with his dog, Murphy. Owning Groundworks, a coffee shop which has received an offer to be turned into a franchise and a cottage which is one of the top suggestions on Be My Guest, the only thing weighing him down is his grave mistake in the past. But he is living a good life where nothing can go wrong until one day, a woman resembling his ex-girlfriend, Laura, books a night in the cottage and bringing his nightmares into life. His life starts to spiral downwards after suspicious events start to happen, messing with his life and his head. He knows that Laura is dead. He has seen her die and he knows there is no way she could've survived. He also knows he is the only one who knows the secrets of his time with Laura but now, he is certain that someone else must know something about it.

As a dark and suspenseful mystery-thriller, this book is rightly-paced, gripping, interesting, engrossing, eerily creepy and a perfect Halloween read! From the very first page, Steve makes sure he grabs the attention of the reader by their collars. The plot is woven very beautifully and the writing style makes the reader's experience vivid with fogs of suspense hanging just around the corner. Most of the twists and turns are unexpected and slaps you with the perfect amount of suspense. The characters are all perfectly developed and are given the right amount of importance. I am sure that whoever read/read this book has had/will have their hearts won by Murphy! The only complaint I have about the book is it's ending. I get that we are supposed to judge and decide ourselves what he must've done but it feels more like a cliffhanger than an ending. That disappointed me a bit.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed and loved reading this book. I will be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming books by the author!

Recommended: Reading this book takes only a couple of hours and can be a fun commute read. I would read this book again and I would suggest anyone who loved mystery/thrillers to check this book out.

Dark Hollows is an easy read, mysterious and so addictive that you’ll not be able to put it down. I’ll say from the beginning that I started this book during a flight and when I landed I almost finished it, I was so absorbed by the story that the trip passed like an exhale!
This is a mysterious read, but since the beginning you can feel that there’s something more behind the mysterious ex-girlfriend that Jacob Reese seem to have seen. We will see some flashbacks from the past to let the reader discover the truth about all the mystery, but you can sense that Jacob is not a bad person, he is not perfect but is trying to live peacefully and not wrong anyone. On the other side “Laura”, the woman he thinks he has seen, seems to have a secret agenda to make him pay. But for what? Is Laura really dead?
I’ve read so many psychological thrillers that some of the “questions” of the story I saw the result before the ending, but the story is not really about Laura being dead or alive but more the story and what happened in the past.
I’ll admit that I really liked how Steve French wrote the story, it was like being part of it without even noticing that you are reading it, the story flows through you. The characters are really well described and the story is interesting to keep the reader guessing for the truth.
I am used to read psychological thrillers where the main character is a woman and everyone thinks that she is crazy, it was refreshing that it was a man seeing hallucinations and that the world is falling behind his feet!
I would really recommend to anyone to read Dark Hollows, it will abduct you from the first page!