Dark forests, eerie disappearances, and an Appalachian town cloaked in mist—A Glimmer in the Hollows is a chilling, atmospheric mystery that hooked me from page one.

Jessica Paige’s relentless search for answers about a missing girl from her past collides with feral boys, a haunting local legend, and a charismatic author digging for his next story. The result? A tangled web of secrets and suspense that kept me guessing until the last page.

Lorna Selley masterfully weaves vivid settings, haunting imagery, and complex characters into a story that feels as alive as the forest itself. This book is perfect for fans of small-town mysteries with a paranormal twist.

⭐ Rating: 4.5/5
💡 Perfect for fans of: The Lost Boys vibes, atmospheric thrillers, and mysteries that blur the line between reality and folklore.

I enjoyed reading this book over the halloween period. It had a lot of potential, good plot and overall spooky vibes to it. Unfortunately it did feel a bit flat in the first half of the book. I think that the going backwards and forwards between characters POV cut the build up a bit.
The last 20% of the book was great though, plenty going on, twists and I really found myself enjoying the book at that moment.
I would recommend it to people who aren’t too keen about horror and that kind of genre, but people who love King or Kontz for example might be a bit bored.

A Glimmer in the Hollows is a gripping mystery with a touch of supernatural intrigue. The eerie setting of Driftwood, a town shrouded in legends and mystery, adds a chilling atmosphere to the plot. The vivid descriptions of the small town’s haunting environment and its dark secrets are deeply effective in building tension throughout the story. With a solid mix of suspense, mystery, and paranormal elements, this book keeps you engaged from start to finish. The twists and turns offer plenty of surprises, ensuring you’ll want to keep turning the pages late into the night. Fans of atmospheric thrillers will appreciate its immersive world-building and the suspense that lingers in every chapter.

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this advance reader copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my thoughts.

I found the premise of the book to be intriguing so when I finally picked this up, I was excited
to see how it all unfolded.

Sadly, I just didn't connect to the main character of Jessica or the secondary character of Elliot Reed.
The story felt like it was rushed and I found myself almost skim-reading to get to the good parts and when I finally did, it was almost the end of the book. The time skips perhaps made it a bit confusing and hard to follow and at times I struggled to keep up with what was going on.

The second half of the book I found to be more enjoyable but I think it needed more build up and clues towards the final "reveal" it felt as if it happened quite quickly and that all the action took place in the last 20 minutes.

I liked the X-Files style vibe of the book and I'd be open to reading more in the future.

Excellent book, loved it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

I found this a very compelling and enjoyable read, I was drawn in immediately and absolutely enjoyed my time one i will defiently recommend

I liked the spooky vibes in this intriguing mystery of the missing kids of Driftwood, and I enjoyed the alternating POVs of Jessica and Elliot. The complication of her detective ex-boyfriend was good for creating tension which the setting also did a good job of as well with some creepy descriptions.

"A Glimmer in the Hollows" is a compelling mystery that revolves around Jessica's quest to unravel the events of a fateful night two decades ago. The author weaves a rich tapestry of secrets and intrigue, drawing readers into a haunting narrative filled with tension and emotional depth.

The strength of the mystery is one of the standout features of this book; it keeps you guessing and invested in Jessica’s journey. The atmospheric writing and well-drawn characters enhance the suspense, making it a page-turner for those who enjoy uncovering hidden truths.

However, while the story effectively establishes its central mystery, I found myself wishing for more breadcrumbs along the way. Additional clues could have propelled the plot forward and maintained the momentum, adding layers to the intrigue and keeping the reader engaged at an even brisker pace.

Overall, "A Glimmer in the Hollows" is a gripping read that will satisfy mystery lovers, even if it could benefit from a few more twists and turns to elevate the pacing. Fans of suspenseful narratives will likely find themselves thoroughly engrossed in Jessica's journey to uncover the past.

I thought this book would be a perfect chilling read for this fall weather, and I was immediately drawn into this book. Jessica didn’t really inspire me with good vibes, but she didn’t give me bad ones either. Getting to like her was difficult, but not impossible. I just didn’t click with her. The same was true of the other characters as well. However, once I got deep into the story, I didn’t want to stop. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Once I got to what was actually happening, I was a little…let down, I guess. Not that the ending was bad, just not was I was expecting. This is actually a well-written, unputdownable book in some ways, and I’m glad I read it. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

This truly was an awesome addition to my Spooktober TBR list. The mystery, the suspense, the imagery of the glowing feral eyes watching you from the treeline....Selley did a great job of pulling you into the story and hooking you from the get-go!

The main characters really intrigued me - Jessica especially. I spent the majority of the book trying to figure out how she was connected to everything and why she kept seeing the kids, but was not prepared for the reveal! I really enjoyed seeing her grow as a character - and my only complaint was not getting to see her strangle Harding, because c'mon!

I will say, I was not expecting the ending. I had this image built in my head of what had happened, and what the kids were, and so was a little surprised but definitely not disappointed!

I recieved this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


I really liked this book it was a fun wild ride all the way through. I was not expecting the twist and that is always exciting for me since I guess the twists in a lot of the books I read.

Not sure why all the bad reviews. I really enjoyed this. It was a good mix of creepy and sci-fi with crime thriller vibes. Kept me reading to the end!

Will be reading this again. The plot was great and hooked me right from the start. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Interesting idea but I didn't really connect with the main characters. Loved the setting. A little sci-fi and a little creepy. The last chapter or two were good.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Collective Ink Limited for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book once I got into it. I struggled to get into the writing style at first, it must have taken me at least 3 chapters. After that the story was great.
I don’t often read sci-fi mysteries like this but I’m glad I requested this book.
I think the main character was great. The romance arc was a little frustrating and unbelievable at times but I can deal with it.
Not quite a 5 star read but I did really enjoy the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read it!

My review is a little late because I was saving this for the right mood or the right weather. I just wanted to linger in a creepy little world on a cool day. It finally rained but this just did not work for me in the way I wanted it to. I love the two perspectives but I did not bond with our protagonists. I like the ending though.

What is happening to all the people that keep disappearing around Driftwood State Park in small-town Appalachia? And why can't Jessica remember what happened to her and Olivia all those years ago on the night that Olivia disappeared? This is a wild, psychologically taut mystery, full of weird synchronicities and parallels, eerie legends and unusual children.

I really enjoyed the plotline, and the writing was compelling, although it was a bit frustrating to me how long it took for the two main characters to actually get to the point where they were fully aware of each other and what was going on. Initially, I also found it hard to discern if the spookier elements of the story were supernatural, paranormal or extraterrestrial, based on the strange folklore and stories that permeate the town of Driftwood. But I'll leave it to you to discover it all for yourself.

Thanks to NetGalley, author Lorna Selley, and Roundfire Books for providing me with a digital ARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I’m in a mood for some really scary stories right now. I can say it’s the time of year, which would be true, but an easy answer. However, it’s really just my love of scary stories! I love them! Always have, ever since I was a kid growing up with brothers who loved scaring me with the scariest stories they’ve ever heard or could make up. It wasn’t long before they had me reading Barker, King, Koontz, Rice and Saul. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become squeamish with many of the hard-core horror stories, but I still love a really good scary story. When I came across this one, it sounded good and kind of creepy!

The story starts 20yrs ago on Halloween, when Jessica was babysitting Olivia while their parents went to a costume party. Jessica and Olivia are instructed by their parents not to leave the house. Driftwood has a long history of children going missing. Well, they do leave and somewhere in the woods, Jessica loses Olivia, along with consciousness and her memories of that night. Olivia is never found.

Fast forward 20yrs, and Jessica is a straight up pill popping, bourbon drinking, hot mess and has been since that fateful Halloween night. Addiction and sleep deprivation and nightmares can do that to a person. She also spends way too much time in her head and babbling to herself. She is extremely annoying and kind of pathetic for most of the story and not a very likeable FMC. Three creepy homeless kids (two boys and a girl) who show up early in the story, and the two boys end up kind of stalking Jessica and definitely breaking in and stealing stuff from her when she’s not home. Oh, and she has a fangirl obsession with paranormal writer, Elliot Reed.

As luck would have it. Elliot Reed is having writer’s block trying to churn out his next bestselling book that is due in a few months. After pouring over several headline stories that he can use as inspiration, he settles on the story of the missing children in Driftwood and heads out for KY in order to conduct interviews and check the place out. It’s a dark and rainy night when he arrives and he crashes his rental car in the woods on his way up the Appalachian Mountains to Driftwood. In a disoriented haze, and probably a concussion, he believes he sees a little girl next to him. Shortly thereafter, he meets Jessica and off they go to solve the mystery of the missing kids of Driftwood.

Most of the story flips back and forth between Jessica and Elliot. Jessica’s chapters flip back and forth between her past, of the night Olivia disappeared, and the present of finding out what is happening to Driftwood’s missing children along with Elliot. They spend several nights scouring some creepy underground caves with creepy crawlers and other reptiles scurrying about, with goopy globs of who knows what hanging around that end up getting in their lungs and coming out later in coughing fits.

Most of Driftwood’s law enforcement is useless and not the least bit interested in finding out what’s going on in Driftwood. Yeah, that’s not suspicious – at all! However, Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, who is a detective on the case of the latest missing child, is trying to pump Jessica for her memories of the night Olivia is missing. He believes there is a connection to all of the other missing kids. Most of the story kind of plodded along and it wasn’t until deep into the second half (the last 15%) that the story really picked up and redeemed itself from being a disappointing read.

The character development of both Jessica and Elliot got better by the end of the story. Jessica was still kind of a hot mess but getting better and Elliot turned out to be a halfway decent guy by the end of the story. The creepy kids were probably the most interesting characters in the story. The pacing was steady, I guess, steady going kind of nowhere for most of the story, but definitely picking up in the end. The storyline was interesting enough to want to finish it and not DNF it, although, I felt that the writing failed the storyline in ways that could have made the storyline even better. Don’t ask me how, I don’t really know. I’m not a writer, I’m just an avid reader, but perhaps a better plot and characterization would have been a good start.

The ending definitely saved this story and by that, I mean it was the deciding factor between a 2star review and a 3star review. I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.3 that I will be rounding down to a 3star review. I want to thank NetGalley, Collective In Limited for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #CollectiveInkLimited #GlimmerintheHollows

I did unfortunately DNF this book around 25% which I do hate to do, but felt I gave the book a good shot.
I was very intrigued by the summary, loved the cover, but the story fell flat. It was very difficult to follow what was going on, conversations between characters just felt odd and forced, and I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable. It felt like the characters were offered at face value with no real understanding of their backstory or motivations.

I think the book has a really interesting concept but overall not well thought out.

Instead of saying this was a mix of a bunch of different supernatural/science-fiction type shows, I will say that this story was its' own with a genre mashup. The strongest point was the atmosphere which felt creepy. The weakest was the romance aspect that honestly would have made the story better if it was left out. Without spoilers I will say that the character's inner dialogue and reactions have a lot to do with how the reader feels and the creepy feeling in this was strong up until a certain point, and then it was just non existent. Overall this was an okay read that I recommend giving it a shot, you may end up loving it. Three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Collective Ink Limited for this ARC.