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The Hollower (2011)

by Mary SanGiovanni(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Thunderstorm Books

review 1: Mary SanGiovanni's debut novel was a real treat to read. Technically well written and written more skillfully than many other debut novels in this regard. The story flows well and was a realtively fast read. Critics will also make the claim that the body count is too low, but horror is more than blood and gore, and this book does have its share. The opening scene is superb in its description of all five senses. The plot runs like a roller coaster, slowly building...building...building until finally sending readers on a thrill ride that ends with satisfaction. I sensed the characters' fears and the feeling of impending dread. What impressed me most was how often Sangiovanni was able to "get me." Everytime I thought I knew who/where the Hollower was, it turned out I ... morewas wrong. Her ability to build suspense and mystery is uncanny.
review 2: Another worthless novel from the folks at Leisure. Maybe it's a little unhelpful to criticize an imprint for a random, small selection of titles, but these Leisure Horror books have been literally the worst novels I have read in my life.Sangiovanni's writing fails on a number of levels. She can write a clear sentence, sure, but her action is always passive and her characters and setting are never described in any concrete way. As an MFA holder she's probably been told to use as few adjectives and as little exposition as possible in order to keep up the pace of her story. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to make those actions - the only thing the reader is left with - work. "The Hollower" is a blank slate, dribbled with vague abstractions and some trite cliches. Her New Jersey is nothing. The alcoholic journalist, the bartender, the recovering dope fiend, the cop all have one thing in common - there is little the reader is left with at the end of the novel besides those generalized descriptors.The Hollower - a blank-faced, generically garbed monster - terrorizes the small town of Lake Haven, or at least the hard up denizens of its bland middle class underbelly. Each of the tormented characters thinks he or she is alone until the last few chapters, when they realize that this monster's scope is bigger than they thought. Needless to say, the book climaxes with a poorly plotted battle with the Hollower in some nether-realm of our worst nightmares. Sangiovanni pays so much attention to the small details of action, estimating vague distances, plotting out each of Dave Kohlar's steps across a yard, but all this adds up to a yawning chasm of meaninglessness and wasted ink.Man, this sucked. less

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