Author: James Dawson

Publisher: Indigo (2nd February 2012)

Pages: 312

ISBN: 978-1780620039

From Amazon
Something wicked this way comes… She thought she’d be safe in the country, but you can’t escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she’s being paranoid – after all who would want to murder her? She doesn’t believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn’t believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you’re alone in the woods, after dark – and a twig snaps… Hollow Pike – where witchcraft never sleeps.

Review
Hollow Pike was published to positive review and after positive review after positive review and it had me a little bit worried. I’ve read a number of books with this kind of hype in the blogosphere only to read it myself and not quite feel the same way. I’m pleased to report though that I feel exactly the same.

It’s like Hollow Pike takes my favourite films mixed with a dash of my favourite TV programs and throws in a bit wickedness just for fun. After the first few chapters I was thinking of the story as Mean Girls with a twist, it has the queen bee like character in the form of Laura Riggs, she’s mean as anything – making it very clear very quickly she is not the kind of girl to be messed around with.

But when I was nice and comfortable and getting into the groove of the book something happens which throws the whole story off kilter taking the story in a completely unexpected direction. I’m not going to say what it is here but lets just say that it takes the Mean Girls comparison and tramples all over it making Hollow Pike into a book I would never have thought it was at the start.

And all of this is going on set against a backdrop of Hollow Pike, a creepy place where Witchcraft has played a heavy part in its history and its present day. The place had an atmosphere about it that made it feel like something dark was bound to happen there.

I was really impressed how the story handled the bullying theme and how truthfully Lis’ story was told. Also how LGBT characters were included without making it into a big deal – they’re just characters in a story that happen to be gay – perfect!

Here I go again – honorable mention this time go to Mrs Gillespie, her part may be small but I’m a huge fan of the quirky characters and there’s just something about her whenever she appears

Overall, Hollow Pike is a stunning debut which is a wonderful blend of dark and lighter moments with twists and turns that had me gasping. Seriously go and buy it (if you don’t already have a copy that is! )