The Hollow Gods

Chaos Cycle, Book 1

By: A.J. Vrana

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Black Hollow is a town with a dark secret.

For centuries, residents have foretold the return of the Dreamwalker - an ominous figure from local folklore said to lure young women into the woods and possess them. Yet the boundary between fact and fable is blurred by a troubling statistic: Occasionally, women do go missing. And after they return, they almost always end up dead.

When Kai wakes up next to the lifeless body of a recently missing girl, his memory blank, he struggles to clear his already threadbare conscience.

Miya, a floundering university student, experiences signs that she may be the Dreamwalker's next victim. Can she trust Kai as their paths collide, or does he herald her demise?

And after losing a young patient, crestfallen oncologist Mason embarks on a quest to debunk the town's superstitions only to find his sanity tested.

A maelstrom of ancient grudges, forgotten traumas, and deadly secrets loom in the foggy forests of Black Hollow. Can three unlikely heroes put aside their fears and unite to confront a centuries-old evil? Will they uncover the truth behind the fable, or will the cycle repeat?

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Alex Jocic (P)2020 Tantor

Excellent Prose, Okay Story

I loved the prose, but I didn't super care about the actual story. I'm not interested in the sequel, but if Vrana writes anything else that more lines up with my genre preferences then I'll be all over it.

Audio is missing two chapters

I listened while reading along with an eBook version and two chapters are missing. Kai and Miya get physical in an open door scene that is not read in the audio version, so if you are looking for a little more romance check out the text!

So good!!

This is amazing!! The scenery is beautiful, the character development is phenomenal. The characters are very relatable and realistic. While still holding the sense of super natural situations. The story itself is addicting, and has you on the edge of your seat. The narrator is incredible! You really feel like each character is their own person. I am very pleased with this book!

Interesting!

I really wasn’t sure what to about this when I first started it. The narration was great it just took me a little bit to get into it. Once I was thoroughly immersed in the story though I was hooked. I loved every bit of it. I am actually quite surprised there is a second book because I thought this one ended perfectly… I am going to start the second now and hope for the best.

Disappointed at first but then...

Started under false pretenses but I loved the story anyways. dark and evocative. It was on a list of books with gay male protagonists but that wasn't the case. It was a strong if somewhat slow start that kept me listening to see what would happen next so I can forgive the lack of a gay male protagonist.

Okay

The Hollow Gods had decent bones with an intriguing concept, however, I feel listening to the audiobook took away from the story. It had Sleepy Hollow vibes which was neat, but the characters sounded the same to me and I kept feeling lost while listening. Even writing this review, I'm unsure of how the story went.
I will have to reread this story without the audio in the future.

Tedious.

Chacters are flat. Story didn't go anywhere. Even the antagonist was ill defined. Bleh. How did this book get 4 stars!?