Ink and Bone

April 4, 2016
Psychic college student Finley Montgomery, the engaging heroine of bestseller Unger’s uneven fourth Hollows thriller (after 2015’s Crazy Love You), has fled her domineering mother and troubled life in Seattle to live with her famed psychic grandmother, Eloise Montgomery, in the Hollows, a small town in upstate New York. PI Jones Cooper, who sometimes does jobs for Eloise, has agreed to look into the disappearance of missing child Abbey Gleason, and when Finley begins receiving communications from a kidnapped girl, her grandmother tells her to take the case. Haunted by her visions and pursued by her ex-boyfriend and tattoo artist Rainer, Finley struggles to find Abbey before the Hollows—a powerful place in its own right—claims another victim. Philosophical musings slow the pace, and tattooed, tortured Finley ultimately fails to transcend cliché. Still, Unger fans should enjoy this tale of troubled families finding redemption in the midst of tragedy. Agent: Elaine Markson, Markson Thoma Literary Agency.

Narrator Molly Pope delivers this chilling supernatural mystery with just the right combination of dark and light tones. She creates believable, multilayered characters and handles the complex story with ease. Finley lives in The Hollows in Upstate New York with her grandmother, Eloise, a respected psychic who works with a local private investigator. Finley also has visions and auditory hallucinations, and her hope is that Eloise can help her learn to control them. Pope keeps the tension high and the pacing swift. The Hollows continues its dark, violent history when 8-year-old Abbey Gleason's father and brother are shot and Abbey is kidnapped. Pope admirably delivers this fourth (but not the strongest) novel in Lisa Unger's engaging series. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine