THE HOLLOW BOYS
Two children lost. The wrong one found.
The town of Aurora is waiting to die. A few miles away, a deep seam of coal burns underground, the fire creeping closer every year. Business close. Families leave. Hope dwindles.
And then one day, nine-year-old Danny Yates comes back from the dead. He walks into town half-starved and silent, ten months after he and his best friend Will Keefe were presumed drowned. But when Danny does finally speak, he swears that he’s not Danny anymore. He’s Will.
Danny’s mother is convinced that her boy has come back wrong, and that the town itself is now at risk from whatever dark force returned her son. Chief of Police John Deacon is more interested in how the sinister disappearance of two boys could have been written off as a tragic accident, and who was responsible. What happened to Danny to make him take on his friend’s name, his personality? And does Danny’s return mean there’s a chance that Will is still alive?
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“A brilliantly unsettling piece of purest American Gothic. I absolutely loved it.”
— James Oswald, author of Natural Causes
“A stunning novel from the master of small-town thrillers. This is Ashkanani at the top of his game.”
— Janice Hallet, author of The Appeal
“An utterly compelling story, with beautifully drawn characters, spare and lyrical prose and an atmosphere of dread that gathers like storm clouds.”
— Alex North, author of The Whisper Man
“Unforgettable, beautiful and bleak.”
— Sam Holland, author of The Puppet Master
“An atmospheric noir set in a doomed town. I loved this book.”
— Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes
“This is Ashkanani at his dazzling best.”
— Victoria Selman, author of Truly, Darkly, Deeply
“A powerful and unsettling read from an author at the top of his game.”
— Heather Critchlow, author of Unsolved
“A twist, vivid thriller laced with character depth and a haunting violence that crackles off the page.”
— Rachel Wolf, author of Five Nights