LOST HOLLOW

A young woman in search of her missing twin sister stumbles upon a strange North Carolina town harboring out-of-this-world secrets in Frelick’s SF novel.

Moira McCann last received a text from her wayward sister Claire two days prior to arriving in the curious hamlet of Allenville. (Moira hopes to find her sibling there because Claire was last seen at the nearby interstate highway.) Allenville is an extremely weird place—everything seems just a little too quaint, and the residents all look as if they could be employed as high-fashion runway models. What Moira doesn’t yet understand is that there is a far uglier and much more bestial element lurking amidst the beautiful people of Allenville, and that it has targeted both her and Claire. Despite the town’s tranquil appearance, Moira also comes to discover that Allenville is a deeply divided community resting on a terribly uneasy peace. Police Chief Seth Call is determined to preserve this fragile détente at all costs, but he also resolves to protect Moira and hunt down the culprit responsible for her sister’s sudden disappearance. Initially put off by Call’s by-the-book attitude, Moira cannot deny the strong attraction she develops toward the local constable (“She hesitated for the space of a breath, captured by his eyes”), and the feeling is mutual. Claire, meanwhile, is just trying to survive a fate worse than death at the hands—and claws—of one of Allenville’s more unsavory inhabitants; trapped in darkness, she is routinely visited by a hulking jailer who makes his horrific intentions painfully clear. Can Claire survive long enough for her twin to find her? Frelick adeptly employs parallel action to track the McCann sisters on their individual journeys through Allenville and create real tension as the tale unfolds. As eviscerated bodies begin to pile up and the pressure mounts in Allenville, the questions remain open. The author blends SF and horror effectively, cleverly mixing classic themes of alien space invaders with shapeshifting werewolf lore. Both genres have always had a fiendish penchant for women in distress, and the creatures of Allenville do, too.

A tight and entertaining spin on well-established elements of SF and horror.