The Hollow Gods

by A. J. Vrana

Overview

Rich with folklore and paranormal intrigue, The Hollow Gods is an atmospheric supernatural thriller that will satisfy lovers of Hannah Whitten's FOR THE WOLF, especially those craving a fable with a darker touch. 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?
"The writing sizzles with menace, and the dark mythology A.J. Vrana weaves from dreams and nightmares is unlike any I've ever encountered, in and out of books."
- Katya de Becerra, author of OASIS and WHAT THE WOODS KEEP
"Utterly consuming with palpable emotion, an engaging mystery, and absolutely delicious tension, this is one that lingers after you've turned the final page, an itch that needs to be scratched."
- Verified Reviewer
"I would highly recommend this book for anyone with interest in folklore, magical realism, and a dark touch of horror. An absolutely stunning debut from this author. I have pre-ordered my own copy of the book, and I am very much looking forward to the second book in The Chaos Cycle."
- Verified Reviewer
"The Hollow Gods is a striking debut about guilt, grief, and how the past sometimes finds a way to come back to haunt us. The roots of this story will be familiar to those who enjoy reading about fairytales and folklore, but Vrana has added her own touch to the genre that allows this novel to hold its own against the greats."
- Verified Reviewer
"A gem of a book. Can't wait for the next one."
- Verified Reviewer
"Vrana crafts a unique local mythology and draws from existing lore to create a sense of creeping dread."
- Publisher's Weekly
The Chaos Cycle Duology is best enjoyed in this order:
Book 1: The Hollow Gods
Book 2: The Echoed Realm

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733386821
Publisher:	The Parliament House
Publication date:	07/28/2020
Series:	The Chaos Cycle , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	394
Sales rank:	493,849
File size:	845 KB
Age Range:	17 - 18 Years

About the Author

A. J. Vrana is a Serbian-Canadian academic and writer from Toronto, Canada. She lives with her two rescue cats, Moonstone and Peanut Butter, who nest in her window-side bookshelf and cast judgmental stares at nearby pigeons. Her doctoral research examines the supernatural in modern Japanese and former-Yugoslavian literature and its relationship to violence. When not toiling away at caffeine-fueled, scholarly pursuits, she enjoys jewelry-making, cupcakes, and concocting dark tales to unleash upon the world. Her published works include The Chaos Cycle Duology: The Hollow Gods (2020) and The Echoed Realm (2021) from The Parliament House Press, and a short supernatural horror story, These Silent Walls (2020), printed in Three Crows Magazine.

Editorial Reviews

05/18/2020

Vrana’s dark, folklore-infused debut, the first of a duology, introduces readers to the residents of Black Hollow, who hold their daughters close and their twisted secrets closer. The town’s girls frequently go missing in the surrounding forest on the outskirts of British Columbia, only to return with no memory and die shortly thereafter, feeding local folklore about “dreamwalkers” in the trees. Floundering Black Hollow college student Emiliya “Miya” Delathorne once rescued one of the missing girls, and is haunted by the memory. When she meets Kai Donovan, he seems eerily familiar. Kai tells Miya about his disturbing tendency to wake up next to the dead girls with no recollection of how he got there. Despite this chilling disclosure, Miya is drawn to Kai and intrinsically trusts that he won’t hurt her. Meanwhile, oncology resident Mason Evans seeks refuge in Black Hollow on the recommendation of his hospital’s psych department following a patient’s traumatic death, and becomes fascinated by the town’s dreamwalker rumors. These three hapless players in Black Hollow’s cycle of malice slowly uncover the extent of the town’s evil. Vrana crafts a unique local mythology and draws from existing werewolf lore to create a sense of creeping dread. Vrana is off to a strong start with this solid, suspenseful tale. Agent: Emmy Nordstrom Higdon, the Rights Factory. (July)

Publishers Weekly