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The Hollows #5
Ink and Bone
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Horror (2016)In this explosive psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, a young woman’s mysterious gift lands her in the middle of a dangerous investigation of a little girl’s disappearance.
For as long as she can remember, twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery has been able to see into the future: dream about things before they happen, see beyond the physical world, and unconsciously make supernatural things happen. But Finley can’t control these powers, and moves to The Hollows to live with her grandmother, a renowned seer who can help Finely understand and master her gifts. But once in The Hollows, Ա’s gift proves to be both a blessing and a curse.
Like Finley, Merri and Wolf Montgomery are in the worst possible hell. Their daughter Abbey has been missing for ten months. Leads exhausted, the police have all but given up hope; but Merri is unable to shake the feeling that time is running out, and makes a desperate, last ditch effort to locate her daughter.
Finley and Merri are on winding, treacherous paths towards the same point. When they finally come together in The Hollows, nothing is as it seems. But one thing is clear: The Hollows always gets what it wants.
For as long as she can remember, twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery has been able to see into the future: dream about things before they happen, see beyond the physical world, and unconsciously make supernatural things happen. But Finley can’t control these powers, and moves to The Hollows to live with her grandmother, a renowned seer who can help Finely understand and master her gifts. But once in The Hollows, Ա’s gift proves to be both a blessing and a curse.
Like Finley, Merri and Wolf Montgomery are in the worst possible hell. Their daughter Abbey has been missing for ten months. Leads exhausted, the police have all but given up hope; but Merri is unable to shake the feeling that time is running out, and makes a desperate, last ditch effort to locate her daughter.
Finley and Merri are on winding, treacherous paths towards the same point. When they finally come together in The Hollows, nothing is as it seems. But one thing is clear: The Hollows always gets what it wants.
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 7, 2016
783 people are currently reading
25142 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Unger
49books10.2kfollowersLisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-two novels, including CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.
Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book� lists from the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, ŷ, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and ŷ Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book� lists from the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, ŷ, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and ŷ Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,854 reviews
July 28, 2023
Wow. Where to begin. For those of you who have followed all her series and other books involving “The Hollows�, this one is a BIG deal. No spoilers here, but there is major character and plot development. I’ve read almost all of Lisa Unger’s books; I was first hooked when I picked up a copy of Fragile in the B&N clearance section and she quickly became one of my top 10 authors to read after devouring Beautiful Lies, Sliver of Truth, Black Out, & Die For You. I’ve read all her other books as well, save for her Whispers novellas (which I now realize is a huge mistake that I must remedy immediately; it really could have made my experience with this book just that extra bit perfect).
“Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.�
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
In this book (which some would consider Book 3 in The Hollows series) we are reunited with Jones Cooper (former detective with Hollows PD and now freelance private investigator) and Eloise Montgomery (psychic and assistant to Jones Cooper in solving multiple past cases in The Hollows), but we are also introduced to a new character, Finley Montgomery, who is Eloise’s granddaughter. She has come to live with Eloise in an attempt to learn how to control her own psychic powers if you will. In an attempt to not rehash the book’s plot blurb, Finley discovers an overwhelming sound (Squeak, Clink) that will not leave her alone. She discovers this one is calling her, not Eloise, to come and solve the mystery with Jones.
“The girl was of this place; she belonged here more than she knew� She was unpredictable and wild, powerful, foolish, stubborn, like many children The Hollows had known.�
I loved, loved, LOVED this character Finley! She was a spitfire; tatted and wild with a quiet streak that works in conjunction with her ultimate stubbornness. This girl isn’t going to be pushed into doing anything she doesn’t want to (at least in the physical world). She has regular “guests� (as I like to call them) that she sees and hears daily, but also new ones that pop up along the way. I also loved the relationship between her and (boyfriend-ish?) Rainer. I could picture them easily in my mind as if watching a movie and was a little sad to leave them when the book ended.
“Our choices, even the small ones, all have consequences.�
This book was intense. It was what I would consider genre-bending; yes there are paranormal elements but it was just as solid as any book I would read in the crime/thriller genre. I don’t typically read supernatural books, but Lisa’s have always felt so real that I can’t help but get caught up in them. I can see why some threw in the Horror element, as the content was a bit disturbing but in a very realistic way (think Karin Slaughter in some of her graphic content/violence). Very little sexual content in this one, which I was very pleased with, as this book needed the continual flow of the story without that extra distraction.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep.�
-Robert Frost, Miles to Go
I know I said no spoilers, and I won’t spoil, but I have to warn you there are some big shocks at the ending regarding the direction of the series. I was so engrossed that I stayed up well past midnight finishing and read 70% of the book in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. There are some seriously emotional moments, but I’m not mad; I felt they were for the bettering of the story and needed to happen. Big twists and turns guys; this is one of those stories that all the clues are in front of you from well near the beginning and its fun trying to piece them together after the big revelation of whodunit. If you are a fan of the series, PLEASE don’t miss this book! Its extremely crucial and addictive. I’m assuming there will be a follow up of some sort (PLEASE LISA DON’T LET ME DOWN) from the ending; I think we are just getting to know Finley in what will turn into a long, exciting adventure. Highly recommended! Go pre-order, buy it, request it at your library; get your hands on it! If you’re new to the series, go pick up and start there.
“You cannot hide in the snow
No matter where you go
You leave a trail behind
That anyone can find.�
-Anonymous
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; Who looks inside, awakes.�
-Carl Jung
* I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review. This did not influence my opinions and all thoughts are my own.
“Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.�
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
In this book (which some would consider Book 3 in The Hollows series) we are reunited with Jones Cooper (former detective with Hollows PD and now freelance private investigator) and Eloise Montgomery (psychic and assistant to Jones Cooper in solving multiple past cases in The Hollows), but we are also introduced to a new character, Finley Montgomery, who is Eloise’s granddaughter. She has come to live with Eloise in an attempt to learn how to control her own psychic powers if you will. In an attempt to not rehash the book’s plot blurb, Finley discovers an overwhelming sound (Squeak, Clink) that will not leave her alone. She discovers this one is calling her, not Eloise, to come and solve the mystery with Jones.
“The girl was of this place; she belonged here more than she knew� She was unpredictable and wild, powerful, foolish, stubborn, like many children The Hollows had known.�
I loved, loved, LOVED this character Finley! She was a spitfire; tatted and wild with a quiet streak that works in conjunction with her ultimate stubbornness. This girl isn’t going to be pushed into doing anything she doesn’t want to (at least in the physical world). She has regular “guests� (as I like to call them) that she sees and hears daily, but also new ones that pop up along the way. I also loved the relationship between her and (boyfriend-ish?) Rainer. I could picture them easily in my mind as if watching a movie and was a little sad to leave them when the book ended.
“Our choices, even the small ones, all have consequences.�
This book was intense. It was what I would consider genre-bending; yes there are paranormal elements but it was just as solid as any book I would read in the crime/thriller genre. I don’t typically read supernatural books, but Lisa’s have always felt so real that I can’t help but get caught up in them. I can see why some threw in the Horror element, as the content was a bit disturbing but in a very realistic way (think Karin Slaughter in some of her graphic content/violence). Very little sexual content in this one, which I was very pleased with, as this book needed the continual flow of the story without that extra distraction.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep.�
-Robert Frost, Miles to Go
I know I said no spoilers, and I won’t spoil, but I have to warn you there are some big shocks at the ending regarding the direction of the series. I was so engrossed that I stayed up well past midnight finishing and read 70% of the book in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. There are some seriously emotional moments, but I’m not mad; I felt they were for the bettering of the story and needed to happen. Big twists and turns guys; this is one of those stories that all the clues are in front of you from well near the beginning and its fun trying to piece them together after the big revelation of whodunit. If you are a fan of the series, PLEASE don’t miss this book! Its extremely crucial and addictive. I’m assuming there will be a follow up of some sort (PLEASE LISA DON’T LET ME DOWN) from the ending; I think we are just getting to know Finley in what will turn into a long, exciting adventure. Highly recommended! Go pre-order, buy it, request it at your library; get your hands on it! If you’re new to the series, go pick up and start there.
“You cannot hide in the snow
No matter where you go
You leave a trail behind
That anyone can find.�
-Anonymous
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; Who looks inside, awakes.�
-Carl Jung
* I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review. This did not influence my opinions and all thoughts are my own.
June 11, 2019
4 stars
What a read. It took me a long time to read this, but in the end it was so worth it.
This is how you write a thriller. Full excitement. Amazing characters. Solid story and very beautifully written.
I like the paranormal aspect of this novel.
Finley has superpowers. She can see into the future. She can't control it.
She moves to The Hollows.
Everything happens there. She finds herself in the middle of an investigation.
She has to be strong. She has to learn her powers. But will she?
Was it worth reading? - Absolutely.
Will I read it again? - Likely.
Would I recommend it? - Of course. Read it.
What a read. It took me a long time to read this, but in the end it was so worth it.
“Life is an impossible twist of choice and circumstance. One rarely exists without the other.�
This is how you write a thriller. Full excitement. Amazing characters. Solid story and very beautifully written.
I like the paranormal aspect of this novel.
Finley has superpowers. She can see into the future. She can't control it.
She moves to The Hollows.
Everything happens there. She finds herself in the middle of an investigation.
She has to be strong. She has to learn her powers. But will she?
“Fear holds on. Love lets go.�
Was it worth reading? - Absolutely.
Will I read it again? - Likely.
Would I recommend it? - Of course. Read it.
August 8, 2016
Still $1.99 on kindle as of 8/7/16
*SOME SPOILERS*
Abbey Gleason is taken after a savage attack while hiking with her father and brother. Where is she? Who has her? Is she still alive?
Finley Montgomery moves in with her grandmother, Eloise. Finley goes to college and Eloise helps her to understand the ghosts that come to her and with her dreams of events that have occurred. Eloise is a psychic and works with the police department at times.
Finley keeps hearing this sound in her head and she has to fight to get it out. It's connected to things that are not so good in The Hollows where they live. There is evil in The Hollows.
Merri and Wolf Gleason are the parents of Abbey and her brother Jackson. Merri wants to try to hire a detective one last time to find Abbey. It seems everyone has given up hope after 10 long months. Merri wants detective Jones Cooper and psychic Eloise Montgomery on the case. Eloise decides that Finley needs to do this case and with trepidation, she does.
This is a hard one for Finley. She hasn't done anything like this before and the things she sees has her crazy with worry. She wants to find Abbey, but what she and Jones eventually find is worse than what they could have ever imagined.
Finley finds a lot of ghosts in those woods. But will she find Abbey?
I really enjoyed this book! I was on the edge of my seat many times yelling "Go, Go, Go! Hurry."
It was a tough and sad revelation all around. There was a twist that I should have seen, don't they always do that? When they find out the whole story though, it's just so very sad. But don't let that stop you. If you want to read a great murder/mystery/thriller, give this book a try. It's all that and a little bit more.
MY BLOG:
*SOME SPOILERS*
Abbey Gleason is taken after a savage attack while hiking with her father and brother. Where is she? Who has her? Is she still alive?
Finley Montgomery moves in with her grandmother, Eloise. Finley goes to college and Eloise helps her to understand the ghosts that come to her and with her dreams of events that have occurred. Eloise is a psychic and works with the police department at times.
Finley keeps hearing this sound in her head and she has to fight to get it out. It's connected to things that are not so good in The Hollows where they live. There is evil in The Hollows.
Merri and Wolf Gleason are the parents of Abbey and her brother Jackson. Merri wants to try to hire a detective one last time to find Abbey. It seems everyone has given up hope after 10 long months. Merri wants detective Jones Cooper and psychic Eloise Montgomery on the case. Eloise decides that Finley needs to do this case and with trepidation, she does.
This is a hard one for Finley. She hasn't done anything like this before and the things she sees has her crazy with worry. She wants to find Abbey, but what she and Jones eventually find is worse than what they could have ever imagined.
Finley finds a lot of ghosts in those woods. But will she find Abbey?
I really enjoyed this book! I was on the edge of my seat many times yelling "Go, Go, Go! Hurry."
It was a tough and sad revelation all around. There was a twist that I should have seen, don't they always do that? When they find out the whole story though, it's just so very sad. But don't let that stop you. If you want to read a great murder/mystery/thriller, give this book a try. It's all that and a little bit more.
MY BLOG:
November 8, 2016
"We don't choose; we are chosen."
Finley Montgomery, twenty-one and teaming with paranormal gifts, hears the beckoning sound of "Squeak-clink" like a constant tolling bell within her. Not only is this particular sound a daily visitor that rests within her mind, but she sees the likes of a young boy playing with a train on the floor and three evasive young sisters that drift in and out of her field of vision like flames in a cluster of candles.
Finley now harbors these abilities through the lifeblood vein of her grandmother, Eloise. She's moved in lock, stock, and barrel with Eloise in the small town of The Hollows. The Hollows keeps guarded secrets in which only those privy to its elusive ways can know. Finley's boyfriend, Rainer, has moved to the tiny town to be with her.
When a young girl is missing during a hike with her father and brother in The Hollows woods, Finley is drawn to the area. Both father and son were shot and the girl disappeared into thin air. Jones Cooper, a detective who sometimes works closely with Eloise's psychic abilities, is hired by the girl's mother. But Eloise is not getting much feedback on the missing girl while Finley's abilities have intensified. Finley wears confusion, frustration, and perplexity like badges sewn onto a personal banner. Nothing definitive comes through as to whether this young girl is still alive or has suffered a horrendous fate.
This is my first book by Lisa Unger. She certainly fries "eerie" up in a pan and serves it well. Her characters just about lift themselves off the page. I particularly liked Finley with her pink and black hair and motorcycle attitude. Unger's descriptors of the woodsy area lend themselves to vivid visuals for the readers. You see, you hear, and you almost touch the earthy surroundings.
If you are looking for something outside of the usual boundaries of your reading appetite, this one should readily fit the bill. Will be reaching for more offerings by the talented Lisa Unger.
Finley Montgomery, twenty-one and teaming with paranormal gifts, hears the beckoning sound of "Squeak-clink" like a constant tolling bell within her. Not only is this particular sound a daily visitor that rests within her mind, but she sees the likes of a young boy playing with a train on the floor and three evasive young sisters that drift in and out of her field of vision like flames in a cluster of candles.
Finley now harbors these abilities through the lifeblood vein of her grandmother, Eloise. She's moved in lock, stock, and barrel with Eloise in the small town of The Hollows. The Hollows keeps guarded secrets in which only those privy to its elusive ways can know. Finley's boyfriend, Rainer, has moved to the tiny town to be with her.
When a young girl is missing during a hike with her father and brother in The Hollows woods, Finley is drawn to the area. Both father and son were shot and the girl disappeared into thin air. Jones Cooper, a detective who sometimes works closely with Eloise's psychic abilities, is hired by the girl's mother. But Eloise is not getting much feedback on the missing girl while Finley's abilities have intensified. Finley wears confusion, frustration, and perplexity like badges sewn onto a personal banner. Nothing definitive comes through as to whether this young girl is still alive or has suffered a horrendous fate.
This is my first book by Lisa Unger. She certainly fries "eerie" up in a pan and serves it well. Her characters just about lift themselves off the page. I particularly liked Finley with her pink and black hair and motorcycle attitude. Unger's descriptors of the woodsy area lend themselves to vivid visuals for the readers. You see, you hear, and you almost touch the earthy surroundings.
If you are looking for something outside of the usual boundaries of your reading appetite, this one should readily fit the bill. Will be reaching for more offerings by the talented Lisa Unger.
April 2, 2017
I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did when I read the blurb. I thought it would go all Backwoods Physic on me.
Umm nevermind..that sounds right up my alley.
Finley has moved to "The Hollows" because she doesn't get along with her mom and her Grandmother has some of the same 'gifts' that she does. Sorta see dead peopley. Finley is a pretty decent character..she has funky hair, drives a motorcycle, has tattoos all over. I liked her.
Her grandmother is usually the one that gets called in when a local PI needs some addition help but there is a case unfolding that her Gran says is Finley's.
The case is that a young girl was taken off a hiking trail. Her dad and brother were both shot and left for dead. But they took the girl.
Then you find out that several little blond girls have gone missing for years and none of them have ever been found.
The book is told from alternative viewpoints and I thought I knew what was gonna happen and I didn't. I kinda felt slammed for a minute there.
Then I snoop around and find out that Lisa Unger has more books set in this area. Color me interested. I'll read more of her. (I do think I read one of her books years ago and it was one of those romancy thrillers that I didn't care for. This was decent.)
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
Umm nevermind..that sounds right up my alley.
Finley has moved to "The Hollows" because she doesn't get along with her mom and her Grandmother has some of the same 'gifts' that she does. Sorta see dead peopley. Finley is a pretty decent character..she has funky hair, drives a motorcycle, has tattoos all over. I liked her.
Her grandmother is usually the one that gets called in when a local PI needs some addition help but there is a case unfolding that her Gran says is Finley's.
The case is that a young girl was taken off a hiking trail. Her dad and brother were both shot and left for dead. But they took the girl.
Then you find out that several little blond girls have gone missing for years and none of them have ever been found.
The book is told from alternative viewpoints and I thought I knew what was gonna happen and I didn't. I kinda felt slammed for a minute there.
Then I snoop around and find out that Lisa Unger has more books set in this area. Color me interested. I'll read more of her. (I do think I read one of her books years ago and it was one of those romancy thrillers that I didn't care for. This was decent.)
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
July 19, 2017
Find all of my reviews at:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, she thought. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep.�
Well what was a pleasant surprise! For some reason I thought a bazillion of my friends had read this, but it turns out only Jess has. I should probably go get a CAT scan or MRI at this point to find out what the hell is wrong with me. Anywho, I had never read Lisa Unger before (I actually also thought this was a debut because broken brain � whoops). I do, however, read a lot of mystery/thrillers and will admit that I have become pretty hard to please. Lately everything has seemed to be a knockoff of the latest Lifetime Movie of the Week (*cough Girl on the Train cough*) so I was more than happy with the end result of Ink and Bone.
The main character here was a young woman named Finley. Finley isn’t like everyone else � she sees dead people . . . and so does her grandmother Eloise. Finley lives in a place called The Hollows, which just so happens to be the place where a little girl went missing while on vacation with her (dysfunctional) parents. The girl’s parents have never given up hope in finding her, even after months of searching. Their Hail Mary pass is a private detective, who just so happens to occasionally work with Eloise. However, once Finley starts hearing the “squeak-clink� noise it becomes clear she is the one who might be able to help solve the crime.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh doggy. This was mystery/thriller just the way I like it. Most of the time the “whodunit� part is fairly easy to figure out, so I enjoy knowing who the bad guy is/having a dual timeline type of narrative and the psychic aspect was done well instead of coming off campy like it easily could have. There was even a little twist-a-roo that I didn’t see coming. To top it all off, although this is not marked as part of a series it could easily become one � AND I WOULD ACTUALLY READ #2! Well done, Ms. Unger, you get almost all of the Stars.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, she thought. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep.�
Well what was a pleasant surprise! For some reason I thought a bazillion of my friends had read this, but it turns out only Jess has. I should probably go get a CAT scan or MRI at this point to find out what the hell is wrong with me. Anywho, I had never read Lisa Unger before (I actually also thought this was a debut because broken brain � whoops). I do, however, read a lot of mystery/thrillers and will admit that I have become pretty hard to please. Lately everything has seemed to be a knockoff of the latest Lifetime Movie of the Week (*cough Girl on the Train cough*) so I was more than happy with the end result of Ink and Bone.
The main character here was a young woman named Finley. Finley isn’t like everyone else � she sees dead people . . . and so does her grandmother Eloise. Finley lives in a place called The Hollows, which just so happens to be the place where a little girl went missing while on vacation with her (dysfunctional) parents. The girl’s parents have never given up hope in finding her, even after months of searching. Their Hail Mary pass is a private detective, who just so happens to occasionally work with Eloise. However, once Finley starts hearing the “squeak-clink� noise it becomes clear she is the one who might be able to help solve the crime.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh doggy. This was mystery/thriller just the way I like it. Most of the time the “whodunit� part is fairly easy to figure out, so I enjoy knowing who the bad guy is/having a dual timeline type of narrative and the psychic aspect was done well instead of coming off campy like it easily could have. There was even a little twist-a-roo that I didn’t see coming. To top it all off, although this is not marked as part of a series it could easily become one � AND I WOULD ACTUALLY READ #2! Well done, Ms. Unger, you get almost all of the Stars.
August 31, 2022
|
“Never talk to strangers. If someone ever tries to take you, fight with everything you have. Scream as loud as you can. (He’d never told her what to do if the man was too strong and there was no one to hear her screaming.)�
I don’t know why I keep trying books with psychic characters because I never like them.
Basically what you have here is a twenty-something who is a developing psychic, so she goes to live with her grandmother, who is an experienced psychic, to get her psychic abilities up to snuff. While she’s doing her psychic training she starts to hear a persistent noise � squeak, clink � and her psychic grandmother is all, “that’s your psychic gift telling you to start doing psychic shit,� so she takes up the case of a missing child who had their own psychic shit going on.
Basically, everyone is a goddamn psychic.
I’m not sure how a town full of psychics hasn’t been able to find the answer to “where’d that kid go?� but they haven’t and everyone is distressed; marriages are falling apart and life is just generally terrible.
The opening to this book was dark and attention-grabbing, but while it did suck me in, it also lost the pace by overexplaining inconsequential things. To me, the whole thing was a little bit dense in terms of sentence structure and emotion. The thrilling moments were good, but you have to go through the weeds to get there.
The main character, Finley, was the kind of character that I have a hard time liking because she’s written like the author is trying really hard to make something “cool.� Give her tattoos, give her pink hair, give her a motorcycle, make her really angsty and make sure everyone mentions what a spitfire she is and how she's "not like other girls," as if there's something wrong with other girls.
I could do with less of that. It feels like I’m being force-fed this idea of what a cool girl is, instead of just naturally forming my own opinion based on how she comes alive on the page.
I like the small-town feel this novel has. It’s a little bit like a magical, depressive Stars Hollow. It’s got the wise old lady, the veteran detective, the handsome bartender, flawed and grieving parents and some country bumpkins living in the sticks.
There was a lot going on in this novel - subplots and characters and information to soak up that most of the time was useless to the outcome. So I was disappointed when I finished the book because I definitely thought it was going to be something different than it was, which was kind of just a psychic drama.
It’s not a bad story, and I know I’m a raging negative review monster, but this book didn’t totally click for me. It had some good points and some bad points. It's whatever.
⭐⭐� | 3 stars
“Never talk to strangers. If someone ever tries to take you, fight with everything you have. Scream as loud as you can. (He’d never told her what to do if the man was too strong and there was no one to hear her screaming.)�
I don’t know why I keep trying books with psychic characters because I never like them.
Basically what you have here is a twenty-something who is a developing psychic, so she goes to live with her grandmother, who is an experienced psychic, to get her psychic abilities up to snuff. While she’s doing her psychic training she starts to hear a persistent noise � squeak, clink � and her psychic grandmother is all, “that’s your psychic gift telling you to start doing psychic shit,� so she takes up the case of a missing child who had their own psychic shit going on.
Basically, everyone is a goddamn psychic.
I’m not sure how a town full of psychics hasn’t been able to find the answer to “where’d that kid go?� but they haven’t and everyone is distressed; marriages are falling apart and life is just generally terrible.
The opening to this book was dark and attention-grabbing, but while it did suck me in, it also lost the pace by overexplaining inconsequential things. To me, the whole thing was a little bit dense in terms of sentence structure and emotion. The thrilling moments were good, but you have to go through the weeds to get there.
The main character, Finley, was the kind of character that I have a hard time liking because she’s written like the author is trying really hard to make something “cool.� Give her tattoos, give her pink hair, give her a motorcycle, make her really angsty and make sure everyone mentions what a spitfire she is and how she's "not like other girls," as if there's something wrong with other girls.
I could do with less of that. It feels like I’m being force-fed this idea of what a cool girl is, instead of just naturally forming my own opinion based on how she comes alive on the page.
I like the small-town feel this novel has. It’s a little bit like a magical, depressive Stars Hollow. It’s got the wise old lady, the veteran detective, the handsome bartender, flawed and grieving parents and some country bumpkins living in the sticks.
There was a lot going on in this novel - subplots and characters and information to soak up that most of the time was useless to the outcome. So I was disappointed when I finished the book because I definitely thought it was going to be something different than it was, which was kind of just a psychic drama.
It’s not a bad story, and I know I’m a raging negative review monster, but this book didn’t totally click for me. It had some good points and some bad points. It's whatever.
⭐⭐� | 3 stars
February 24, 2018
What do you get when you mix a savage attack, an abducted child, a grieving mother, a flawed father, a veteran private detective, a psychic young adult, and a creepy remote town?
Wow, That's an excruciatingly specific concoction you got there, Sreyas. I think you are referring to Ink and Bone.
Damn, Are you a psychic too?
Strap in and take a ride to the Hollows, a low key creepy town with some low key tourist attractions. Young Abbey, along with her brother and father went hiking in Hallows, only to get attacked by two mystery men. Abbey was taken by these men, leaving her brother and father injured. This leads to a huge collective effort to find her, but even though the volunteers and police combed the forest and nearby areas, they were unable to find any clue.
Finley is psychic like her Grandmother Eloise. When Abbey's mother exhausted her options, she hires Private detective Jones Cooper and Eloise to find her daughter. And Eloise, with her infinite psychic wisdom, escalates this case to Finley.
Will they find her?
The book uses three different groupings of POVs to tell the story. One belongs to Finely and her gang, another focuses on the family of Abbey and the last one belongs to Penny, an abducted girl.
I did like parts focusing on Finley and Jones. It was a shame that Unger decided not to give Jones a POV. His character was the most likable and comfortable one in this book. Our main character, Finley, who is a teen psychic who rides a Motorbike and paints hair body with tattoos might sound like a perfect character to irritate the reader with "I did not ask for these powers" existential crisis, but I am happy to say that Unger pulled it off. The back stories and her relationship with Eloise were a delight to read.
But to counter all these good POVs, we have Abbey's family and their stories which tend to be overlong, unnecessary and pointless in the end. We get an impression about Abbey's family initially and the later chapters solidify that very impression without providing any depth.
Also, some of the plot elements were predictable towards the end.
The story neither pushes the limits of paranormal nor takes any risks with the mystery of missing girls. With Penny's POV, author banishes most of the mystery surrounding the abduction. Also, the story introduces a fascinating idea connected to hollows, but to my disappointment, the author decided not to pursue it in depth.
Overall, Ink and Bone is a likable story with some fascinating ideas and characters. But in the end, you might get a nagging feeling that it could've been better.
Wow, That's an excruciatingly specific concoction you got there, Sreyas. I think you are referring to Ink and Bone.
Damn, Are you a psychic too?
Everybody knows everybody in the Hollows.
Strap in and take a ride to the Hollows, a low key creepy town with some low key tourist attractions. Young Abbey, along with her brother and father went hiking in Hallows, only to get attacked by two mystery men. Abbey was taken by these men, leaving her brother and father injured. This leads to a huge collective effort to find her, but even though the volunteers and police combed the forest and nearby areas, they were unable to find any clue.
That was ten months ago.
Finley is psychic like her Grandmother Eloise. When Abbey's mother exhausted her options, she hires Private detective Jones Cooper and Eloise to find her daughter. And Eloise, with her infinite psychic wisdom, escalates this case to Finley.
Will they find her?
The book uses three different groupings of POVs to tell the story. One belongs to Finely and her gang, another focuses on the family of Abbey and the last one belongs to Penny, an abducted girl.
I did like parts focusing on Finley and Jones. It was a shame that Unger decided not to give Jones a POV. His character was the most likable and comfortable one in this book. Our main character, Finley, who is a teen psychic who rides a Motorbike and paints hair body with tattoos might sound like a perfect character to irritate the reader with "I did not ask for these powers" existential crisis, but I am happy to say that Unger pulled it off. The back stories and her relationship with Eloise were a delight to read.
But to counter all these good POVs, we have Abbey's family and their stories which tend to be overlong, unnecessary and pointless in the end. We get an impression about Abbey's family initially and the later chapters solidify that very impression without providing any depth.
Also, some of the plot elements were predictable towards the end.
The story neither pushes the limits of paranormal nor takes any risks with the mystery of missing girls. With Penny's POV, author banishes most of the mystery surrounding the abduction. Also, the story introduces a fascinating idea connected to hollows, but to my disappointment, the author decided not to pursue it in depth.
Overall, Ink and Bone is a likable story with some fascinating ideas and characters. But in the end, you might get a nagging feeling that it could've been better.
August 16, 2016
Unfortunately this book didn't click with me, and clearly I'm in the minority here, because there are many, many great reviews for INK AND BONE. Reading this book, I felt like I'd been dropped in the middle of an ongoing saga, like there's a whole lot of back story I should already know. Besides that, there just seemed to be so much going on, so many subplots and characters, so many POVs, that it made me dizzy.
The main storyline involves the kidnapping of a young girl while the family was vacationing in The Hollows, New York. Ten months later, the distraught parents return to the area and hire a private detective, who's aided by a young woman with psychic ability.
While I was drawn in by the premise, especially the paranormal elements, the story was too disjointed and confusing for me. One reason could be that I listened to this book on audio, which makes it harder to keep all of the layers straight. I would imagine that readers familiar with her previous books set in The Hollows would enjoy INK AND BONE more than I did.
Lisa Unger's is one of my favorite suspense novels ever, so I'd definitely give her next book a try!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The main storyline involves the kidnapping of a young girl while the family was vacationing in The Hollows, New York. Ten months later, the distraught parents return to the area and hire a private detective, who's aided by a young woman with psychic ability.
While I was drawn in by the premise, especially the paranormal elements, the story was too disjointed and confusing for me. One reason could be that I listened to this book on audio, which makes it harder to keep all of the layers straight. I would imagine that readers familiar with her previous books set in The Hollows would enjoy INK AND BONE more than I did.
Lisa Unger's is one of my favorite suspense novels ever, so I'd definitely give her next book a try!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 28, 2021
2.5 stars
Ten months after her daughter Abbey was abducted during a vacation in 'The Hollows', Merri Gleason returns to the upstate New York town. Desperate to find out what happened to her daughter, Merri hires cop turned private investigator Jones Cooper - who usually works with psychic Eloise Montgomery.
This time, however, Eloise's gifted granddaughter Finley is getting paranormal 'messages' about the case.
Finley recently moved to The Hollows to be close to her supportive grandmother and to get away from her difficult mom and unfaithful beau. However Finley's cheating boyfriend Rainer followed her to town, hoping to redeem himself. Nevertheless Finley concentrates on her college classes and keeps Rainer at a distance - aside from going to his tattoo parlor to get inked.
As the story unfolds there are flashbacks to the Gleason family before and after the kidnapping. We learn that Merri's husband Wolf was having an affair that affected his judgment and behavior. The flashbacks alternate with what's going on in the present, including Cooper's investigation; Finley's psychic experiences; and accounts of a girl called Penny, who's being held prisoner by a hillbilly family.
During his inquiries Cooper discovers that, over the years, several girls have disappeared from The Hollows. WE learn that all these girls had some psychic abilities. And that's about all I can say without spoilers.
For me this isn't one of Lisa Unger's best books. The Penny parts are disturbing and slow down the story too much; the police investigations (prior to Cooper being hired) are inept; Merri and Finley are too 'understanding' of their cheating men - who should be cut loose immediately and forever; and the hillbilly people are more like caricatures than real humans. Moreover, the story's ending isn't quite satisfying.
Though I'm not a big fan of this book I'd probably read other stories by Unger.
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March 15, 2020
the premise & first 20% of this book were SUPER intriguing but ultimately this lacked in both thrill and mystery. nice to know that i don't hate ALL speculative/supernatural elements in these sorts of books (which i thought was the case prior to reading this), but sucked that those elements weren't coupled with really cool plot.
also the characters all kind of... sucked? i think there are very few authors in the thriller/mystery genre that write characters who are... convincingly complex. sadly i don't know that this author is one of them. i could tell she was trying to really make them sympathetic but they read like any domestic thrillers' boring husband/wife-one-spouse-cheats duo.
anyway, this wasn't a BAD book. if the premise interests you and you don't mind a lack of true surprise you might enjoy this.
also the characters all kind of... sucked? i think there are very few authors in the thriller/mystery genre that write characters who are... convincingly complex. sadly i don't know that this author is one of them. i could tell she was trying to really make them sympathetic but they read like any domestic thrillers' boring husband/wife-one-spouse-cheats duo.
anyway, this wasn't a BAD book. if the premise interests you and you don't mind a lack of true surprise you might enjoy this.
May 14, 2018
There were elements I seriously enjoyed in this book. Finley was a fantastic character, edgy and dark and fitted in well with the atmosphere of the book. Maybe I should have stuck to reading the book as I didn’t particularly like the narrator, some awkwardness there, and couldn’t decide if it was the fault of the writing or the narrator having trouble. I almost stopped listening but the story pulled me in enough to keep going.
June 24, 2016
Wow! Breathtakingly brilliant!
When eight year old Abbey joined her parents Merri and Wolf Gleason, and brother, Jackson for a few days break at The Hollows they were looking forward to a relaxing time together. Setting out for a hike in the woods with their father the day after they arrived, Abbey and Jackson skipped and ran ahead while their father was on the phone. So much so that before they knew it they were way ahead of him. With the suddenness of the unexpected, fun turned to fear � immediately lives changed and would never be the same again.
Ten months later and a still grieving but hopeful Merri called Jones Cooper, a private detective who lived and worked in The Hollows. Jones had worked with Eloise Montgomery before on cold cases � trying to help grieving families locate missing family members. Eloise had an unusual gift and her twenty year old granddaughter Finley had inherited the same gift. Finley had been eight years old when she started noticing things happening to her which were difficult to explain. Now it seemed she would be able to turn this gift to helping others. Having recently moved to The Hollows to live with her grandmother whom she had called Mimi since she was a child, she attended classes, and also had an on again/off again boyfriend called Rainer. He was a tattoo artist, and had followed Finley from Seattle where she’d lived with her mother Amanda and brother Alfie. Ա’s tattoos were a sight to see � she was working at becoming completely covered so that she felt “the same outside as she did inside� � "Ա’s body was a living canvas of ink and bone".
Not sure she was ready for what she needed to put herself through, Finley nevertheless felt the need to help Jones � but she was also aware that time was running out. Even though it had already been ten months, she felt an urgency she couldn’t explain. Would Finley be able to find the necessary answers? Or was it already too late?
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger is an absolutely brilliant, mind-boggling psychological thriller (with paranormal elements) that I could not put down! Read in a matter of hours, it completely engrossed me. Though completely different, the protagonist was an exceptional character and one I really hope we see again. Intense, gripping and filled with fabulous twists and turns, it is one I highly recommend to all lovers of the thriller genre.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy to read in exchange for my honest review.
When eight year old Abbey joined her parents Merri and Wolf Gleason, and brother, Jackson for a few days break at The Hollows they were looking forward to a relaxing time together. Setting out for a hike in the woods with their father the day after they arrived, Abbey and Jackson skipped and ran ahead while their father was on the phone. So much so that before they knew it they were way ahead of him. With the suddenness of the unexpected, fun turned to fear � immediately lives changed and would never be the same again.
Ten months later and a still grieving but hopeful Merri called Jones Cooper, a private detective who lived and worked in The Hollows. Jones had worked with Eloise Montgomery before on cold cases � trying to help grieving families locate missing family members. Eloise had an unusual gift and her twenty year old granddaughter Finley had inherited the same gift. Finley had been eight years old when she started noticing things happening to her which were difficult to explain. Now it seemed she would be able to turn this gift to helping others. Having recently moved to The Hollows to live with her grandmother whom she had called Mimi since she was a child, she attended classes, and also had an on again/off again boyfriend called Rainer. He was a tattoo artist, and had followed Finley from Seattle where she’d lived with her mother Amanda and brother Alfie. Ա’s tattoos were a sight to see � she was working at becoming completely covered so that she felt “the same outside as she did inside� � "Ա’s body was a living canvas of ink and bone".
Not sure she was ready for what she needed to put herself through, Finley nevertheless felt the need to help Jones � but she was also aware that time was running out. Even though it had already been ten months, she felt an urgency she couldn’t explain. Would Finley be able to find the necessary answers? Or was it already too late?
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger is an absolutely brilliant, mind-boggling psychological thriller (with paranormal elements) that I could not put down! Read in a matter of hours, it completely engrossed me. Though completely different, the protagonist was an exceptional character and one I really hope we see again. Intense, gripping and filled with fabulous twists and turns, it is one I highly recommend to all lovers of the thriller genre.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy to read in exchange for my honest review.
June 7, 2016
Ink & Bone by Lisa Unger is a 2016 Touchstone publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Having read the three short stories which are preludes to this full length novel, I had a little background about ‘The Hollows� and the three generations of women empowered with psychic powers, each one coping in different ways.
Finley represents the third generation, but is less than thrilled by her gift and the responsibility of it. However, when a case comes to her attention which involves a missing girl, Finley gets sucked into the search whether she wants to or not.
I immediately liked Finley, the inked, motorcycle riding wild child, who is not afraid to speak her mind. As conflicted as she is about her future and the emotional drama she will face by accepting her psychic abilities, she does the right thing, and perhaps even learns to not only accept her fate, but embrace it, with a fierceness neither her grandmother or mother ever could.
I have some mixed emotions about the story, although it has all the elements needed for an atmospheric chiller, and even came with a few Gothic undertones, which I loved. Everything clicked along nicely with the suspense building with each chapter, the mystery solidifying, and the characters developing, becoming clearer, sharper, and stronger and the story progressed.
But, the conclusion, while tense and emotional, lost ground, becoming a little murky, confusing, and with some threads not completely explained or fully closed, leaving me with a feeling of dissatisfaction.
I would love to delve into that cryptic opinion, but doing so would give too much away. Despite feeling a little let down and sad by the way some things turned out, I was pleased by the characterizations, the ultimate feeling of closure, and the promise of new beginnings.
Finley is a character I will look forward to hearing from again, as she perfects her natural talent and uses it to help others. I think the past generations of gifted women will be very proud and ‘The Hallows� may actually feel peace- for a little while at least.
Having read the three short stories which are preludes to this full length novel, I had a little background about ‘The Hollows� and the three generations of women empowered with psychic powers, each one coping in different ways.
Finley represents the third generation, but is less than thrilled by her gift and the responsibility of it. However, when a case comes to her attention which involves a missing girl, Finley gets sucked into the search whether she wants to or not.
I immediately liked Finley, the inked, motorcycle riding wild child, who is not afraid to speak her mind. As conflicted as she is about her future and the emotional drama she will face by accepting her psychic abilities, she does the right thing, and perhaps even learns to not only accept her fate, but embrace it, with a fierceness neither her grandmother or mother ever could.
I have some mixed emotions about the story, although it has all the elements needed for an atmospheric chiller, and even came with a few Gothic undertones, which I loved. Everything clicked along nicely with the suspense building with each chapter, the mystery solidifying, and the characters developing, becoming clearer, sharper, and stronger and the story progressed.
But, the conclusion, while tense and emotional, lost ground, becoming a little murky, confusing, and with some threads not completely explained or fully closed, leaving me with a feeling of dissatisfaction.
I would love to delve into that cryptic opinion, but doing so would give too much away. Despite feeling a little let down and sad by the way some things turned out, I was pleased by the characterizations, the ultimate feeling of closure, and the promise of new beginnings.
Finley is a character I will look forward to hearing from again, as she perfects her natural talent and uses it to help others. I think the past generations of gifted women will be very proud and ‘The Hallows� may actually feel peace- for a little while at least.
July 9, 2016
Well hot diggity dog, The Hollows is back!
I tend to stick with realism, but Lisa Unger totally delivers on this tale of Finley, a seriously badass woman with a gift, trying to solve a missing child case. Unger can somehow make the paranormal seem normal to the point where I was constantly reminding myself "this is fiction, this is fiction, this is fiction" so I wouldn't be so scared. This is one super creepy story - prepare for a heart-pounding, fast-paced read. I actually had to turn all the lights on while reading this at night.
I feel like I should put in a warning: there is some non graphic violence against children. If you're sensitive to this material you may want to stay away - it is difficult to read at times. I am generally very wary of this subject matter, so I felt the need for a disclaimer.
This book is not part of a series, but is set in The Hollows, a common thread in several of Unger's other books. There is some character crossover which is very cool to see. This can be read as a standalone, however if you'd like to start from the beginning, pick up Fragile.
Thank you, Netgalley, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I tend to stick with realism, but Lisa Unger totally delivers on this tale of Finley, a seriously badass woman with a gift, trying to solve a missing child case. Unger can somehow make the paranormal seem normal to the point where I was constantly reminding myself "this is fiction, this is fiction, this is fiction" so I wouldn't be so scared. This is one super creepy story - prepare for a heart-pounding, fast-paced read. I actually had to turn all the lights on while reading this at night.
I feel like I should put in a warning: there is some non graphic violence against children. If you're sensitive to this material you may want to stay away - it is difficult to read at times. I am generally very wary of this subject matter, so I felt the need for a disclaimer.
This book is not part of a series, but is set in The Hollows, a common thread in several of Unger's other books. There is some character crossover which is very cool to see. This can be read as a standalone, however if you'd like to start from the beginning, pick up Fragile.
Thank you, Netgalley, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 7, 2017
With Lisa Unger you either get a hit or a miss with Ink & Bone it was a definite hit in the ball park, I actually could not put this down it got me sucked right in from the prologue this was a lot different from Miss Unger delving into the Paranormal genre its damn well worked a treat.
I also found the characters of Finley & her Grandmother were written superbly strong with no flaws, along with the creepy eerie feeling of the Hollows right throughout.
Twenty Year old Finley Montgomery has a gift & sees the world differently to others sometimes it helps & sometimes it doesn't but she always feels an outsider, until she moves in with her grandmother Eloise in the Hollows in New York where she hopes to start a new life.
A Little girl goes missing in the Hollows & is nowhere to be found Detective Jones Cooper comes into investigate, he enlists the help of Finley as he has heard of her psychic powers that her grandmother Eloise also has, although he is not a true believer he teams up with Finley to find Abbey WHERE IS SHE & WHO COULD TAKE HER THAT IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION!!
Whatever you do this year put this one on your list you won't be disappointed.
I also found the characters of Finley & her Grandmother were written superbly strong with no flaws, along with the creepy eerie feeling of the Hollows right throughout.
Twenty Year old Finley Montgomery has a gift & sees the world differently to others sometimes it helps & sometimes it doesn't but she always feels an outsider, until she moves in with her grandmother Eloise in the Hollows in New York where she hopes to start a new life.
A Little girl goes missing in the Hollows & is nowhere to be found Detective Jones Cooper comes into investigate, he enlists the help of Finley as he has heard of her psychic powers that her grandmother Eloise also has, although he is not a true believer he teams up with Finley to find Abbey WHERE IS SHE & WHO COULD TAKE HER THAT IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION!!
Whatever you do this year put this one on your list you won't be disappointed.
June 21, 2016
Contrary to what my three star rating might tell you, I actually liked this story a lot. And taken as a whole, I liked way more things about it than I disliked. But the things I disliked I really disliked so I decided not to round up to 4 stars.
This is my first Lisa Unger book, though friends of mine have read a lot of her books and quite enjoyed them. This book will definitely appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn and Tana French, but other than a few kick ass characters, some sprinkling of a more supernatural storyline, and a few themes that I found unique, there really isn't a ton about this to elevate it past a typical mystery/thriller, at least for me.
That isn't to say that it wasn't enjoyable. It was.
Basic synopsis:
Finley Montgomery has just moved to The Hollows, a small community in upstate New York where her mother was born and raised. She moved from Seattle, so this was more than just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Several reasons exist for this move, but primarily they are:
1-She doesn't get along with her mother.
2-She needs to get away from her ex-boyfriend, Rainer.
3-She has a few supernatural/psychic abilities that she can neither control nor fully understand and wants to learn more about how to do both of those things.
4-Her beloved grandmother Eloise lives there and is also a psychic.
Finley comes to learn that no two psychics are the same, and her abilities manifest themselves very differently from her grandmother's. Eloise's abilities mostly manifest themselves as premonitions or futuristic visions, whereas Finley can see and communicate with lost souls (or ghosts as we humans call them). Finley has a hard time trying to figure out how to use her abilities and what to do with them once she figures them out. She follows in her grandmother's footsteps by helping out local detective Jones Cooper with cases of abductions, homicides, and other mysteries he tries to solve. Finley is happy to help, but becomes frustrated in trying to figure out what to do (as her abilities aren't always reliable, nor do they always spell everything out cleanly). When Cooper picks up a case from a distraught mother whose little girl Abby was abducted from the Hollows almost a year before, Finley believes that she's receiving signs that she should help. And so she does.
I loved Finley. She is a total gem of a character. She's kick ass and rough around the edges, and flawed and relatable and vulnerable and fierce all at once. She wears her hair short, spiky, and hot pink, rides a Harley Davidson, and has less natural skin showing than skin covered in ink. Her image is a source of a major contention with her mother Amanda, but Finley is very comfortable in her own skin and for the most part doesn't try to hide who she is. She also has several reasons for her image, the primary one being that she "wants her outside to match her insides." You see, being a psychic isn't all its cracked up to be and seeing ghosts is a really hard thing to deal with. Finley tries to use her gifts to help save those who may be lost, bring lost souls home, or bring justice to families waiting for some to be served. But what happens to all those she can't save? She is the one haunted by them, unable to let them go, the one who sees them every single day, knowing that she failed. As Finley's abilities surfaced as a child, she had to endure therapy, being different, thinking she was a freak, her mother calling her a liar, refusing to admit that Finley shares the same fate with her own mother Eloise, with whom Amanda has been estranged for most of her adult life. Tattooing her body is Finley's way of coping, her own version of masochism, the physical sharing of pain that torments her insides. Every tattoo is a rendering of a person who has haunted her in her lifetime. Sharing her skin with them is a way of etching each and every one onto her very soul. The artist who works on Finley is her ex boyfriend, Rainer, who followed her across the country, took a job tending bar at the local pub while setting up his own tattoo parlor. I also enjoyed Finley and Rainer's story and though it is a far cry from a perfect romance, found their intimacy to be believable and sincerely deep.
Finley and her story was my absolute favorite part of this novel and her parts read effortlessly. I actually hope that this book may be the start of a series of novels featuring Finley and her growth into her abilities. *Fingers crossed*
Also sharing page time was the perspective of the kidnapped girl, living among her captors who call her Penny. There is a rawness here than almost reminds me of grit lit, or appalachian noir. Her captors are those who live off the grid, hate technology, and are just a little off from the rest of the town. As the story of who they are and why she was taken unfold, the depth of the novel unfolds.
The third and fourth perspectives are those of the abducted girls parents, Wolf and Merri. Merri is distraught with grief and finds herself completely unable to move on until she finds out what happened to her little girl. Wolf is just as upset by the loss, and has had to cope with all the changes that day brought to him (he and his son were both shot the day Penny was taken) but has more or less tried to move on. He worries that Merri is only going to hurt herself, that the longer she takes to get over it, the further she retreats into darkness where her own demons dwell. Merri blames herself for what happened. Her daughter was abducted while on a hike with her father and older brother, a hike in which Merri was not present, for reasons that become more evident at the story progresses. She and Wolf have separated, due partly to the abduction and partly due to Wolf's chronic infidelity. I got both perspectives, and I have to say, these parts were the parts that presented the most problems. I disliked both Merri and Wolf and hated sharing headspace with them. Their constant dilemmas about the upcoming divorce, Wolf's girlfriend, their love for each other which is still not completely gone just grated on me. I didn't care about the divorce. I didn't care about them. I found both completely self-centered and annoying. Merri was unreasonable and cold. Wolf was childish and arrogant. And can I say AGAIN how overused and trite the marital infidelity angle is in every single mystery/thriller on the market? Why does every single couple affected by tragedy have to have some sort of secret life? I only found sympathy for Merri when she described her aching need to find out what happened, even if it leads to the inevitable bad news.
I think moving on is a really important theme in this book, one that is central to Merri and Wolf but which also makes appearances throughout the novel. Constantly thinking back to what might have been or how things could be different isn't going to bring a person back. Or help you move on. Or allow the good memories of those we lose to linger. Nothing healthy can ever come by trying to keep a person alive who simply is not alive any more.
There is a twist at the end which I did figure out, but which I liked anyway. I think I figured it out more due to the author's heavy handed hinting and not due to the fact that it was expected or predictable.
So at the end, it was an enjoyable, but somewhat typical ride. The supernatural bits were better than the typical mystery/thriller bits, but both worked out well in the end. The Hollows itself kind of became its own character which kinda tied into the Appalachian noir tone that made its way through the storyline, and that was a nice touch. I recommend this for a quick thriller which includes a decent amount of different added to the "been there done that."
3.5 stars
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is my first Lisa Unger book, though friends of mine have read a lot of her books and quite enjoyed them. This book will definitely appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn and Tana French, but other than a few kick ass characters, some sprinkling of a more supernatural storyline, and a few themes that I found unique, there really isn't a ton about this to elevate it past a typical mystery/thriller, at least for me.
That isn't to say that it wasn't enjoyable. It was.
Basic synopsis:
Finley Montgomery has just moved to The Hollows, a small community in upstate New York where her mother was born and raised. She moved from Seattle, so this was more than just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Several reasons exist for this move, but primarily they are:
1-She doesn't get along with her mother.
2-She needs to get away from her ex-boyfriend, Rainer.
3-She has a few supernatural/psychic abilities that she can neither control nor fully understand and wants to learn more about how to do both of those things.
4-Her beloved grandmother Eloise lives there and is also a psychic.
Finley comes to learn that no two psychics are the same, and her abilities manifest themselves very differently from her grandmother's. Eloise's abilities mostly manifest themselves as premonitions or futuristic visions, whereas Finley can see and communicate with lost souls (or ghosts as we humans call them). Finley has a hard time trying to figure out how to use her abilities and what to do with them once she figures them out. She follows in her grandmother's footsteps by helping out local detective Jones Cooper with cases of abductions, homicides, and other mysteries he tries to solve. Finley is happy to help, but becomes frustrated in trying to figure out what to do (as her abilities aren't always reliable, nor do they always spell everything out cleanly). When Cooper picks up a case from a distraught mother whose little girl Abby was abducted from the Hollows almost a year before, Finley believes that she's receiving signs that she should help. And so she does.
I loved Finley. She is a total gem of a character. She's kick ass and rough around the edges, and flawed and relatable and vulnerable and fierce all at once. She wears her hair short, spiky, and hot pink, rides a Harley Davidson, and has less natural skin showing than skin covered in ink. Her image is a source of a major contention with her mother Amanda, but Finley is very comfortable in her own skin and for the most part doesn't try to hide who she is. She also has several reasons for her image, the primary one being that she "wants her outside to match her insides." You see, being a psychic isn't all its cracked up to be and seeing ghosts is a really hard thing to deal with. Finley tries to use her gifts to help save those who may be lost, bring lost souls home, or bring justice to families waiting for some to be served. But what happens to all those she can't save? She is the one haunted by them, unable to let them go, the one who sees them every single day, knowing that she failed. As Finley's abilities surfaced as a child, she had to endure therapy, being different, thinking she was a freak, her mother calling her a liar, refusing to admit that Finley shares the same fate with her own mother Eloise, with whom Amanda has been estranged for most of her adult life. Tattooing her body is Finley's way of coping, her own version of masochism, the physical sharing of pain that torments her insides. Every tattoo is a rendering of a person who has haunted her in her lifetime. Sharing her skin with them is a way of etching each and every one onto her very soul. The artist who works on Finley is her ex boyfriend, Rainer, who followed her across the country, took a job tending bar at the local pub while setting up his own tattoo parlor. I also enjoyed Finley and Rainer's story and though it is a far cry from a perfect romance, found their intimacy to be believable and sincerely deep.
There was a deep intimacy to ink work, especially when he worked with Fin. He saw what she wanted him to see. And when he put the needle to her skin and inked those images onto her flesh, he was closer to her than he was at any other time. She trusted him, opened herself to him. she let him mark her body with total faith in their connection. Even when their other connections--as lovers and friends--were strained, that remained.
Finley and her story was my absolute favorite part of this novel and her parts read effortlessly. I actually hope that this book may be the start of a series of novels featuring Finley and her growth into her abilities. *Fingers crossed*
Also sharing page time was the perspective of the kidnapped girl, living among her captors who call her Penny. There is a rawness here than almost reminds me of grit lit, or appalachian noir. Her captors are those who live off the grid, hate technology, and are just a little off from the rest of the town. As the story of who they are and why she was taken unfold, the depth of the novel unfolds.
The third and fourth perspectives are those of the abducted girls parents, Wolf and Merri. Merri is distraught with grief and finds herself completely unable to move on until she finds out what happened to her little girl. Wolf is just as upset by the loss, and has had to cope with all the changes that day brought to him (he and his son were both shot the day Penny was taken) but has more or less tried to move on. He worries that Merri is only going to hurt herself, that the longer she takes to get over it, the further she retreats into darkness where her own demons dwell. Merri blames herself for what happened. Her daughter was abducted while on a hike with her father and older brother, a hike in which Merri was not present, for reasons that become more evident at the story progresses. She and Wolf have separated, due partly to the abduction and partly due to Wolf's chronic infidelity. I got both perspectives, and I have to say, these parts were the parts that presented the most problems. I disliked both Merri and Wolf and hated sharing headspace with them. Their constant dilemmas about the upcoming divorce, Wolf's girlfriend, their love for each other which is still not completely gone just grated on me. I didn't care about the divorce. I didn't care about them. I found both completely self-centered and annoying. Merri was unreasonable and cold. Wolf was childish and arrogant. And can I say AGAIN how overused and trite the marital infidelity angle is in every single mystery/thriller on the market? Why does every single couple affected by tragedy have to have some sort of secret life? I only found sympathy for Merri when she described her aching need to find out what happened, even if it leads to the inevitable bad news.
the most stressful condition for the human mind is simply not knowing. Even if the worst thing happens, the mind recovers eventually, returns to its natural baseline of happiness. But the wondering, the crushing weight of disappointments, the violent swing between poles of hope and despair It's almost more than a person can endure.
I think moving on is a really important theme in this book, one that is central to Merri and Wolf but which also makes appearances throughout the novel. Constantly thinking back to what might have been or how things could be different isn't going to bring a person back. Or help you move on. Or allow the good memories of those we lose to linger. Nothing healthy can ever come by trying to keep a person alive who simply is not alive any more.
There is a twist at the end which I did figure out, but which I liked anyway. I think I figured it out more due to the author's heavy handed hinting and not due to the fact that it was expected or predictable.
So at the end, it was an enjoyable, but somewhat typical ride. The supernatural bits were better than the typical mystery/thriller bits, but both worked out well in the end. The Hollows itself kind of became its own character which kinda tied into the Appalachian noir tone that made its way through the storyline, and that was a nice touch. I recommend this for a quick thriller which includes a decent amount of different added to the "been there done that."
3.5 stars
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 12, 2016
3.5 stars
This is one of those books that is such an easy read you breeze through it in a few hours. Love that Finley is a tattooed, pink and black haired, intelligent, psychic young woman who studies psychology and now helps solve murders. If that isn't a main character who is a it different from the rest, I don't know what is. if this is the beginning of a new series featuring her, i'm in it for that alone.
A interesting set of supporting characters, the mystery of the Hollows, and a few good surprises all add up to a pleasurable read.
Thanks to Lisa Unger, Touchstone, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is one of those books that is such an easy read you breeze through it in a few hours. Love that Finley is a tattooed, pink and black haired, intelligent, psychic young woman who studies psychology and now helps solve murders. If that isn't a main character who is a it different from the rest, I don't know what is. if this is the beginning of a new series featuring her, i'm in it for that alone.
A interesting set of supporting characters, the mystery of the Hollows, and a few good surprises all add up to a pleasurable read.
Thanks to Lisa Unger, Touchstone, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 1, 2016
Twenty year old Finley Montgomery has grown up being visited by people who others can't see and haunted by prophetic dreams. She has no control over what's going on with her and is lost with no one to understand it. Her mother had taken her away from the Hollows and her grandmother Eloise Montgomery but now Finley knows it's time to return and learn how to control her psychic abilities.
Merri Gleason's husband, Wolf, surprised the family with a trip to the Hollows. While Wolf was out hiking with the kids they were attacked and Wolf and his son were shot while their daughter Abbey was taken. Now several months later and down to her last bit of hope Merri has decided to hire detective Jones Cooper who sometimes works with psychic Eloise Montgomery. Eloise and her granddaughter find themselves caught up in trying to solve Abbey's disappearance.
Ink and Bone is part of a series of books by Lisa Unger that feature the Hollows and former detective now turned investigator Jones Cooper and psychic Eloise Montgomery. This is the first of these books I've read and I do believe it read fine as a standalone novel.
This would be another definite page turner of a book as you follow along with a wide range of characters looking to solve the disappearances at the place called the Hollows. Finley is a rather colorful character as she's grown up dealing with these powers all on her own and now finding herself with her grandmother. The family of the missing girl all had their own struggles as they have tried to cope and not fall apart each day that their daughter has been missing.
I loved the added touch of the paranormal brought into this thriller. Different from your normal follow the clues that police or investigators find in a read we are following along with Finley and her visions which even she sometimes doesn't know what is real or not.
Overall, an engaging thriller with paranormal psychic elements. Interesting case with interesting characters involved. One that I'd recommend checking out.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit
Merri Gleason's husband, Wolf, surprised the family with a trip to the Hollows. While Wolf was out hiking with the kids they were attacked and Wolf and his son were shot while their daughter Abbey was taken. Now several months later and down to her last bit of hope Merri has decided to hire detective Jones Cooper who sometimes works with psychic Eloise Montgomery. Eloise and her granddaughter find themselves caught up in trying to solve Abbey's disappearance.
Ink and Bone is part of a series of books by Lisa Unger that feature the Hollows and former detective now turned investigator Jones Cooper and psychic Eloise Montgomery. This is the first of these books I've read and I do believe it read fine as a standalone novel.
This would be another definite page turner of a book as you follow along with a wide range of characters looking to solve the disappearances at the place called the Hollows. Finley is a rather colorful character as she's grown up dealing with these powers all on her own and now finding herself with her grandmother. The family of the missing girl all had their own struggles as they have tried to cope and not fall apart each day that their daughter has been missing.
I loved the added touch of the paranormal brought into this thriller. Different from your normal follow the clues that police or investigators find in a read we are following along with Finley and her visions which even she sometimes doesn't know what is real or not.
Overall, an engaging thriller with paranormal psychic elements. Interesting case with interesting characters involved. One that I'd recommend checking out.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit
September 30, 2016
I've read Lisa Unger's previous books. Because of those that take place in The Hollows, I knew to expect supernatural elements in this book. I was familiar with psychic Eloise Montgomery and PI Jones Cooper and The Hollows. Eloise's granddaughter, Finley, also has a psychic gift. She's not sure she wants it, would like to control it on her terms, and is learning what it means. She's tough, troubled, and terrified, and turns to Rainer, a tattoo artist who followed Finley from Seattle. I really liked these two characters.
The book is beautifully and sensitively written. It's eerie, but not scary. Girls are missing. Their bodies have never been found, but their families still hope. Finley slowly accepts that she has to help, needs to help. The story is told from multiple points of view, including one feisty little girl named Penny. The conclusion leads me to believe there is more for Finley to do in the future in The Hollows, but there is no cliffhanger.
The book is beautifully and sensitively written. It's eerie, but not scary. Girls are missing. Their bodies have never been found, but their families still hope. Finley slowly accepts that she has to help, needs to help. The story is told from multiple points of view, including one feisty little girl named Penny. The conclusion leads me to believe there is more for Finley to do in the future in The Hollows, but there is no cliffhanger.
May 12, 2016
…And out of the gate...BAM! I’m sucked in by a picture of a mysterious girl and pleas for forgiveness. Fade to black, and the meat potatoes of this tale truly begins! Findley has inherited the family gift for psychic abilities. She hears voices, strangers, and they all want something from her, but she does not understand what she needs to do to silence them, so she goes to the one person who knows, the one person who can help her, her grandmother. Eloise is famous, her abilities have been used by law enforcement and with her cryptic guidance, Findley learns to understand what is going on with the voices, the people she sees and how she can help.
Children are going missing in the small town called the Hollows and the race is on the find one girl she thinks is crying out for help. Together with a private investigator, she is about to undertake a dark journey from which she will exit a changed person, if she lives. What the voices are telling her leads her to more than one lost child, it uncovers the horrors of one family, twisted and depraved searching to assuage their guilt by replacing their own daughter. How many girls will Lindsey save? Will she save them all or will they at least receive closure for all that was done to them? What of their families? Who will receive the greatest gift and who will be crushed one last time?
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger starts ratcheting the tension levels from the beginning, until finally when you think you have reached the top of the roller coaster, that final pull to the free fall of the answers and closure coming in at warp speed, you find a jarring bump in the road. So many sub-plots, so many viewpoints, all converging and crashing into each other only to find a big sign that states: “But Wait-There’s More…� From that point, it became a little murky, a too twisty in an overcrowded car. I loved every page until the point that we were taken off road and the conclusion became the untied ends of threads missed.
I received an ARC edition from Touchstone in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Touchstone (June 7, 2016)
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Genre: Mystery | Suspense | Paranormal
Print Length: 352 pages
Available from: |
For Reviews & More:
Children are going missing in the small town called the Hollows and the race is on the find one girl she thinks is crying out for help. Together with a private investigator, she is about to undertake a dark journey from which she will exit a changed person, if she lives. What the voices are telling her leads her to more than one lost child, it uncovers the horrors of one family, twisted and depraved searching to assuage their guilt by replacing their own daughter. How many girls will Lindsey save? Will she save them all or will they at least receive closure for all that was done to them? What of their families? Who will receive the greatest gift and who will be crushed one last time?
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger starts ratcheting the tension levels from the beginning, until finally when you think you have reached the top of the roller coaster, that final pull to the free fall of the answers and closure coming in at warp speed, you find a jarring bump in the road. So many sub-plots, so many viewpoints, all converging and crashing into each other only to find a big sign that states: “But Wait-There’s More…� From that point, it became a little murky, a too twisty in an overcrowded car. I loved every page until the point that we were taken off road and the conclusion became the untied ends of threads missed.
I received an ARC edition from Touchstone in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Touchstone (June 7, 2016)
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Genre: Mystery | Suspense | Paranormal
Print Length: 352 pages
Available from: |
For Reviews & More:
January 7, 2018
Fear holds on. Love lets go.
Solid, unsettling, and fucking good, Ink and Bone was such a weird and thrilling read.
With an urban setting of a small town in the neck of a dark dark forest, mixed with the supernatural elements of the paranormal, it was really unique and refreshing. Super creepy too. I didn't think I'd like the two genres clashing together but I was pleasantly surprised.
And the fucking TWISTS. G'bye.
This is the one book I accidentally left and lost on an airplane so I had to wait for another copy to arrive BUT it was worth! Pretty sure this can be read as a standalone too.
Don't read this at night. The Hollows will find you.
4 STARS
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June 15, 2016
I have read and enjoyed quite a few books by author Lisa Unger and I find her writing exciting and well written. This book however did not grip me like her previous books and I was a little disappointed on finishing it. It is well written and I can see by other reviews there are plenty of people who enjoyed this novel but unfortunately I fall into the minority.
The book falls somewhere between thriller and horror and features a twenty year old Finley Montgomery who has grown up being visited by people only she can see. Finley Montgomery is able to see into the future and dream about events before they occur seeing beyond the physical world, unconsciously using her power to make supernatural things happen.
Finley cannot control her gift and in an effort to be able to control it goes to see her grandmother , a renowned seer who can finally teach Finley how to use her gift. Finley finds herself in the middle of a dangerous investigation involving a young girl who has been missing for ten months and the police have run out of ideas.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Touchstone for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.
The book falls somewhere between thriller and horror and features a twenty year old Finley Montgomery who has grown up being visited by people only she can see. Finley Montgomery is able to see into the future and dream about events before they occur seeing beyond the physical world, unconsciously using her power to make supernatural things happen.
Finley cannot control her gift and in an effort to be able to control it goes to see her grandmother , a renowned seer who can finally teach Finley how to use her gift. Finley finds herself in the middle of a dangerous investigation involving a young girl who has been missing for ten months and the police have run out of ideas.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Touchstone for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.
July 20, 2016
Ink and Bone is the very definition of a page turner � its kind of crime fiction, kind of other, with a banging main protagonist in Finley, a girl who has a lot more about her than is first apparent. Gripping from the very first page I rattled through this one over one night then was late for work. Luckily for me work is very forgiving�
This is also quite an emotional thriller, involving as it does a missing child and Lisa Unger captures the horror and the heartache of those left behind really well, some of it was heartbreaking to read. Around that she builds a beautifully addictive mystery element and gives us Finley to guide us through. There are some real edge of the seat moments, some really really tear jerking moments and a whole cast of characters that are full of depth and entirely fascinating.
Some twists and turns, some beautifully immersive descriptive prose along with a really well plotted and well drawn storyline, Ink and Bone was a book worth staying up for.
I’m assuming (hoping?) that this will be the start of a series because it was really great, I can definitely see this expanding into a great ongoing thing � if that happens I’ll be first in line each time.
This is also quite an emotional thriller, involving as it does a missing child and Lisa Unger captures the horror and the heartache of those left behind really well, some of it was heartbreaking to read. Around that she builds a beautifully addictive mystery element and gives us Finley to guide us through. There are some real edge of the seat moments, some really really tear jerking moments and a whole cast of characters that are full of depth and entirely fascinating.
Some twists and turns, some beautifully immersive descriptive prose along with a really well plotted and well drawn storyline, Ink and Bone was a book worth staying up for.
I’m assuming (hoping?) that this will be the start of a series because it was really great, I can definitely see this expanding into a great ongoing thing � if that happens I’ll be first in line each time.
June 29, 2016
I'm teetering between a 3.5 or a 4
Received from the Publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger is a missing person mystery being solved by a psychic who sees ghosts.
Finley is in her early 20's and is currently living with her grandmother (a well know psychic) while attending a community college. Finley sees ghosts and has "dreams" that she can't really control and cause her to black out.
Merri is a Mother whose daughter was kidnapped after her husband and son were shot and left for dead. She has not given up hope and desperately wants to find her daughter.
These two women are very interesting characters. Finley has covered her body in tattoos so that her outside looks like her inside. She covers her body with the faces of those she has visions about. She is a fast riding young woman trying to shut out the voices while trying to figure out her relationship with boyfriend. Merri is a strong woman who has put up with a lot in her life - mainly in her marriage and she refuses to give up on her missing daughter. Her drive for answers brings her to a private investigator who brings her to Finley.
This book had me at the first page. I liked both women and their stories. But this book is not entirely about them. It is about Merri's husband, a kidnapper, a kidnapped girl, a boy with PTSD, etc. The story was really interesting.
The book had several twist ans turns full of interesting characters, likable characters and not so likable characters. I love mysteries. I love trying to figure them out. I like that even when I thought I had it figured out, I didn't quite get it right.
I read this book fast because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.
Received from the Publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger is a missing person mystery being solved by a psychic who sees ghosts.
Finley is in her early 20's and is currently living with her grandmother (a well know psychic) while attending a community college. Finley sees ghosts and has "dreams" that she can't really control and cause her to black out.
Merri is a Mother whose daughter was kidnapped after her husband and son were shot and left for dead. She has not given up hope and desperately wants to find her daughter.
These two women are very interesting characters. Finley has covered her body in tattoos so that her outside looks like her inside. She covers her body with the faces of those she has visions about. She is a fast riding young woman trying to shut out the voices while trying to figure out her relationship with boyfriend. Merri is a strong woman who has put up with a lot in her life - mainly in her marriage and she refuses to give up on her missing daughter. Her drive for answers brings her to a private investigator who brings her to Finley.
This book had me at the first page. I liked both women and their stories. But this book is not entirely about them. It is about Merri's husband, a kidnapper, a kidnapped girl, a boy with PTSD, etc. The story was really interesting.
The book had several twist ans turns full of interesting characters, likable characters and not so likable characters. I love mysteries. I love trying to figure them out. I like that even when I thought I had it figured out, I didn't quite get it right.
I read this book fast because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.
July 3, 2016
Twenty year old Fin Montgomery is coming into her psychic powers and has gone to live in The Hollows to live with her grandmother Eloise, a well known psychic investigator to learn how to control her visions. Very young girls have gone missing in The Hollows and Fin is engaged by the PI who works with her grandmother to look into their disappearance.
This is a very creepy book in places, with lots of dark places, buried bodies and some very nasty people. The author really ramps up the tension and keeps you glued to the book until the final climactic ending! Whew!
This novel follows on from the three previous short stories based in the Hollows and now published as a novella () but it worked really well for me as a stand alone novel.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Simon & Schuster for a digital copy of the book to read and review
This is a very creepy book in places, with lots of dark places, buried bodies and some very nasty people. The author really ramps up the tension and keeps you glued to the book until the final climactic ending! Whew!
This novel follows on from the three previous short stories based in the Hollows and now published as a novella () but it worked really well for me as a stand alone novel.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Simon & Schuster for a digital copy of the book to read and review
May 13, 2016
Creepy. Haunting. Tense. It took just two days of spare-time reading to finish this book, and on the second, anyone who even thought about prying my Kindle out of my hands would have regretted it. My sweet husband, bless his heart, knows better than to try - even though it meant he had to fetch take-out for dinner.
Ironically, I almost didn't read it at all. When I had a chance to get it from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an unbiased review, I of course read the description and editorial reviews. Twisty psychological suspense? Check. Prophetic dreams? Maybe. Supernatural? You've got to be kidding. In the end, though, my sense of nothing ventured, nothing gained won out. And within the first couple of chapters, the author won me over.
On the surface, this is a story about Abbey, a young girl who has been missing for 10 months, and Finley Montgomery, a tattoo-covered 20-year-old who "sees" and "feels" people and things no one else does - with the exception of her grandmother Eloise. The grandmother, in fact, is a well-known psychic in The Hollows, a secluded New York community. Finley is staying with Eloise over the objections of her mother, who wants nothing to do with the town in which she once lived and even less with her mother, Eloise, whom she fears might encourage Finley to explore their shared "gift."
Abbey was taken while her parents and younger brother were vacationing in The Hollows. Her father took the kids on a hike in the woods, where both he and his son were shot. Alive but unable to move, they watched as a man dragged a screaming Abbey away. Understandably, the incident tore the family apart and traumatized the young boy. In desperation, Abbey's mother Merri decides to return to the scene of the abduction and hires a local detective, who happens to work occasionally with Eloise, in hopes of finding her daughter.
If that were all there were to it, I suppose the story could be told in a handful of chapters. And certainly, there are plenty of thrills and chills as details of what really happened are revealed. But the real intrigue lies in the complexity of the characters - and it is here that the writing really shines. Chapter by chapter, layers are peeled back and we see the good, the bad and the downright ugly as well as everyone's "connections" to the living, the dead and the...well, just read the book.
Ironically, I almost didn't read it at all. When I had a chance to get it from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an unbiased review, I of course read the description and editorial reviews. Twisty psychological suspense? Check. Prophetic dreams? Maybe. Supernatural? You've got to be kidding. In the end, though, my sense of nothing ventured, nothing gained won out. And within the first couple of chapters, the author won me over.
On the surface, this is a story about Abbey, a young girl who has been missing for 10 months, and Finley Montgomery, a tattoo-covered 20-year-old who "sees" and "feels" people and things no one else does - with the exception of her grandmother Eloise. The grandmother, in fact, is a well-known psychic in The Hollows, a secluded New York community. Finley is staying with Eloise over the objections of her mother, who wants nothing to do with the town in which she once lived and even less with her mother, Eloise, whom she fears might encourage Finley to explore their shared "gift."
Abbey was taken while her parents and younger brother were vacationing in The Hollows. Her father took the kids on a hike in the woods, where both he and his son were shot. Alive but unable to move, they watched as a man dragged a screaming Abbey away. Understandably, the incident tore the family apart and traumatized the young boy. In desperation, Abbey's mother Merri decides to return to the scene of the abduction and hires a local detective, who happens to work occasionally with Eloise, in hopes of finding her daughter.
If that were all there were to it, I suppose the story could be told in a handful of chapters. And certainly, there are plenty of thrills and chills as details of what really happened are revealed. But the real intrigue lies in the complexity of the characters - and it is here that the writing really shines. Chapter by chapter, layers are peeled back and we see the good, the bad and the downright ugly as well as everyone's "connections" to the living, the dead and the...well, just read the book.
September 24, 2016
Where to start with this one.. I have never read anything by Lisa Unger before, which is exciting because not only does she have more books out there, but others in this same setting with overlapping characters! Love finding new (to me) authors.
I personally have no reservations when it comes to the theme of psychic abilities, which is a major one here, but I really think this book is written solidly enough that even for a complete non-believer it would still be a great read.
I felt like all of the characters had a credibility (and a complexity) to them and felt pretty real. The writing itself was something I really admired and I would often re read parts because they were so pretty or articulate or both. I especially liked the relationship between the main character and her on again off again boyfriend and the one between Eloise and Cooper.
Although I felt there were certain moments where a new paragraph would begin and it wasn't immediately clear whose perspective we were now hearing from and some slight moments that were confusing in other ways and didn't quite gel for me, they were the minority by far.
Overall I would give this a 4.5/5
Really well done. I'm eager to read Fragile now and learn more back story about Jones Cooper and his wife Maggie.
I personally have no reservations when it comes to the theme of psychic abilities, which is a major one here, but I really think this book is written solidly enough that even for a complete non-believer it would still be a great read.
I felt like all of the characters had a credibility (and a complexity) to them and felt pretty real. The writing itself was something I really admired and I would often re read parts because they were so pretty or articulate or both. I especially liked the relationship between the main character and her on again off again boyfriend and the one between Eloise and Cooper.
Although I felt there were certain moments where a new paragraph would begin and it wasn't immediately clear whose perspective we were now hearing from and some slight moments that were confusing in other ways and didn't quite gel for me, they were the minority by far.
Overall I would give this a 4.5/5
Really well done. I'm eager to read Fragile now and learn more back story about Jones Cooper and his wife Maggie.
July 11, 2021
I always enjoy Lisa Unger's book. She is an excellent writer who get you so involved with the characters The first book of her's i read "Fragile" , I read in one day. Could not put it down. I feel that way about all of them. The first one I finished in one day. Have not done that with the others but I do read them quickly. This is an excellent mystery with the story of psychics working with the Police. The Ink and Bone is realated to the main character as she is made of ink and bone because she has so many tatoos. Very good story. Love this author!
June 7, 2016
A special thank you to Touchstone and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Lisa Unger returns following The Whispering Hollows, where we received a recap of the haunting Hollows Series and a tantalizing preview of her latest INK AND BONE, a dark psychological suspense, with a chilling supernatural, horror, and Gothic twist.
From voices, ghosts, spirits, evil, visions, monsters, whispers, graveyards, voices, trains, birds, death, torture, abuse, grief, identity, obsessions, prophetic dreams, imaginary friends, and the mysteries of human psyche. The lost, broken, and victims of their parent’s evils and mistakes.
A young girl, Abbey—her love for her daddy, mom and older brother. She especially loves her Daddy; however, he seems to be often distracted by his phone (no kidding)!. Dad was not supposed to be talking on his cell phone (porn or sexting) during their special outing on a hiking trail, while enjoying the nature and birds. A tragedy occurs, dad and brother are hurt, and she was taught to run. However, she was not fast enough. The men have caught her. All is turning black.
Finley Montgomery (Eloise’s granddaughter), twenty-years old, (with her tattoos and motorcycle) is center stage in Ink and Bone. Picking up from the last installment, she is moving to The Hollows, New York and lands in the middle of a dangerous investigation involving a young girl who has been missing for ten months, and the police have all but given up hope.
There were 9,780 living souls populating The Hollows. There were good people and bad ones, people with secrets and dark appetites, happy people, and people buckling under the weight of grief and sorrow. There were people who were looking for things --and loved ones they had lost--people hiding.
Lost people trying to find their way home. Each of them connected to the others in ways that were obvious, or as hidden as the abandoned mine tunnels beneath the ground. Each had his purpose and his place in The Hollows.
Ա’s ex-boyfriend, Rainer from Seattle had followed her, now tending bar at Jake’s Pub, a cop hangout. She does not need the distraction. However, he keeps showing up.
Merri Gleason, Abbey’s mother has been hooked on pills, an unfaithful husband, Wolf (narcissistic-what a jerk), an OCD son, Jackson, and a daughter, Abbey � still missing. A bad marriage. After a weekend mountain lake house getaway trip to the Hollows—her life turned into a nightmare. The enormous unthinkable tragedy that ultimately blew them to smithereens.
After ten months she has to try everything to find her daughter. They had spent money, had news conferences, searches, volunteers, fliers, and manhunts. All had ceased and weathered away. Everyone had given up. She still blamed herself. Her husband, the Ivy League travel writer, adventurer—educated man of the world (and skirt chaser) had taken the kids on a hiking trip to give her time by herself. The shooting of father and son, and her daughter was taken. Merri was living in fear and guilt—the world had become such a crowded frenetic, and terribly lonely place.
She has turned to Jones Cooper PI (retired Hollows PD) and psychic Eloise Montgomery for help. She is desperate for answers. However, Eloise is not getting anything and turns it over to her granddaughter, Finley to work with Cooper.
Eloise and Jones had worked many cases with good success, their talents balancing and complementing each other. They had good energy. Merri has checked into Miss Lovely’s Bed and Breakfast in The Hollows, a charming little guesthouse, where she felt safe, while she was determined to find her daughter.
Finley and Eloise were Listeners, people who heard (saw, and experienced) what other people couldn’t. Someone like Jones was a Sensitive—whether he knew it or not—someone with sharp instincts with the ability to see right through the layers of person straight into the truth.
There are similarities between two cases –The Gleasons and Fitzpatricks. Both families had come from Manhattan. Eliza age nine and a boy Joshua age fourteen. The Gleasons had hired other detectives and now a lot was riding on the case—Finley was feeling the pressure pushing down. She did not disappear into visions like Eloise did, or actually communicate with the dead like Agatha Cross. She sort of did both, but sometimes there wasn’t a lot of cohesion to what she experienced. Lines were blurred—visions or reality. What did the dead want? The lost were getting restless and angry.
The truth was Finley wasn’t sure how she planned to use her gifts (Eloise was a slave to the gifts), and she was not sure she wanted this. Eloise had told her she was chosen. She was unsure she was ready.
“Life is an impossible twist of choice and circumstance, one rarely exists without the other.�
The Whispers were usually quiet; however, at times they could be loud. A million voices telling their stories, the full rainbow of human experience—birth and death, joy and grief, fear and love.
A New York real estate developer visitor gets murdered, (wrong place-wrong time) people living off the grid- the townies call them “hill� people. They felt the Hollows belonged to them. Folks who lived off the land. Masking themselves as normal people, coming into town. What monsters are hidden in the Hollows Woods? The underground minds? Hidden rooms. The pain givers, and the misery makers. Why are they taking and torturing innocent people?
How could Abbey, and those other two children, this man, just disappear and not be found? Swallowing up innocent lives.
The negative energy of The Hollows could not be denied. Missing persons, miscarriages, accidents, and unexplained events. Brutal murders, witch burnings, and horrible mining accidents. It was not always positive or negative, but always demands something of people like Finley. A place where people moved their families to get away from crime and the chaos of the big city, vacationing here for its natural beauty.
We hear from Abbey, Penny, and the evil monsters connected, in the deep woods, hiding their evil secrets. Flashing back and forth from Eloise, Finley, Jones, and characters and spirits from previous books --a race against time to find the monsters, who collect Dreamers, before they kill again. There are those trapped, and someone is holding them back so they cannot pass. Will they be heard? If you look hard enough at the facts, you will find the trail of evidence that leads you to the truth, no matter how ugly. People always thought the dead haunted the living, but sometimes it was the other way around.
“Someone at peace has to show them the way out. Once negativity has been released, it won’t attract anymore.�
Taking the haunted characters of previous books, The Three Sisters, the victims of hatred and jealousy, The Burning Girl and her sister abused by their stepfather then murdered by their own mother, and Elsie another little girl drowned by her mother. The lost ones.
Finley was buried under the weight of the terrible sadness—each horrible moment of abuse, neglect, and murder which flashed before her eyes—the horror. The lost girls. The brokenness. The screaming.
Recommend reading The Whispers #1 to learn about the background of Eloise and Finley. Loved Fatboy and Priss in Crazy Love You.
Unger definitely crosses to the dark side with Ink and Bone, with more supernatural crazies than I particularly care for (Not a fan of paranormal or horror); however, she is a superb storyteller. Definitely dark and disturbing—so if you are looking for a feel good book, you need to look elsewhere. For me, some of the paranormal, horror, Gothic, and ghoulish took away from the overall suspense thriller side, I prefer.
Since I have read all the books and novellas in the series, was curious to see how things would end up with Eloise, Finley and the missing girl. Unger leaves the ending open to another installment which fans will look forward to. Not the ending I was hoping for.
Was intrigued how she ventured into this dark subject material. Read further" Deep stuff! A wild imagination. Also read Gerritsen's Playing with Fire. Both, anything BUT ordinary.
Lisa Unger returns following The Whispering Hollows, where we received a recap of the haunting Hollows Series and a tantalizing preview of her latest INK AND BONE, a dark psychological suspense, with a chilling supernatural, horror, and Gothic twist.
From voices, ghosts, spirits, evil, visions, monsters, whispers, graveyards, voices, trains, birds, death, torture, abuse, grief, identity, obsessions, prophetic dreams, imaginary friends, and the mysteries of human psyche. The lost, broken, and victims of their parent’s evils and mistakes.
A young girl, Abbey—her love for her daddy, mom and older brother. She especially loves her Daddy; however, he seems to be often distracted by his phone (no kidding)!. Dad was not supposed to be talking on his cell phone (porn or sexting) during their special outing on a hiking trail, while enjoying the nature and birds. A tragedy occurs, dad and brother are hurt, and she was taught to run. However, she was not fast enough. The men have caught her. All is turning black.
Finley Montgomery (Eloise’s granddaughter), twenty-years old, (with her tattoos and motorcycle) is center stage in Ink and Bone. Picking up from the last installment, she is moving to The Hollows, New York and lands in the middle of a dangerous investigation involving a young girl who has been missing for ten months, and the police have all but given up hope.
There were 9,780 living souls populating The Hollows. There were good people and bad ones, people with secrets and dark appetites, happy people, and people buckling under the weight of grief and sorrow. There were people who were looking for things --and loved ones they had lost--people hiding.
Lost people trying to find their way home. Each of them connected to the others in ways that were obvious, or as hidden as the abandoned mine tunnels beneath the ground. Each had his purpose and his place in The Hollows.
Ա’s ex-boyfriend, Rainer from Seattle had followed her, now tending bar at Jake’s Pub, a cop hangout. She does not need the distraction. However, he keeps showing up.
Merri Gleason, Abbey’s mother has been hooked on pills, an unfaithful husband, Wolf (narcissistic-what a jerk), an OCD son, Jackson, and a daughter, Abbey � still missing. A bad marriage. After a weekend mountain lake house getaway trip to the Hollows—her life turned into a nightmare. The enormous unthinkable tragedy that ultimately blew them to smithereens.
After ten months she has to try everything to find her daughter. They had spent money, had news conferences, searches, volunteers, fliers, and manhunts. All had ceased and weathered away. Everyone had given up. She still blamed herself. Her husband, the Ivy League travel writer, adventurer—educated man of the world (and skirt chaser) had taken the kids on a hiking trip to give her time by herself. The shooting of father and son, and her daughter was taken. Merri was living in fear and guilt—the world had become such a crowded frenetic, and terribly lonely place.
She has turned to Jones Cooper PI (retired Hollows PD) and psychic Eloise Montgomery for help. She is desperate for answers. However, Eloise is not getting anything and turns it over to her granddaughter, Finley to work with Cooper.
Eloise and Jones had worked many cases with good success, their talents balancing and complementing each other. They had good energy. Merri has checked into Miss Lovely’s Bed and Breakfast in The Hollows, a charming little guesthouse, where she felt safe, while she was determined to find her daughter.
Finley and Eloise were Listeners, people who heard (saw, and experienced) what other people couldn’t. Someone like Jones was a Sensitive—whether he knew it or not—someone with sharp instincts with the ability to see right through the layers of person straight into the truth.
There are similarities between two cases –The Gleasons and Fitzpatricks. Both families had come from Manhattan. Eliza age nine and a boy Joshua age fourteen. The Gleasons had hired other detectives and now a lot was riding on the case—Finley was feeling the pressure pushing down. She did not disappear into visions like Eloise did, or actually communicate with the dead like Agatha Cross. She sort of did both, but sometimes there wasn’t a lot of cohesion to what she experienced. Lines were blurred—visions or reality. What did the dead want? The lost were getting restless and angry.
The truth was Finley wasn’t sure how she planned to use her gifts (Eloise was a slave to the gifts), and she was not sure she wanted this. Eloise had told her she was chosen. She was unsure she was ready.
“Life is an impossible twist of choice and circumstance, one rarely exists without the other.�
The Whispers were usually quiet; however, at times they could be loud. A million voices telling their stories, the full rainbow of human experience—birth and death, joy and grief, fear and love.
A New York real estate developer visitor gets murdered, (wrong place-wrong time) people living off the grid- the townies call them “hill� people. They felt the Hollows belonged to them. Folks who lived off the land. Masking themselves as normal people, coming into town. What monsters are hidden in the Hollows Woods? The underground minds? Hidden rooms. The pain givers, and the misery makers. Why are they taking and torturing innocent people?
How could Abbey, and those other two children, this man, just disappear and not be found? Swallowing up innocent lives.
The negative energy of The Hollows could not be denied. Missing persons, miscarriages, accidents, and unexplained events. Brutal murders, witch burnings, and horrible mining accidents. It was not always positive or negative, but always demands something of people like Finley. A place where people moved their families to get away from crime and the chaos of the big city, vacationing here for its natural beauty.
We hear from Abbey, Penny, and the evil monsters connected, in the deep woods, hiding their evil secrets. Flashing back and forth from Eloise, Finley, Jones, and characters and spirits from previous books --a race against time to find the monsters, who collect Dreamers, before they kill again. There are those trapped, and someone is holding them back so they cannot pass. Will they be heard? If you look hard enough at the facts, you will find the trail of evidence that leads you to the truth, no matter how ugly. People always thought the dead haunted the living, but sometimes it was the other way around.
“Someone at peace has to show them the way out. Once negativity has been released, it won’t attract anymore.�
Taking the haunted characters of previous books, The Three Sisters, the victims of hatred and jealousy, The Burning Girl and her sister abused by their stepfather then murdered by their own mother, and Elsie another little girl drowned by her mother. The lost ones.
Finley was buried under the weight of the terrible sadness—each horrible moment of abuse, neglect, and murder which flashed before her eyes—the horror. The lost girls. The brokenness. The screaming.
Recommend reading The Whispers #1 to learn about the background of Eloise and Finley. Loved Fatboy and Priss in Crazy Love You.
Unger definitely crosses to the dark side with Ink and Bone, with more supernatural crazies than I particularly care for (Not a fan of paranormal or horror); however, she is a superb storyteller. Definitely dark and disturbing—so if you are looking for a feel good book, you need to look elsewhere. For me, some of the paranormal, horror, Gothic, and ghoulish took away from the overall suspense thriller side, I prefer.
Since I have read all the books and novellas in the series, was curious to see how things would end up with Eloise, Finley and the missing girl. Unger leaves the ending open to another installment which fans will look forward to. Not the ending I was hoping for.
Was intrigued how she ventured into this dark subject material. Read further" Deep stuff! A wild imagination. Also read Gerritsen's Playing with Fire. Both, anything BUT ordinary.
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