HOLLOW OUT THE DARK
By James Wade
Literary Fiction / Southern Gothic / Rural Fiction
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Pages: 328
Publication Date: August 20, 2024
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*** SYNOPSIS ***
Award-winning author James Wade blends atmospheric prose with soul-stirring themes in Hollow Out the Dark, a gothic adventure set against a Depression-era landscape where a whiskey war threatens to decimate a small Texas town.
A veteran of the Great War, Jesse Cole is grateful for the quiet life he now leads. But when his closest friend runs afoul of local criminals Frog and Squirrel Fenley, Jesse is forced to spin his moral compass and enter a violent and volatile underworld. There he encounters corrupt lawmen, hired assassins, and a dark family secret that will upend all he once knew.
Complicating matters are Texas Ranger Amon Atkins—who arrives to investigate the Fenleys just as their empire is threatened by a deadly new competitor—and the green-eyed, raven-haired Adaline, a love Jesse thought he’d lost forever.
With resources scarce and winter falling hard on the town, a desperate Jesse must choose between the law and the lawless and find a way to survive while still protecting the people he loves.
A heart-pounding tale full of plot-twisting revelations, Hollow Out the Dark brings readers into a whiskey-fueled world where everyone has a secret, and love everlasting balances on the edge of a knife.
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BOOK TRAILER
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*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR ***
James Wade is the award-winning author of Beasts of the Earth, All Things Left Wild, and River, Sing Out. He is the youngest novelist to win two Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, and the recipient of the MPIBA’s prestigious Reading the West Award. James’s work has appeared in Southern Literary Magazine, the Bitter Oleander, Writers’ Digest, and numerous additional publications. James lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and children.
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*** REVIEW ***
James Wade brings another terrific story to life.
One thing you can always count on in a novel from James Wade is the extreme contrast of characters. The villains are truly despicable people with little or no moral restraint. The heroes, while flawed in many ways, hold decency and integrity in the depths of their hearts, even if they’re sometimes forced by circumstances to walk on the dark side to accomplish a greater good. That contrast plays out so well in the characters of Jesse and Hollis and Moss – the “good” guys who are up against Squirrel, Frog, Blackwell, and Preston.
When those characters clash, it’s in the most heart-stopping scenes that make a reader anxious to get to the end of the action, but a little afraid of what’s to come. Those encounters don’t always end in a typical the-good-guys-win scenario, so we’re never sure what the author is going to throw at us.
Wade throws plenty. He doesn’t hold back when it comes to presenting the harsh reality of a hard life in a hard place at a hard time in history. That reality is not always pleasant to read about, but even the scenes that depict the worst of humanity are written in a style that makes it hard to look away.
In contrast with that are the scenes drawn for us with exquisite descriptions and a narrative that can be enjoyed and savored. I often reread sections just to absorb the depth and beauty of the writing.
For example, here’s a tender love scene between Jesse and Adaline, “They hold one another, and more, and afterward they bathe in the cool water and dry on the rocks like lizards. They tell each other secrets and make promises they can’t hope to keep, but such is their youth and their love and the warmth of the moment.”
Another example is this poignant presentation of the thoughts of a dying man, “He listened to the bird song and dreamed of the spring to come. Of honeysuckle and clover and rich fragrant pine, of Maypops and azaleas, monarchs and hummingbirds and whitetail bucks, their antlers rendered in velvet; and all the world awakening at once, reborn and full from the cold and the dark and manifested in such color and wonder and soul-aching beauty and he knew he could stay there, in that soft, bright tomorrow, if only he kept closed his eyes.”
A stream of consciousness that reads as if we’re inside that person’s head, seeing all those things with their eyes and hearing with their ears. Bringing a reader that deeply into a story, into a character, is not easily achieved, and this writer is always in awe of an author who can do that.
Wade is the best at atmospheric crime fiction and you won’t be disappointed if you grab his latest release.
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Excellent review, and you hit the nail on the head with how this author writes. I listened to the audiobook, but I also am re-reading many of the scenes because they are so gloriously written. I’ll be recommending this one to many readers.
Thanks for the affirmation on my review, Kristine. I’ve wondered if the beauty of the language comes through as well in audio. Perhaps it does momentarily, but what’s great about reading is that you can pause to reread and savor the words. Some stories just need to be on the page I think.