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MONSTERS EXIST...

Linguist Andy Dennison-Jones knows this all too well. He and his veterinarian wife, Sun, have been chased by them before, and barely escaped from a secret underground government facility with their lives.

Now they once again find themselves trapped alongside a collection of creatures straight out of hell. Fighting with them is an unlikely group of misfits, including a misplaced British kid, a former spec-ops soldiers, and a strange Irishman who might be the oldest living thing on earth--if he's even alive at all.

Filled with the kind of slam-bang action, wicked scares, and sly humor that have earned J.A. Konrath and Iain Rob Wright millions of fans, HOLES IN THE GROUND is both a collaboration and a continuation of both authors' previous work (ORIGIN by Konrath and FINAL WINTER by Wright) but also serves as a perfect introduction to their universes.

The devil you know is just as bad as the devil you don't...

HOLES IN THE GROUND by J.A. Konrath and Iain Rob Wright
Some secrets have teeth.

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2014

232 people are currently reading
519 people want to read

About the author

J.A. Konrath

199 books3,015 followers
Joe Konrath has written over twenty novels in the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thriller series. They do not have to be read chronologically to be enjoyed, but the order is: Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, Rusty Nail, Dirty Martini, Shot of Tequila, Fuzzy Navel, Cherry Bomb, Dead On My Feet, Serial Killers Uncut (with Blake Crouch), Shaken, Stirred (with Blake Crouch), Dying Breath, Everybody Dies, Rum Runner, Last Call, White Russian, Shot Girl, Chaser, Old Fashioned, Bite Force, and Witch Brew. More coming soon.

Wow, that's a lot of Jack.

If you like your thrillers on the dark side, check out the Konrath Dark Thriller Collective, which includes the books The List, Origin, Afraid, Trapped, Endurance, Haunted House, Webcam, Disturb, What Happened To Lori, The Nine, Second Coming, and Close Your Eyes.

Joe also wrote the Stop A Murder mystery puzzle series, where you become the sleuth and solve brain teasers to try and catch a killer.

He also wrote the sci-fi trilogy, Timecaster, Timecaster Supersymmetry, and Timecaster Steampunk. Even if you don't think you like sci-fi, give them a try. They feature Joe's well-known characters from his other series, and are insane.

With Ann Voss Peterson he wrote the Codename: Chandler thrillers, including Flee, Spree, Three, Hit, Exposed, Naughty, Fix (with F. Paul Wilson), Rescue, and Free.

And, finally, he writes erotica under the pen name Melinda DuChamp, also with Ann Voss Peterson. Those books are probably too spicy for you, so only the brave and bold should seek them out.

Joe writes a lot. You should probably read everything.

You can visit Joe and sign up for his newsletter at www.JAKonrath.com/mailing-list.php

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5 stars
241 (39%)
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234 (38%)
3 stars
111 (18%)
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17 (2%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
Profile Image for 11811 (Eleven).
663 reviews163 followers
March 22, 2015
I gave a five star rating to Origin, twice - once for the book, and a couple years later for the audio book. This was about a 1.5. I don't how that worked out. Both were a mash up of ridiculous humor but this sequel seemed more ridiculous and less humorous. I didn't read the Wright edition included before Konrath touched it so I can't comment on that. I'm not about to read the story a second time to find out.

I only read one other Wright book so far, The Final Winter, to prepare for this since this is a sequel to both that book and Origin, and think I gave it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it.

I was really surprised by how much I disliked this dual-sequel. Bummer.
Profile Image for WendyB .
665 reviews
November 3, 2016
Very entertaining. Even better than Origin the first in what looks to become a series.
Lots of strange creepy creatures and action. Fun character and humor.
Profile Image for David Dalton.
3,060 reviews
November 18, 2016
I really like stories like this one. Where two great authors team up to write a great thriller. A darn good sequel to Origin by J.A. Konrath . Both are similar in nature and full of action, and some darn good scary monsters. Why is this not a film franchise?

If you like Origin, then you will like this thriller. It also features a few characters from The Final Winter by Iain Rob Wright by Iain Rob Wright. I have The Final Winter on my Kindle but have read it yet, but I plan to soon.

Hey about you two authors teaming up for a prequel to Afraid by Jack Kilborn ? I would love to read about the Red team before they appeared in Afraid. Kinda of an adult version of Suicide Squad.
537 reviews
October 26, 2016
Yes, Holes in the Ground has a similar plot (Beelzebub and ancient, mythical creatures kept in an underground government facility) and some of the same characters as Origin, the first book in the series, but it is just as much fun. And gory! This time an even more special ancient figure is thrown into the mix, and I enjoyed the religious and historical aspect of the story. I just love when historical facts and events are woven into a fictional story in a seamless way—e.g., Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Holes in the Ground was written by J.A. Konrath and Iain Wright, and I could't tell where one left off and the other picked the story back up. I was that into the story.

Would definitely be interested in reading a third installment.

Profile Image for Suzy Tadlock.
14 reviews10 followers
September 7, 2017
MONSTERS!!!

This was a different kind of book, at least I thought, for Iain Rob Wright. I enjoyed it of course, just like I've enjoyed all his books I've read. All kinds of monsters locked up in "cages" they can't get out of. The very monsters you had nightmares about when you were a child. Hundreds of years old. A couple of adorable ones though. Loved that! Heaven and Hell. Good and Evil. Do the good guys win or do the monsters kill everyone? You must read this book and find out.
1,706 reviews10 followers
June 12, 2017
Speaking as a reader who has read almost every book written by Iain Rob Wright and J.A. Konrath, this book is a dream come true. It includes horror, sci-fi, a tad of religion and humor. At times it is horror at its best, creatures who want you for lunch. Then there are the parts that are horrifyingly funny and monsters who are nothing but cuddly and a really cool banana. An amazing collaboration between two of the greats. Definitely need more!
Profile Image for Daryl lawrence.
3 reviews
March 12, 2017
Loved it!!

Fast paced, familiar characters and a few twists. I'm just starting to read Mr. Konrath's work and so far I'm really impressed with his writing style.
Profile Image for Laura Thomas.
1,552 reviews106 followers
March 29, 2018
Two of my go to authors when I want something dark that makes me squirm while reading have come together with a thrilling new story. I enjoyed The Final Winter by Iain and Origin by Konrath. Now they’ve teamed up and written the sequel to Origin, including character’s from both of the books.

Imagine a secret society who’s sole purpose is to protect mankind from things that go bump in the night. Things we believe exist only in our imagination. Deep below ground there are creatures beyond imaging. Locked up in a facility. They believe this time they’ve covered all the bases. No way can what happened at Samhain happen again.

So, with that thought, things do go wrong, horribly wrong. It’s monsters on a grand scale. Some you’ll recognize, some are straight out of nightmares. There were a couple I just couldn’t picture. So bizarre. And once monstergeddon begins, it’s a massacre.

I really liked some of the character’s. A husband and wife team from the previous book, Origin, are recruited to try to find out what one of the most dangerous denizens is up to. Some honeymoon they’re having. And the young man that accidentally got himself invited along had no idea what he was in for. Most of the scientists, security and staff I figured to be monster chum. One soldier had potential to be a good guy. And Wolfie. I liked Wolfie. Might not have if I actually saw it up close. It’s not what you’re thinking it is. And one so called monster that looks like an ordinary man, first appearing in The Final Winter, remains a mystery as to his intent til right at the end.

Once the killing starts there’s no slowing down with this one. It’s bloody death on every level of the facility. Even monsters killing monsters. No one is spared. Kind of reminded me of a scene from Cabin In The Woods. And there’s this wild twist that still has me reeling.

You actually get two versions of this book. Iain Rob Wright explains how he came to write the sequel to Origin with J.A. Konrath.. You get the final version from both authors and the first one written by Iain. The authors put their heads together and give you Holes In The Ground in all its bloody glory.

Monster lovers and fans of these two authors, you don’t want to miss this one.
Profile Image for Daniel Stainback.
204 reviews7 followers
September 9, 2022
Fun, but not great. This seemed a lot like someone just hit reset on the first book, tossed in a few new characters, removed pages, and then said done.
Profile Image for Tiffany .
365 reviews36 followers
January 11, 2017
Authors J.A. Konrath and Iain Rob Wright come together to create Holes in the Ground. This thriller serves as a sequel to Konrath's Origin, but also features characters from Wright's Final Winter. Linguist Andy Dennison and veterinarian Sunshine Jones are now married, but before they get the opportunity to enjoy their honeymoon, they find themselves being brought in to work in yet another secret underground government facility. Except this time around, the government is housing more than just Bub.

I loved how easily Jerry and Lucas from Wright's Final Winter fit into Konrath's story. They join Andy and Sun at the secret facility, where they are asked to consult on one of Bub's Batlings, as well as Lucas. While the facility was stocked with a handful of quirky personnel in Origin, this time around the facility is being run by a secret society backed by the Catholic Church, Deus Manus, who seem much more prepared for the monsters they're in charge of investigating. This made me like the secondary characters more, as they seemed more like a realistic representation of who I think would be in charge of a secret government facility.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was that it was less gross than Origin, and a lot more humorous. This made the book less frightening, but a lot more fun to read. Andy and Sun are a cute couple, and it was great reading about them battling Bub and his minions once again. I also really liked the new character Nessie, and hope to see her again in the future. From how this story ended that may be a possibility. Overall this was a great sequel. Having Wright collaborate on the book didn't change it from reading as one of Konrath's novels, and only added to it by bringing Wright's humor.This review was originally posted on I Was Angelized_1st
Profile Image for Nev Murray.
448 reviews33 followers
November 15, 2014
OK so J A Konrath is one of my fav authors. Iain Rob Wright is one of my fav authors.

Konrath's "Origin" is one of my fav books so when it came to pass a sequel was being written and it was a collaboration with Iain Rob Wright......well I just couldn't wait for it.........I have not been disappointed. This book is just superb!!!!!!!!!

The original "Origin" is set in a secret underground facility in America where a dark secret has been kept hidden for years to be studied to try and find the secrets it holds. The main characters in it are Andy and Sun, a linguist and a vet. Without giving too much away things don't really go as planned and disaster strikes with the facility being destroyed and the dark secret "Bub" escaping.

"Holes In The Ground" is the long awaited sequel. Originally written by Wright and tweaked by Konrath this book is immense. I want to tell you so much about the plot but can't in case I give too much away. The central characters are once again Andy and Sun battling against the evil Bub, but in this book they have help from a few characters from one of the best books Iain Rob Wright has ever written, "The Final Winter". The fantastic Lucas and the somewhat annoying Jerry (definitely not annoying in this book).

There are a few things that both authors have in common. They write horror fantastically well. They add humour to their stories which is both dry, black and extremely funny at times but used in a way that is scary at the same time.

This book is 100MPH from the outset. It's scary, it's gory and it's funny but most of all it's one you won't want to put down once you start it. Do yourself a favour and buy the original "Origin" if you haven't already read it, then throw a sickie and read "Holes In The Ground" straight away. You will not regret it.

What a bloody brilliant read!!!
Profile Image for Jacqui.
925 reviews8 followers
October 6, 2019
"Protocol Omega has been initiated. Repeat, Protocol Omega has been initiated. You have thirty minutes to evacuate the Spiral." The General blew out a deep breath. "May God help us all."

What a ride. J. A. Konrath has created another gem with some much loved characters. Holes in the Ground takes places not long after Origin left off. Andrew Dennison and Sun Jones are finally happy, having married just 24 hours earlier. They begin their new life on a romantic honeymoon, blissfully unaware that one knock on their door is about to change everything. Whisked away by the Secret Service, by order of the President, Mr. and Mrs. Dennison-Jones are brought to the Spiral, a secret underground facility purpose built to house the stuff of nightmares. This macabre zoo of vampires, werewolves and giant arachnids would be bad enough, if not for Bub. The mastermind of evil is back and still hell bent on wiping out the human race and enslaving the rest of man kind.
Antiheroes Andy and Sun are joined by a group of misfits as they fight to stop Bub, survive the many evil monsters trying to kill them and leave the Spiral before they're all buried alive and hell of Earth begins.

An enjoyable read, fast-paced and witty as hell. No pun intended.
Profile Image for Chris.
578 reviews
November 13, 2014
This wasn't as good a book as I thought it would be. It is a VERY good book...... just not the book I thought would be the sequel to "Origin". :-( I was a little disappointed....... really wanted the sequel to be done SOLELY by the original author.... JA Konrath. It seems like he enjoys having books done with other authors...... who are NEVER going to have the same take on his original as he is. This was evidenced in the second copy of this book, which follows the "co-written" version on the Kindle version of the book. The entire book was written by Iain Rob Wright FIRST, and then Konrath added his own "stuff" to that. In the Kindle version..... the book with contributions by both authors, comes first. It wasn't until I read the second version, that I saw how little Konrath had injected. I would still recommend reading it.. but having read "Origin" shouldn't be the reason you pick this up to read it!
Profile Image for J.F. Penn.
Author 56 books2,233 followers
February 13, 2015
I loved Origin, so this was a must-read follow up with a similar story line. Beelzebub is held in an underground bunker, holed up with creatures from myth and legend, a horrific array of monsters. But it becomes evident that his plan is not to stay locked up for long...
Monstertastic in the vein of Jeremy Robinson and James Rollins earlier work.
532 reviews2 followers
August 9, 2023
I really enjoyed Holes in the Ground (kindle edition) by Iain Rob Wright who is a British author and J A Konrath an American author.
The prequel to Holes in the Ground is by J A Konrath when Andy Dennison receives a phone call from President Roosevelt. Andy is a linguist translator is introduced to Dr. Sunshine Jones who is a vetenerian and they are both introduced to Bub aka devil and Beelzebub and barely escape with their lives from Samhain and both have nighmares about the place.
Samhain was built in 1906 by President Roosevelt and held just one single subject unlike the Spiral which is host to more than one species of monsters.
They have now both been assigned to Project Monstrum facility 26 or Spiral under General Austin Kane. A young man named Jerry befriended them at their honeymoon suite and Sun and Andy took pity on him and brought him with them.
The Spiral is about to experience something which they have never encountered in the eight years of it's existence and it is going to be a fight to the death.
Profile Image for Travis.
231 reviews7 followers
October 1, 2021
“Cabin in the Woods if written by Dan Brown”

Holes in the Ground is a sequel to Origin, and does the first book so much justice. I started and finished this book in one sitting because of how good it is. The 2 things Konrath/Wright are amazing at; Horror and Action. Every. Single. Page kept you wanting more. There are a good bit of new characters added to the story but Konrath/Wright writes them so well and gives them their own chapters to where you feel like you already know them. I really love when horror authors get to the point but also spends just the right amount of time with backstory instead of spending 10 whole chapters just on backstory. This book also added so many new creatures and lore. If you like Konraths/Wrights work or are a horror fan, please pick up this series!
Profile Image for B. Kirby.
214 reviews5 followers
October 7, 2021
From the moment I finished ORIGIN I knew I had to get my hands on this. It has the same feel of the original but added new setting, characters, and creatures (all of which are insanely cool and horrifying). Of course some of the mystery aspect is gone because the original book popped that cherry but the thriller/suspense feel is still there in full force. This is a quick read because it’s so hard to put down. I found a lot of errors in my copy but it doesn’t make me like it any less. For some reason I just love these books so much. They always scratch that itch that I’m looking for. Hate it is already over. Can’t wait for another one to come out!
7 reviews
November 8, 2021
The plot of the sequel had a lot of potential but ended up being no where near as engaging as Origin.
There were some additional characters here that I found to be quite annoying (particularly, Wright's 'Jerry' character and the banana anomaly); so much so that they broke up the little tension Konrath had managed to build up on several occasions. It was a consistent battle between the two author's tones, with Wright's additions bordering on downright ridiculous for most of it.

That said, if you're a fan of Wright's humor, monsters and a bit of gore, then you'll love this.
Profile Image for Wenzel Roessler.
816 reviews6 followers
May 27, 2021
What an amazingly fun read! If you like horror, religion and humor mixed in one delicious cake this book is for you . At times it is tense and scary and at times funny, the book is a great balance of it all. Sure, they way all the characters comes together is a bit of a stretch but in this story it really did not matter. I like all of the easter eggs from previous Konrath stories and this really makes me want to start reading the Iain Rob Wright books.
Profile Image for Ami.
2,402 reviews14 followers
March 30, 2019
Excellent entertainment to be had within! The previous statement should be on the cover of this fast-paced, horror/black humor/dystopian novel. I did not want to put it down for any reason but I fell asleep against my will! I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Read via Kindle Unlimited
Profile Image for Kay.
1,722 reviews18 followers
April 28, 2019
Having recently enjoyed Origin I had to reread The Final Winter before getting stuck into this sequel featuring characters from The Final Winter. And it worked! Horror writing that isn't boring. I love Iain Rob Wright (and Dave Moody) and now have to investigate more work by J A Konrath.

Ray Smillie
Profile Image for Cynthia (Bingeing On Books).
1,668 reviews126 followers
August 11, 2019
Loved this one. I had been wondering what happened to Bub after the end of the Origin and this was a great conclusion. My only complaint was that it started out a bit too slow.. It took a bit too long to get to the action. But once the action started, I was not let down. It was everything Konrath is known for: scary, intense, crazy. Great book.
Profile Image for Liz.
291 reviews4 followers
June 22, 2019
Fantastic sequel to origin

Two books in one the first a collaboration between the two authors and the second by Iain Rob Wright , basically the same but with some subtle changes, I liked the first one as it had a happier ending and wolfie got to live, I love a happy ending
Profile Image for Tracy Brower.
Author 4 books47 followers
September 9, 2019
This book kept me reading but it’s very campy. The characters are a bit annoying and monsters are bizarre (the talking banana was a bit much). Things got complicated and resolved very easily. I was glad when it was finished but am a bit embarrassed to admit it kept me entertained.
67 reviews
January 24, 2020
SCARY

Dang, what a page turner. Very scary. I enjoyed the second part that was Iain's version before Joe got involved. I liked the finale version, which was the first part, better. They did good working together. If you like a his of horror and sci-fi you'll love this book.
276 reviews
April 26, 2018
Holes

Holes was better than I thought it was going to be. It was my type of story. Good read. You will meet all kinds of monsters.
Profile Image for Lisa Stethem.
309 reviews2 followers
September 8, 2018
Another decent collaboration from Konrath. Reading all his books makes these enjoyable by learning the characters. This book had some aspects I didn’t like but in the end, it was a good story.
2 reviews
December 2, 2019
Epic!

Absolutely brilliant! Two of my favourite story tellers. If you like these writers then you would be mad to miss this!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews

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