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Silvers Hollow
When a young woman awakens in her childhood hometown with no recollection of how she arrived, she finds a world she doesn't recognize. What follows is an odyssey into the darkest depths of the human psyche, as she searches for not only the truth, but for her very soul.
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2021
32 people are currently reading
356 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Delaney
4 books4 followersAuthor writes under the penname Patrick R. Delaney as well
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
June 5, 2021
A woman awakens on the ground of an empty train depot while seeing the red lights of the train as it just left the station and she finds her clothes are dirty and also has a bang on her head and notices her watch missing as well.
Very confused and in pain she finally recognizes the train depot of her childhood town Silver Hollows. Why would she be back here? She hasn't been back to her hometown in decades. Why now? She is approached by a police officer who puts her in his car and he knows who she is and he will take her home but she also sees that his police car appears as if it is from the 1950's (very strange) and the town seems empty as well. Why is she here and where will she go and what the heck is going on?
This was an interesting and mysterious piece of work by Patrick Delaney. The story had a moody and poetic style of writing and the reader is kept in the dark (literally) until the very end. This was more of a subtle type of horror story not really my cup of tea but it may have a great appeal for many readers. I really wanted to like this book but I have to admit I was pretty lost throughout the story and maybe more confused by the time I finally finished it. Please remember this was my opinion and others will appreciate the book for how it was written.
I want to thank the publisher "Oblivion" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given a rating of 2 1/2 🌟🌟🌠 stars!!
Very confused and in pain she finally recognizes the train depot of her childhood town Silver Hollows. Why would she be back here? She hasn't been back to her hometown in decades. Why now? She is approached by a police officer who puts her in his car and he knows who she is and he will take her home but she also sees that his police car appears as if it is from the 1950's (very strange) and the town seems empty as well. Why is she here and where will she go and what the heck is going on?
This was an interesting and mysterious piece of work by Patrick Delaney. The story had a moody and poetic style of writing and the reader is kept in the dark (literally) until the very end. This was more of a subtle type of horror story not really my cup of tea but it may have a great appeal for many readers. I really wanted to like this book but I have to admit I was pretty lost throughout the story and maybe more confused by the time I finally finished it. Please remember this was my opinion and others will appreciate the book for how it was written.
I want to thank the publisher "Oblivion" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given a rating of 2 1/2 🌟🌟🌠 stars!!
July 1, 2021
The story opens with a woman waking up in a dark railway station with no memory of how she reached there and finding that she's in her childhood hometown, Silvers Hollow. Only there's something wrong about the town that she can't quite put a finger on. What transpires from there is a dark horror/mystery that will keep you as confused as the protagonist and turning the pages.
This book was going so well till the last 10 pages. I was lost, full of questions and theories on 'What the hell is going on!'. The terror is subtle for the most part. The writing is atmospheric and keeps you glued to the pages. I was loving it and was all set to give this book a 5-star review. But then the story ended and I thought my copy was not downloaded properly.
But I HATE ambiguous ending in a thriller. When I read a mystery I want all (at least most) the mysteries solved by the last page. And that's where it fell apart for me. I couldn't believe that that's how this book is going to end. More than half of the questions in the story are left unanswered, and the big reveal although unexpected was not strong enough to hit the right chords. If you like vague endings, go for it. But if that's not your cup of tea, then chances are the ending will leave you furious like me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for the ARC.
This book was going so well till the last 10 pages. I was lost, full of questions and theories on 'What the hell is going on!'. The terror is subtle for the most part. The writing is atmospheric and keeps you glued to the pages. I was loving it and was all set to give this book a 5-star review. But then the story ended and I thought my copy was not downloaded properly.
But I HATE ambiguous ending in a thriller. When I read a mystery I want all (at least most) the mysteries solved by the last page. And that's where it fell apart for me. I couldn't believe that that's how this book is going to end. More than half of the questions in the story are left unanswered, and the big reveal although unexpected was not strong enough to hit the right chords. If you like vague endings, go for it. But if that's not your cup of tea, then chances are the ending will leave you furious like me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for the ARC.
June 29, 2022
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Please enjoy the following visual presentation of my experience reading Silvers Hollow.
These gifs have been selected via a very thorough and scientific process. Therefore they're are 100% accurate:
A fever dream thrill ride evoking the stuff of nightmares!!!
Please enjoy the following visual presentation of my experience reading Silvers Hollow.
These gifs have been selected via a very thorough and scientific process. Therefore they're are 100% accurate:
A fever dream thrill ride evoking the stuff of nightmares!!!
January 31, 2021
If you’re a fan of super trippy psychological thrillers that are the biggest mind fuck ever, you will love this book because WOW. This book hits the ground running from page one and I guarantee you will never be bored. In fact, you’ll be racing towards the end because you just want an explanation for what the hell is going on! As far as psychological thrillers go, this is one of the trippiest I’ve ever read. The entire time, you’re not quite sure what’s real and what isn’t real. Are certain parts a delusion? Is ALL of it a delusion?
Our main character wakes up in an abandoned train station in her (extremely creepy and weird) childhood hometown, with no memory of how she got there or how she will get out. Her family is nowhere to be seen, and the majority of the town is deserted. There are a few people here and there scattered throughout the town, some familiar and some not, but they are all.....very bizarre. And they all seem to be hiding something from our unnamed main character, because they seem to know more than they let on (yet they never clarify anything which is FRUSTRATING). Strange cops, tigers in alleyways, the absence of time (?) and a creepy locked cellar are a few examples of what you’ll find in this huge mind trip of a book.
I’ve read quite a few murder mysteries and thrillers in my time, and as a result I’ve gotten pretty good at guessing who the killer is or how a thriller will end (or at least be able to narrow it down) but I can safely say that with Silvers Hollow, I had absolutely NO idea. That was my favorite part of this book, how unpredictable and off the wall it was. My pet peeve is when you see the ending of a book from a mile away and the “twist ending” is something so predictable it makes you roll your eyes because you guessed it from page 10. If that is your pet peeve too, you won’t have a problem with Silvers Hollow because it’s so unpredictable and off the wall that you’ll never see any of it coming.
This book is a super quick, super engaging read so if you’re looking for something fast and exciting, give this a try! I sense that this will pull a lot of people out of reading slumps.
Our main character wakes up in an abandoned train station in her (extremely creepy and weird) childhood hometown, with no memory of how she got there or how she will get out. Her family is nowhere to be seen, and the majority of the town is deserted. There are a few people here and there scattered throughout the town, some familiar and some not, but they are all.....very bizarre. And they all seem to be hiding something from our unnamed main character, because they seem to know more than they let on (yet they never clarify anything which is FRUSTRATING). Strange cops, tigers in alleyways, the absence of time (?) and a creepy locked cellar are a few examples of what you’ll find in this huge mind trip of a book.
I’ve read quite a few murder mysteries and thrillers in my time, and as a result I’ve gotten pretty good at guessing who the killer is or how a thriller will end (or at least be able to narrow it down) but I can safely say that with Silvers Hollow, I had absolutely NO idea. That was my favorite part of this book, how unpredictable and off the wall it was. My pet peeve is when you see the ending of a book from a mile away and the “twist ending” is something so predictable it makes you roll your eyes because you guessed it from page 10. If that is your pet peeve too, you won’t have a problem with Silvers Hollow because it’s so unpredictable and off the wall that you’ll never see any of it coming.
This book is a super quick, super engaging read so if you’re looking for something fast and exciting, give this a try! I sense that this will pull a lot of people out of reading slumps.
June 9, 2021
I absolutely tore through and inhaled every page of SILVERS HOLLOW. It has been ages since I have read a book this quickly. I was simply entrancing and ensnared in the story, so much so that I almost read the entire thing during one pool day (and it's safe to say that not much swimming occurred that day).
Right from the start, we know something is not right, but we can't quite put our fingers on what it is. Delaney dumps you right in the middle of a mystery on page one, but you aren't even sure what the mystery could be....yet, you're eager to read on and figure it all out. I got some 'Black Mirror' and 'Twin Peaks' vibes, for sure---like when you watch those shows and you're uneasy and you know something is wrong and needs to be "solved," but you just don't know where to start. Then the story ends, and you're left thinking "Okay, but what happened, why? what? how? huh?," but at the same time you know you really enjoyed it.....yup- that's the best way I can describe this story.
Even without the typical story buildup and development, Delaney has a way of making you identify with the nameless main character. You feel all of her confusion and disorientation on a deep level. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her hometown that is so familiar, but also so different. She gets stares and side eyes from strangers and and people that seem oddly familiar to her. She tries to put the pieces together- how did she get here? why are people acting so strangely? what is the "emergency" everyone keep bringing up? Trust me...as much ambiguity as there is, this book somehow manages to drop enough little hint crumbs here and there that you get thoroughly hooked! I kept hoping for an ending that would answer my questions, bring it all together, and while I got some of that, there was still so much uncertainly after turning the last page.
I am going to recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a wild psychological ride...while there were some elements of horror, I found this book to be more an anxious and mysterious read. Totally pick this one up and give it a try!
Right from the start, we know something is not right, but we can't quite put our fingers on what it is. Delaney dumps you right in the middle of a mystery on page one, but you aren't even sure what the mystery could be....yet, you're eager to read on and figure it all out. I got some 'Black Mirror' and 'Twin Peaks' vibes, for sure---like when you watch those shows and you're uneasy and you know something is wrong and needs to be "solved," but you just don't know where to start. Then the story ends, and you're left thinking "Okay, but what happened, why? what? how? huh?," but at the same time you know you really enjoyed it.....yup- that's the best way I can describe this story.
Even without the typical story buildup and development, Delaney has a way of making you identify with the nameless main character. You feel all of her confusion and disorientation on a deep level. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her hometown that is so familiar, but also so different. She gets stares and side eyes from strangers and and people that seem oddly familiar to her. She tries to put the pieces together- how did she get here? why are people acting so strangely? what is the "emergency" everyone keep bringing up? Trust me...as much ambiguity as there is, this book somehow manages to drop enough little hint crumbs here and there that you get thoroughly hooked! I kept hoping for an ending that would answer my questions, bring it all together, and while I got some of that, there was still so much uncertainly after turning the last page.
I am going to recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a wild psychological ride...while there were some elements of horror, I found this book to be more an anxious and mysterious read. Totally pick this one up and give it a try!
March 30, 2021
I just finished SILVERS HOLLOW by Patrick Delaney. And when I say finished I mean that I tore through this book in a passion-filled rage of pure enthusiasm and wonder. From the first page we are already aware something is not quite right, something is just slightly out of place, and that there is a mystery to solve. But what mystery? What is the question? How do we know what we don't know?! If you ever saw or watched Wayward Pines then maybe it is something like that - you definitely know something is awry, odd, and off but you just can't even begin to imagine what it is that makes you feel that way.
Delaney does a great job at creating this strange fever dreamlike story and we can really feel the confusion and frustration of the main character as she struggles to learn where she is, when she is, and how/why this is all happening.
While reading about the town, I instantly got vibes of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls (which the author confirms in the notes at the end!) mixed with a little Mystic Falls from The Vampire Diaries and whatever the town is in the movie remake of House of Wax. I absolutely LOVED everything about the town!! But even the town begins to spawn questions for the reader and the main character...
This story explores time - past, present, future - mistakes, love, loss, death, family, and so much! As the story unravels and we learn all the who/what/when/where/why facts I could not help but turn those pages even faster just waiting to see what would happen! And the ending was so good!
“Time governs our entire lives, looming over us. It controls every aspect of life. You spend too much time on one thing, it eats away time from something else.”
Delaney does a great job at creating this strange fever dreamlike story and we can really feel the confusion and frustration of the main character as she struggles to learn where she is, when she is, and how/why this is all happening.
While reading about the town, I instantly got vibes of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls (which the author confirms in the notes at the end!) mixed with a little Mystic Falls from The Vampire Diaries and whatever the town is in the movie remake of House of Wax. I absolutely LOVED everything about the town!! But even the town begins to spawn questions for the reader and the main character...
This story explores time - past, present, future - mistakes, love, loss, death, family, and so much! As the story unravels and we learn all the who/what/when/where/why facts I could not help but turn those pages even faster just waiting to see what would happen! And the ending was so good!
“Time governs our entire lives, looming over us. It controls every aspect of life. You spend too much time on one thing, it eats away time from something else.”
August 27, 2020
Silvers Hollow
A woman wakes up on a train platform dazed and confused about the events leading to her present situation. A police officer finds her and they leave the train station together. The story takes off from there.
The main character, a woman who remains nameless throughout the book, spends the entire time trying to make sense of her surroundings. Patrick Delany does a very good job of making this character pop off the page without much of a back story or background information. She became real to me. As I turned the pages, I could really feel her confusion and disorientation.
Silvers Hollow is a different kind of story. There is no story buildup or information dumping. The author places you in the throes of the story from page one and moves the story at an extremely quick pace throughout. The main character finds herself unfamiliar with a town she lives in and tries to piece together the puzzle pieces. Small discoveries in the book hook the reader to flip the pages. There are a few creepy moments in the book but overall it is more a psychological ride. The ending brings the story together but still leaves a lot to the readers imagination.
Silvers Hollow is the second book that I have read by Patrick Delany. Though it is a stand alone novel, the book has several connections to “The House that fell from The Sky,” including its title. It is always fun to read multiple stand alone books that authors created in the same universe.
A woman wakes up on a train platform dazed and confused about the events leading to her present situation. A police officer finds her and they leave the train station together. The story takes off from there.
The main character, a woman who remains nameless throughout the book, spends the entire time trying to make sense of her surroundings. Patrick Delany does a very good job of making this character pop off the page without much of a back story or background information. She became real to me. As I turned the pages, I could really feel her confusion and disorientation.
Silvers Hollow is a different kind of story. There is no story buildup or information dumping. The author places you in the throes of the story from page one and moves the story at an extremely quick pace throughout. The main character finds herself unfamiliar with a town she lives in and tries to piece together the puzzle pieces. Small discoveries in the book hook the reader to flip the pages. There are a few creepy moments in the book but overall it is more a psychological ride. The ending brings the story together but still leaves a lot to the readers imagination.
Silvers Hollow is the second book that I have read by Patrick Delany. Though it is a stand alone novel, the book has several connections to “The House that fell from The Sky,” including its title. It is always fun to read multiple stand alone books that authors created in the same universe.
March 28, 2022
"A dream itself is but a shadow...when we dream, we see remnants of what we've done. We dream of shadows. And that's exactly where I am now. A world of shadows."
This book begins with a woman at a train station, who has just missed a train that's passed her by. She's certain that she should have gotten on that train. Instead, she is stuck in a place where nothing makes sense. It's a dark world where time does not exist.
I really enjoyed this book. It's very fast-paced. It's written in a dream-like state, where there aren't any rules. The reader has to decipher what is the truth behind the nonsense. Think about an adult version of "Alice in Wonderland" and you have this book.
I honestly thought I figured out what the woman's subconscious was revealing, until the last few chapters. Now I'm not sure. That's the reason for the 4 star rating instead of 5. To me, there is not a concrete answer to the entire story.
A very engaging read though. I also love the premise. Writing a novel in a dream state is different, but brilliant. 👏
This book begins with a woman at a train station, who has just missed a train that's passed her by. She's certain that she should have gotten on that train. Instead, she is stuck in a place where nothing makes sense. It's a dark world where time does not exist.
I really enjoyed this book. It's very fast-paced. It's written in a dream-like state, where there aren't any rules. The reader has to decipher what is the truth behind the nonsense. Think about an adult version of "Alice in Wonderland" and you have this book.
I honestly thought I figured out what the woman's subconscious was revealing, until the last few chapters. Now I'm not sure. That's the reason for the 4 star rating instead of 5. To me, there is not a concrete answer to the entire story.
A very engaging read though. I also love the premise. Writing a novel in a dream state is different, but brilliant. 👏
June 22, 2021
It's been a little while since I've devoured a book as quickly and feverishly as I did SILVERS HOLLOW. It's nightmarish, uncanny, and absolutely captivating.
I love how the author drops us right into the narrative with the protagonist, both of us lost, confused, and increasingly afraid as the story goes on. The story starts with a nameless young woman who has been picked up from a train station by a police officer and can't remember why she's there. As we go on there are strange little disturbances and hints that things aren't quite right. It's perpetually night, but there is no moon or stars. It's the town she grew up in, but it's a ghost town, and the few people remaining are treating her very oddly. The sideways glances, the looks of fright, the vague remarks. It's the empty house she grew up in, and the red door, and the disturbing memories that are clawing their way to the surface.
Why is she there? Why is everything so strange? And what is the "emergency" everyone keeps referring to?
I don't want to say too much as this is DEFINITELY a book to be experienced instead of explained. I love the way it was written so much. The atmosphere and pacing are perfect. I sensed the timelessness of an out-of-body experience. I felt adrift in a starless nightmare, the kind where the terror is subtle until it suddenly isn't. I knew something was off, but I couldn't figure out what. I thought of Channel Zero's second season NO-END HOUSE, the TV version of THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, Rob Zombie's song "Perversion 99", and remnants of various psychological thrillers.
I loved everything right up until the very end. It's weird, but I'm very indecisive about ambiguity, especially when it comes to endings. Typically I don't mind it, but there are times I dislike it. Unfortunately, this is one of those times. Because the majority of the book is all questions and few answers, the way it ended was simultaneously intriguing and frustrating to me.
I love how the author drops us right into the narrative with the protagonist, both of us lost, confused, and increasingly afraid as the story goes on. The story starts with a nameless young woman who has been picked up from a train station by a police officer and can't remember why she's there. As we go on there are strange little disturbances and hints that things aren't quite right. It's perpetually night, but there is no moon or stars. It's the town she grew up in, but it's a ghost town, and the few people remaining are treating her very oddly. The sideways glances, the looks of fright, the vague remarks. It's the empty house she grew up in, and the red door, and the disturbing memories that are clawing their way to the surface.
Why is she there? Why is everything so strange? And what is the "emergency" everyone keeps referring to?
I don't want to say too much as this is DEFINITELY a book to be experienced instead of explained. I love the way it was written so much. The atmosphere and pacing are perfect. I sensed the timelessness of an out-of-body experience. I felt adrift in a starless nightmare, the kind where the terror is subtle until it suddenly isn't. I knew something was off, but I couldn't figure out what. I thought of Channel Zero's second season NO-END HOUSE, the TV version of THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, Rob Zombie's song "Perversion 99", and remnants of various psychological thrillers.
I loved everything right up until the very end. It's weird, but I'm very indecisive about ambiguity, especially when it comes to endings. Typically I don't mind it, but there are times I dislike it. Unfortunately, this is one of those times. Because the majority of the book is all questions and few answers, the way it ended was simultaneously intriguing and frustrating to me.
March 16, 2021
This book definitely had potential. The storyline was interesting. I enjoy books with unreliable narrators. This one kept the " what's going on" storyline too repetitive. It got annoying. The end reveal was a little too rushed and not enough of the questions were answered. Or they were answered and just too rushed. I believe if this book had been longer and the story of the dad, her little sister, and where she truly was, was more explained, it could have been brilliant. Like what was the reason behind the "dome town" and was the rest of the earth gone, or did her dad put her there for another reason? And I still don't understand what she meant by she killed the others and the whole helicopter trip. Just some parts were confusing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2021
I was so excited to read this book after reading Patrick’s “The House that Fell from the Sky ''. He has a way of writing that leaves me lost in the pages. You know certain authors that you can just ease into their works with no worries on whether they will keep your attention? He definitely has that way of writing for me.
I never read the synopsis for this book but I was told this one was in the same universe as “The House that Fell from the Sky”. So I went in with a certain mindset of where this story would lead but instead I was completely surprised. The narrator wakes up at a train station with no recollection of how she got there. She knows it’s her home town but it has become so desolate and sinister. I could feel the weariness of the character and my mind was racing through all the possibilities of how this would end. Let’s just say I never could have guessed it in a million years. It played tricks on my mind and made me think this universe he has built is filled with endless possibilities. The only thing I felt it lacked was a connection to the character for me but the rest was flawless in its execution. I gave this one 4 ⭐️.
I never read the synopsis for this book but I was told this one was in the same universe as “The House that Fell from the Sky”. So I went in with a certain mindset of where this story would lead but instead I was completely surprised. The narrator wakes up at a train station with no recollection of how she got there. She knows it’s her home town but it has become so desolate and sinister. I could feel the weariness of the character and my mind was racing through all the possibilities of how this would end. Let’s just say I never could have guessed it in a million years. It played tricks on my mind and made me think this universe he has built is filled with endless possibilities. The only thing I felt it lacked was a connection to the character for me but the rest was flawless in its execution. I gave this one 4 ⭐️.
February 19, 2021
*Warning: Hallucinations and highly intense daydreaming may occur*
"We dream of shadows. And that's exactly where I am now. A world of shadows."
"Silvers Hollow" by Patrick Delaney dives into an illusionary world reminiscent of lucid dreaming except for the dark, sinister atmosphere haunting the town and the young woman traveling within it. Delaney brings to life hidden fears of being trapped in a nightmare, tossed in a realm both familiar and unfamiliar, in which the only way out is through.
A young woman ends up at the train station of her hometown, Silvers Hollow. The station has been closed for years, which raises the question of how she got there and why she's returned. A cop offers to drive her home but takes a detour through the town that is exactly how she remembers it and yet ... is completely different. Things only become stranger from there.
Time doesn't exist. There's no night or day which makes prying apart the days and hours nearly impossible but explains why the neighbor is watering their grass in the dark. On top of it all, residents keep speaking about an emergency but clam up every time the woman asks them to elaborate. What emergency? Does it have something to do with the odd inner workings of the town or is that due to something much more sinister? Why won't anyone talk about it? Most importantly, does it have something to do with the woman's memory loss and her sudden and inexplicable return home?
This story mirrors a dream perfectly. It's disorienting, fluid, lacks a concrete sense of time, and the only purpose of memory is to create a further sensation of alienation to the strange events taking place. What is even more incredible is Delaney's ability to skillfully craft a coherent story while keeping the reader (and main character) completely unhinged the entire time.
Despite the odd turn of events and the disorienting nature of the story, it was easy to follow and understand. A lot of questions are raised throughout the novel, but it's what drives the reader to dig through the details, read between the lines, and find whatever hidden clues are embedded in the story itself to figure out what kind of rabbit hole they've fallen in. Only by cracking open these pages and diving into the deep unknown will readers find any answers (maybe).
Not only is this a crazy, psychological thriller with elements of horror guaranteed to be a joyride from hell, but Delaney is a stunning writer with a knack for creating highly intense and vivid detail that brings a lifelike aspect to their stories. "Silvers Hollow" is highly recommended and worth the possibility of any hallucinations and daydreams that may occur.
The expected publication date for "Silvers Hollow" is August 15th, 2021. Save the date and add it to your reading lists!
A big thank you to NetGalley, Oblivion Publishing, and Patrick Delaney for providing me with a free e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
"We dream of shadows. And that's exactly where I am now. A world of shadows."
"Silvers Hollow" by Patrick Delaney dives into an illusionary world reminiscent of lucid dreaming except for the dark, sinister atmosphere haunting the town and the young woman traveling within it. Delaney brings to life hidden fears of being trapped in a nightmare, tossed in a realm both familiar and unfamiliar, in which the only way out is through.
A young woman ends up at the train station of her hometown, Silvers Hollow. The station has been closed for years, which raises the question of how she got there and why she's returned. A cop offers to drive her home but takes a detour through the town that is exactly how she remembers it and yet ... is completely different. Things only become stranger from there.
Time doesn't exist. There's no night or day which makes prying apart the days and hours nearly impossible but explains why the neighbor is watering their grass in the dark. On top of it all, residents keep speaking about an emergency but clam up every time the woman asks them to elaborate. What emergency? Does it have something to do with the odd inner workings of the town or is that due to something much more sinister? Why won't anyone talk about it? Most importantly, does it have something to do with the woman's memory loss and her sudden and inexplicable return home?
This story mirrors a dream perfectly. It's disorienting, fluid, lacks a concrete sense of time, and the only purpose of memory is to create a further sensation of alienation to the strange events taking place. What is even more incredible is Delaney's ability to skillfully craft a coherent story while keeping the reader (and main character) completely unhinged the entire time.
Despite the odd turn of events and the disorienting nature of the story, it was easy to follow and understand. A lot of questions are raised throughout the novel, but it's what drives the reader to dig through the details, read between the lines, and find whatever hidden clues are embedded in the story itself to figure out what kind of rabbit hole they've fallen in. Only by cracking open these pages and diving into the deep unknown will readers find any answers (maybe).
Not only is this a crazy, psychological thriller with elements of horror guaranteed to be a joyride from hell, but Delaney is a stunning writer with a knack for creating highly intense and vivid detail that brings a lifelike aspect to their stories. "Silvers Hollow" is highly recommended and worth the possibility of any hallucinations and daydreams that may occur.
The expected publication date for "Silvers Hollow" is August 15th, 2021. Save the date and add it to your reading lists!
A big thank you to NetGalley, Oblivion Publishing, and Patrick Delaney for providing me with a free e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
April 25, 2021
In the right context something can seem comical, but in the wrong one, unbelievably frightening.
You know that episode of Buffy where she's stuck between two realities and can't figure out which one is real. That's this book. Nothing ever made sense. Was it The Truman Show? Was it Fifty First Dates? Was it The Escape Room? Were the people aliens? Androids? A dream? Definitely, an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Maybe that’s why I left. Because I didn’t want to stay the same. I wanted to change. I wanted to grow. To move forward, away from my past. Silvers Hollow is anything but change. It’s the thought of progress entombed in ice, frozen in a perpetual stasis in the form of a small, New England town. I can’t begrudge the townsfolk for falling in love with its charm. It is tempting, ordinarily. Seductive, even. A place that exists at the end of the rainbow under the warm rays of the sun. But that life isn’t for me. It never was.
I found Silvers Hollow on my Goodreads recommendations page, recently, and was immediately drawn to the cover. I saw that the book hadn't been released yet so I ran to Netgalley to see if it was available. It was. I requested. I was approved within a few hours. Silvers Hollow isn't something I would normally read. I don't read/watch a lot of horror. This book (a novella, really) was entertaining. It kept me turning pages to see what happened next. It was unpredictable. It was infuriating. It was twisty. And And you will never look at time in the same light.
TW:
***Thank you to Oblivion Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.***
June 6, 2021
A young woman wakes up in an old train station. She suddenly realizes she is back in her hometown, although she has no idea how that happened. Her head hurts. And something is not right…
The best way to describe ‘Silvers Hollow’ is… a labyrinth.
The nameless main character tries to find a way out, tries to understand what’s happening, but no one wants to give her an honest answer. There’s some kind of emergency, some say. An event. And chapter after chapter, the woman tries to gather clues, and you as the reader try to gather clues as well, but as a first person novel you only know what she knows, and you don’t even know if you should trust her as a narrator.
It is really unnerving, sometimes frustrating but always exciting, and maybe you reach the point where you think you know some fragments of what is happening, like the red door, but then you are not sure because she is not sure, and you have no idea of that time it is, neither in the novel nor in real life because you’ve been reading for the last… how many hours? And she wants answers and you do as well, but the novel is not going to give them up without a fight, a feeling amazingly well achieved through the prose and the many unknown layers of the woman.
And then it ends. And no one, absolutely no one, saw the twist coming.
So now you want to read it again, look for clues again, try to find those breadcrumbs you did not know were important in the first place.
And the labyrinth opens its doors… again.
The best way to describe ‘Silvers Hollow’ is… a labyrinth.
The nameless main character tries to find a way out, tries to understand what’s happening, but no one wants to give her an honest answer. There’s some kind of emergency, some say. An event. And chapter after chapter, the woman tries to gather clues, and you as the reader try to gather clues as well, but as a first person novel you only know what she knows, and you don’t even know if you should trust her as a narrator.
It is really unnerving, sometimes frustrating but always exciting, and maybe you reach the point where you think you know some fragments of what is happening, like the red door, but then you are not sure because she is not sure, and you have no idea of that time it is, neither in the novel nor in real life because you’ve been reading for the last… how many hours? And she wants answers and you do as well, but the novel is not going to give them up without a fight, a feeling amazingly well achieved through the prose and the many unknown layers of the woman.
And then it ends. And no one, absolutely no one, saw the twist coming.
So now you want to read it again, look for clues again, try to find those breadcrumbs you did not know were important in the first place.
And the labyrinth opens its doors… again.
May 7, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for this copy.
I DEVOURED this book whole in one sitting. It’s ominous and eerie nature had me turning pages so fast because I just needed to know what was going on.
With that said, I wish I would have read The House That Fell From The Sky first to give it a little more context but honestly, this book blew my mind. And that was definitely intended.
I love mind boggling books and this fit the bill, big time.
A woman wakes in a train station. And she doesn’t remember how she got there. Just that she left Silvers Hollow and never intended on coming back. She finds a family photograph at her feet but she has no idea how it got there, let another anything else. She’s confused, disoriented and has a laceration on the back of her head.
A police officer finds her and puts her in his cruiser. But there is something eerie and troubling going on. The mist is creeping around the lights and she still can’t remember anything. She hasn’t seen a clock and her watch has mysteriously gone missing....There is no time here.
Was it all a just dream? More like a nightmare.
I DEVOURED this book whole in one sitting. It’s ominous and eerie nature had me turning pages so fast because I just needed to know what was going on.
With that said, I wish I would have read The House That Fell From The Sky first to give it a little more context but honestly, this book blew my mind. And that was definitely intended.
I love mind boggling books and this fit the bill, big time.
A woman wakes in a train station. And she doesn’t remember how she got there. Just that she left Silvers Hollow and never intended on coming back. She finds a family photograph at her feet but she has no idea how it got there, let another anything else. She’s confused, disoriented and has a laceration on the back of her head.
A police officer finds her and puts her in his cruiser. But there is something eerie and troubling going on. The mist is creeping around the lights and she still can’t remember anything. She hasn’t seen a clock and her watch has mysteriously gone missing....There is no time here.
Was it all a just dream? More like a nightmare.
February 24, 2021
So for this book, Patrick Delaney throws you down the rabbit hole and forces you to claw your way back out. Silvers Hollow was TRIPPY. I won't give too much of the plot away because so much of this story relies on the tiny breadcrumbs Delaney leaves for the reader to piece together. It starts with a nameless woman who wakes up on a train platform in her childhood hometown with little to no memories. So much of what she remembers is just bits and pieces but she remembers enough to notice that something is not right about Silvers Hollow. Everything feels just slightly off and Delaney captures that feeling extremely well. There were plenty of chilling and creepy moments wrapped up in the woman's amnesia. You feel her confusion and physical and mental trauma throughout the book. This is a quick read with less than 200 pages so the structure and pacing is not typical. I'm not gonna lie, Silvers Hollow melted my brain a little bit. I'm not even completely sure how I feel about it because I turned the last page and went "WHAT DID I JUST READ?". If you enjoyed the reality bending and mind twisting plot of Piranesi or other psychological thrillers, this one is for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for my ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for my ARC.
February 17, 2021
"I am fire. I am electricity. I am loss. I am regret. But most of all, I am love. I am all the things that I never thought I was, never believed I could be."
We are plunged into the story just as disoriented as the narrator, and the intrigue quickly builds up as we wonder what exactly has happened to her and where she is. She’s hurt, alone, and seems to have some kind of memory loss. I love the concept of an uncanny place that has everything you know, but isn’t quite right, the in-between place that fails to replicate reality. This book has some really vivid imagery, very poetic and dark. I liked the theme of time, the town being stuck in time, the father obsessed with time, the narrator unable to learn what time it is. I don’t think I fully understood the ending, but this was a really engaging and thoughtful story that I couldn’t put down!
Thank you to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for providing me with this eARC to review!
We are plunged into the story just as disoriented as the narrator, and the intrigue quickly builds up as we wonder what exactly has happened to her and where she is. She’s hurt, alone, and seems to have some kind of memory loss. I love the concept of an uncanny place that has everything you know, but isn’t quite right, the in-between place that fails to replicate reality. This book has some really vivid imagery, very poetic and dark. I liked the theme of time, the town being stuck in time, the father obsessed with time, the narrator unable to learn what time it is. I don’t think I fully understood the ending, but this was a really engaging and thoughtful story that I couldn’t put down!
Thank you to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for providing me with this eARC to review!
February 23, 2021
Reading Silvers Hollow feels like a fever dream in all of the best ways. It starts with our main character, who has woken at a train station in her home town with no real recollection of why she’s there. Everyone around her refers to “the emergency” but refuse to give an explanation as to what exactly that might mean. We spend the rest of the story trying to piece together the reality of the situation, which is presented slowly enough to retain interest. I’d definitely recommend this story to those that don’t mind using their imagination to fill in the blanks. I give this story 4 stars.
Thanks to Patrick Delaney and NetGalley for this eARC in return for an honest review!
Thanks to Patrick Delaney and NetGalley for this eARC in return for an honest review!
May 25, 2021
Patrick Delaney is too good.
Last year, I was extremely surprised by The House That Fell From The Sky. I didn't think it was perfect but it was absolutely enjoyable. I wanted more. And still want more. (Cue Colombia and Magenta: More, More, More)
Silvers Hollow, Delaney's next work, is on a whole new level. The last time that I was gripped by a book that had a deep psychological hold on me was back when I read House of Leaves. From the beginning, I was along for a ride of which I could never figure out the destination. Delaney captures the classical strokes of horror while hanging us on the brink of an unfamiliar horizon.
I am so glad I didn't go to High School with Delaney and have to settle for the second-best writer in English class.
My expectations were shattered.
Delaney's place in the genre will only become more cemented in the coming years.
Last year, I was extremely surprised by The House That Fell From The Sky. I didn't think it was perfect but it was absolutely enjoyable. I wanted more. And still want more. (Cue Colombia and Magenta: More, More, More)
Silvers Hollow, Delaney's next work, is on a whole new level. The last time that I was gripped by a book that had a deep psychological hold on me was back when I read House of Leaves. From the beginning, I was along for a ride of which I could never figure out the destination. Delaney captures the classical strokes of horror while hanging us on the brink of an unfamiliar horizon.
I am so glad I didn't go to High School with Delaney and have to settle for the second-best writer in English class.
My expectations were shattered.
Delaney's place in the genre will only become more cemented in the coming years.
September 28, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.
If you like twisty books that have you constantly questioning what you are reading, then this is the book for you!!! Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.
If you like twisty books that have you constantly questioning what you are reading, then this is the book for you!!! Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.
October 4, 2021
Delaney's Silvers Hollow is dark, very dark, and heavy on the sense of dread. It is not a long novel, easily read in one sitting. I highly recommend it.
September 9, 2021
I read this is one sitting, approx an hour and a half. I could not put it down! I had all the Silent Hill vibes, minus the scary monsters. It was creepy and eerie, you had no clue what was going on. The entire time I was thinking: WHAT AM I READING, WHAT'S GOING ON. It was like a fever dream.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, the ending could've explained more, but never the less was excellent. This book held my attention from the very beginning and I will be on the lookout by more from this author. Definitely a good creepy book for the fall!
I thoroughly enjoyed this, the ending could've explained more, but never the less was excellent. This book held my attention from the very beginning and I will be on the lookout by more from this author. Definitely a good creepy book for the fall!
January 27, 2021
“Time governs our entire lives, looming over us. It controls every aspect of life. You spend too much time on one thing, it eats away time from something else.”
I’ve always had a fixation with time, so these lines struck me. Time plays an important role in my life. I never have enough. So I schedule it, organize it, feel its fleeting weight as the hours tick away while I’m trapped under a meaningless task.
Delaney’s Silvers Hollow drops you right into mystery from page one. There is no before and after for the character. There is only the event, an ever-increasing surrealness that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat page after page.
The main character wakes at a train station that hasn’t run in years with no memory of how or why they're there. It’s dark. So dark. Too dark. And they are, unfortunately, without their watch. Time, and the lack of being able to tell what time it is, haunts the character (and you), as they explore the skewed reality of their childhood hometown.
Delaney has a rhythmic, conversational writing style that centers you in the driver’s seat. You experience the devolving events and the main character’s splintering psychosis with them. You are not reading about their journey; you experience their journey, which adds to the uneasiness you feel as you read.
I practically finished Silvers Hollow in a day, which is saying quite a lot for me. I started it while I was pregnant last year and had to put it down at 13% completed because I was just too exhausted to read. Every time I started, a nap called my name. I picked it up this weekend while trapped beneath my almost 4-month-old, who will not take a decent nap unless she’s in my arms. I don’t mind. They are only so little for so long. Anyway, it provided four to five 30-50 minute chunks of time in which to devour Silvers Hollow, and I gobbled it down whole.
I recommend you do too.
I’ve always had a fixation with time, so these lines struck me. Time plays an important role in my life. I never have enough. So I schedule it, organize it, feel its fleeting weight as the hours tick away while I’m trapped under a meaningless task.
Delaney’s Silvers Hollow drops you right into mystery from page one. There is no before and after for the character. There is only the event, an ever-increasing surrealness that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat page after page.
The main character wakes at a train station that hasn’t run in years with no memory of how or why they're there. It’s dark. So dark. Too dark. And they are, unfortunately, without their watch. Time, and the lack of being able to tell what time it is, haunts the character (and you), as they explore the skewed reality of their childhood hometown.
Delaney has a rhythmic, conversational writing style that centers you in the driver’s seat. You experience the devolving events and the main character’s splintering psychosis with them. You are not reading about their journey; you experience their journey, which adds to the uneasiness you feel as you read.
I practically finished Silvers Hollow in a day, which is saying quite a lot for me. I started it while I was pregnant last year and had to put it down at 13% completed because I was just too exhausted to read. Every time I started, a nap called my name. I picked it up this weekend while trapped beneath my almost 4-month-old, who will not take a decent nap unless she’s in my arms. I don’t mind. They are only so little for so long. Anyway, it provided four to five 30-50 minute chunks of time in which to devour Silvers Hollow, and I gobbled it down whole.
I recommend you do too.
May 27, 2021
Is this one of the weirdest books I've ever read? - yes.
Is this one of the best books I've read in 2021? - also, yes.
Patrick Delaney is a clear fan on Black Mirror/Twilight Zone esque storytelling. This was unlike any thriller I've read and that's what makes it so great. There's a main character - who's name we will never know. There's a town, bathed in darkness and strangely quiet. There's a policeman with a weird mustache and a decades old car. There's a childhood home, that's no longer familiar expect for the locked door.
This short book manages to blow your mind quickly and efficiently. I want more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Is this one of the best books I've read in 2021? - also, yes.
Patrick Delaney is a clear fan on Black Mirror/Twilight Zone esque storytelling. This was unlike any thriller I've read and that's what makes it so great. There's a main character - who's name we will never know. There's a town, bathed in darkness and strangely quiet. There's a policeman with a weird mustache and a decades old car. There's a childhood home, that's no longer familiar expect for the locked door.
This short book manages to blow your mind quickly and efficiently. I want more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
October 22, 2021
“It stuck with me, that line. It means that when we dream, we see remnants of what we’ve done. The essence of experience. We dream of shadows. And that’s exactly where I am now. A world of shadows.”
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
When a young woman awakens in her childhood hometown with no recollection of how she arrived, she finds a world she doesn't recognize. Forced to navigate a surreal, dream-like landscape where all traces of time have seemingly vanished, she has no choice but to confront her past head-on in order to unlock the secrets of the present. What follows is an odyssey into the darkest depths of the human psyche, as she searches for not only the truth, but for her very soul.
A fever dream. That’s what this book is. And I knew it would be good. Patrick Delaney is the author of The House That Fell From The Sky, a thicc and haunted monstrosity I had the pleasure of reviewing earlier this year. It was my first exposure to Delaney’s writing and I knew it wouldn’t be my last. Silvers Hollow is a fantastic reflection of Delaney’s writing style; smooth like butter and terrifying like the dark.
Silvers Hollow is atmospheric. Ambiguous. There are no real answers in the end, just a disturbed feeling. I’d liken this book to the Twilight Zone mixed with a touch of HP Lovecraft (I don’t know why, it’s just the vibe I feel). If you’re looking for a quick read into the bizarre and spooky, give this seemingly desolate small town tale a read. 👻
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
When a young woman awakens in her childhood hometown with no recollection of how she arrived, she finds a world she doesn't recognize. Forced to navigate a surreal, dream-like landscape where all traces of time have seemingly vanished, she has no choice but to confront her past head-on in order to unlock the secrets of the present. What follows is an odyssey into the darkest depths of the human psyche, as she searches for not only the truth, but for her very soul.
A fever dream. That’s what this book is. And I knew it would be good. Patrick Delaney is the author of The House That Fell From The Sky, a thicc and haunted monstrosity I had the pleasure of reviewing earlier this year. It was my first exposure to Delaney’s writing and I knew it wouldn’t be my last. Silvers Hollow is a fantastic reflection of Delaney’s writing style; smooth like butter and terrifying like the dark.
Silvers Hollow is atmospheric. Ambiguous. There are no real answers in the end, just a disturbed feeling. I’d liken this book to the Twilight Zone mixed with a touch of HP Lovecraft (I don’t know why, it’s just the vibe I feel). If you’re looking for a quick read into the bizarre and spooky, give this seemingly desolate small town tale a read. 👻
January 31, 2021
First I'd like to thank the author for sending me the Advanced Reader's Copy. I had read and reviewed his previous book, 'The House That Fell From The Sky,' and had no idea he was going to send me another book. So it was a really pleasant surprise to open this in the mail! Thank you Patrick!
In the beginning of reading this I was extremely confused. I kept reading each sentence multiple times trying to figure out what was going on. It didn't take long for me to realize though that the point wasn't to understand what was happening. After that dawned on me I sailed through this book with ease.
It's like reading a dream. (Or a nightmare.) I've never experienced a story that reads quite like this and I found myself amazed by it. The author's talent to suck you into a story and visualize everything happening really shines through in this novel. I loved it.
In the beginning of reading this I was extremely confused. I kept reading each sentence multiple times trying to figure out what was going on. It didn't take long for me to realize though that the point wasn't to understand what was happening. After that dawned on me I sailed through this book with ease.
It's like reading a dream. (Or a nightmare.) I've never experienced a story that reads quite like this and I found myself amazed by it. The author's talent to suck you into a story and visualize everything happening really shines through in this novel. I loved it.
June 1, 2021
4.5/5
This would be really fun to talk about with someone. Maybe that someone could explain it to me. I mean I’m not stupid or anything, but the ending just sort of made sense to me when I think it should have made complete sense. From what I can tell it was a perfect conclusion to a perfectly disorientating, confusing, mind-boggling little gem. This is the type of book where you have to abandon all hope of understanding and just go with it. At least until the end when it all comes together. It does, doesn’t it?
This would be really fun to talk about with someone. Maybe that someone could explain it to me. I mean I’m not stupid or anything, but the ending just sort of made sense to me when I think it should have made complete sense. From what I can tell it was a perfect conclusion to a perfectly disorientating, confusing, mind-boggling little gem. This is the type of book where you have to abandon all hope of understanding and just go with it. At least until the end when it all comes together. It does, doesn’t it?
July 4, 2021
I was impressed by Patrick R. Delaney’s previous novel,
The House That Fell From The Sky
, an entertaining spin on the haunted house tale, which is slightly let down by the fact that it is too long. However, rarely do you hear of buildings which quite literally drop out of the sky, an event brilliantly described in the opening sequence and the catastrophic destruction which follows, so it is also worth further investigation. The author does not make the same mistake twice, and Silvers Hollow is a much leaner beast and a significantly shorter 186-pages, featuring a tightly constructed and streamlined story. Admittedly, proceedings may well have some readers scratching their heads (okay, everybody), but at the same time it is very easy to remain invested in reading a few extra pages in the off chance another piece of the perplexing jigsaw might fall into place (forget it).
You can read Tony's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Tony's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
January 26, 2021
Silvers Hollow is a mind bending novel that had me racing to the end to figure out what was going on.
I’m going to start off by saying if you haven’t read The House That Fell From The Sky I would not recommend reading this one till you do. I found out after I finished Silvers Hollow that this novel is set in the same universe as the other book. So some main things that would make sense to people that read that book made no sense to me.
I did really enjoy the concept of this novel. I found myself binge reading it because I wanted to know what was going on the entire time. The idea of having the reader as confused as the main character in the beginning was a nice concept.
Where Silvers Hollow falls short for me is the ending. I have no idea what happened. It left me with so many unanswered questions. I very much fall on the side of readers who can’t stand a vague ending. I want the author to spell it out to me in black and white. I also know many people who love that style of writing but it just isn’t for me.
Overall I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed The House That Fell From The sky. I think his concept for Silvers Hollow was interesting. But unfortunately it fell short for me because I don’t enjoy vague endings. If you enjoy an ending that doesn’t answer all your questions in black and white then this one is for you. I think the idea of easter eggs that tie the two books together is an awesome idea I just wish I would have know that before picking up this book.
Thank you to author for sending me an Arc of Silvers Hollow in exchange for my honest review.
I’m going to start off by saying if you haven’t read The House That Fell From The Sky I would not recommend reading this one till you do. I found out after I finished Silvers Hollow that this novel is set in the same universe as the other book. So some main things that would make sense to people that read that book made no sense to me.
I did really enjoy the concept of this novel. I found myself binge reading it because I wanted to know what was going on the entire time. The idea of having the reader as confused as the main character in the beginning was a nice concept.
Where Silvers Hollow falls short for me is the ending. I have no idea what happened. It left me with so many unanswered questions. I very much fall on the side of readers who can’t stand a vague ending. I want the author to spell it out to me in black and white. I also know many people who love that style of writing but it just isn’t for me.
Overall I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed The House That Fell From The sky. I think his concept for Silvers Hollow was interesting. But unfortunately it fell short for me because I don’t enjoy vague endings. If you enjoy an ending that doesn’t answer all your questions in black and white then this one is for you. I think the idea of easter eggs that tie the two books together is an awesome idea I just wish I would have know that before picking up this book.
Thank you to author for sending me an Arc of Silvers Hollow in exchange for my honest review.
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