Title: Ink and Bone (#5)
Series: The Hollows
Author: Lisa Unger
Genre: Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Pub. Date: June 7, 2016
Synopsis:
In this explosive psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, a young woman’s mysterious gift forces her into 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. She dreams about events before they occur and sees beyond the physical world, unconsciously using her power to make supernatural things happen.
But Finley can’t control these powers—and there’s only one person who can help. So Finley moves to The Hollows, a small town in upstate New York where her grandmother lives, a renowned seer who can finally teach Finley how to use her gift.
A gift that is proving to be both a blessing and a curse, as Finley 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.
With time running out there’s only so much Finley can do as The Hollows begins to reveal its true colors. As she digs deeper into the town and its endless layers, nothing is what it seems. But one thing is clear: The Hollows gets what it wants, no matter what.
Main character, Finley Montgomery, can see into the future since a child and needs help. However, the only person who can help Finley lives across the country. So Finley packs her stuff and moves in with her grandmother, Eloise Montgomery, to The Hollows, NY. Finley’s grandmother is a seer and she can teach Finley about her gift. Not only is Eloise a seer, she sometimes helps Detective Jones Cooper with his private investigations. This time though, when a young girl goes missing and things start unraveling, The Hollows demands help from Finley. Jones and Finley team up. Following different perspectives from Finley and the parents of the missing girl, things slowly come together and the truth will reveal what happens next.
This is my first Lisa Unger book and honestly I’m kind of mad that I didn’t read the other books in this series before. Simply because I felt like there were things mentioned that I didn’t understand. For example, the story of PI Jones Cooper, we meet a character who makes a reference to Eloise helping him before and I just didn’t get it, etc. etc. Maybe if I would’ve read those books, then my enjoyment of this book wouldn’t have felt so empty.
Lisa Unger’s writing style is simple, easy to read. She wrote this Thriller in the way I love to read Thrillers: with different perspectives till it all comes together in the end. We have Finley’s and Merrie’s (the missing girl’s mom) perspectives. In some chapters with Merrie we even jump back to before the investigation and learn how everything came to be with her daughter missing.
The reason why I gave this book a 4 star is because of the pacing. I thought it dragged out more than it should. At some point I said “I don’t care about their past anymore, can we just get into the investigation already?” I was already past the 70% mark and when we did get into the important parts, the author still added parts of the characters background that I thought weren’t necessary during the climax.
I loved the paranormal elements of this book. It felt natural and not something extra. I loved how the author weaved all of that in together perfectly.
I usually add a character section to my non-spoiler reviews. However, I’ll put it simply: I liked them all. I really enjoyed Finley’s character arc. Her independence, her strength but still loving and caring. I loved the grandmother, Eloise, she definitely had all those grandmotherly vibes and always gave out words of wisdom. Merrie and Wolf (husband) were the typical dysfunctional couple and I liked how Lisa Unger wrote them out.
Overall, I did like this book and plan on reading more books from this author. I liked the dark tone of this book and the author really knows how to set the vibe. I was always transported to this world when I opened the book and was kept interested the whole time regardless of the problem I had with it. I would recommend this book for sure!
So far I feel like I’m doing good with tackling my “books I would like to read this year” TBR. I know I’m super late to the Lisa Unger bandwagon, any other books you would recommend by her? What are your favorite mystery/thrillers?
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