Dr. Jack Oswald is a geologist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.  Just before classes are ready to begin for the semester, Jack receives an urgent call from Kevin Kowalski who works for ExxonMobil drilling oil.  There have been a series of mysterious holes opening up around the drilling fields that are affecting operations.  The holes are deep and perfectly cylindrical and just plain strange.  Jack has been hired to investigate; he assembles his team consisting of his wife, Dr. Angela Menendez, a climatologist, two of his grad students Mark and Jill Starr, a wildlife biologist Bill Henderson and is cajoled into taking along AIleen O'Shannon, a photojournalist.  When the team arrives in Deadhorse, they immediately get to work exploring the holes.  However, upon closer examination of the holes, no explanation for the holes can be found.  Then, disaster strikes and all hell is literally unleashed.  Now, the research team turns instead to survival and perhaps sending the demons back to where they belong. 

I received a free ARC copy of the book and I voluntarily decided to review it. I am also sharing this review as part of Rosie’s Book Review Team.

Hell Holes is an intriguing book and one difficult to classify. Set in Alaska, the prologue already gives us a hint about what is to come, but once we start reading the account written by Professor Jack Oswald, we get taken in by the mystery of the holes, and by the hypotheses suggested, sending us in the direction of science-fiction. The explanations and the possible scenarios are plausibly rendered and the fact that Oswald’s wife, Angie, studies the effect of climate change, add to the interest, although that line of investigation doesn’t last long.

The plot turns soon when the holes prove to be dangerous in more ways than one, and paranormal and fantastic elements become more important as the plot moves on. There are also horror elements, like the monsters and the destruction and killings, and we do get more than a few hair-raising moments.

As often happens with some of these genres, there is a fair amount of exposition, regarding the set-up of the different pump stations and oil fields, and later about the supernatural elements (as one of the characters is revealed to be completely different to what we thought at first sight). As there is a description of the different Hell inhabitants later on after the end of the story, it might feel somewhat repetitive.

The book is also very short, even more than it looks like when we check the pages, as the end comes at around 80% of the book length, and the rest is taken by a summary/description, a cast of hell characters, a brief biography of the author and a longish sample of the next book, that follows (with a slight overlap) from the first one. From the sample, we see that the second book in the series is narrated by Professor Oswald’s wife.

The novel (novella) is plot-driven, and once the chase is on, the book moves quickly and never lets off, and we don’t have much chance to notice that we do not know the characters in detail, and there is plenty of room for development. The first person narration would seem to allow for a more in depth knowledge of the main character, but although there are some glimpses of guilty feelings and a strong sense of responsibility that make Oswald come across as a good man, this is after all supposed to be an account written by him for other eyes, to do with facts not feelings, and it does not dwell much on subjective matters. There might be time to get to know the characters more during the series but one suspects that the action will continue taking pride of place in the next novels.

There are series where it doesn’t matter where you start reading (or it matters less and it’s possible to read any novel and enjoy it in its own right without feeling you’re missing the context). This is not the case here, as although the story seems to be told from different points of view in the different books, it is all the same story. And in case you hate cliff-hangers, the book ends up in a worrying twist/hook. But, fear not, because if you read the sample of the next book at the end, at least that hook is solved.

The book is an easy and quick read and an action-filled one that you’ll imagine as a TV series or a movie with no difficulty. If you’re a stickler for specific genres and strong characters it might not suit you, and you might question some of the details, but if you’re looking for an entertaining read that moves easily between genres, and don’t mind investing in a series, give it a try.

So I read what the book was about and figured it was going about sink holes and maybe a new world down below. I have  already read another book about sink holes so I figured let me see what this author is about. This isn't sink holes this is something far more than that. There is another world opening up but it is one you don't want to be around. So I got almost close to a half in this book and when I was thrown for a loop of the paranormal I was like what? Wasn't expecting that and even though it was neat I started wanting to see more action without it feeling rushed. 

A team of scientist go out to determine what is causing these holes to open up near pipelines, but when they get there it is way more than they bargain for. Now it is a race against time to live and they have to put their lives in the hands of a reporter/mysterious person. We get to meet a lot of different paranormal entities in this book but this is where I felt it was rushed. We get it hit with one thing and we deal with that for a day or so (in the story they have to sleep some time), then it is like oh this is here and then this is here. It was like wow that was very quick. I have to say the ending left me wanting to throw my kindle (though I didn't) it is a cliffhanger. I have to get book two because I need to see where this is going. 

Will humanity survive? Will this person who has an idea of what is going on give us more answers on how to possibly stop this? You have to read it to find out. Overall a good short story. 

Hell Holes: What Lurks Below (Hell Holes... The cover is pleasingly stark. I didn’t even notice the little man scaling down the side until I’d opened it up to a non-thumbnail size. It quite nicely fits this story, which is an unusual blend of modern science (no, I didn’t forget to put the word fiction after science) and fantasy. Hell-Holes read quick and easy, and at 108 pages, for someone who reads at an average speed, it should give you a couple hours of enjoyment.

I loved the premise and the way this book was written for the most part. The setting was perfectly described, the author didn’t use 100 words where 50 would suffice, and though I’m not at all versed in the science talked about, it ‘sounded’ believable enough that I had no problems with it. When the fantasy portion entered the story, there was only minor nose-wrinkling on my part. I liked that he did his best to keep the fantasy at a level that didn’t go into religious woo (which it could have easily done, given the premise of Hell Holes).

This was a pleasing read that entertained me right up until the end. The end didn’t really blow it for me, but it definitely made my enjoyment fizzle out. The author had stated in his original inquiry that he was working on book two of the series, so I was a bit nervous about getting a cliff-hanger at the end. Yep. While this one wasn’t as bad as some that I’ve read, where it feels like the story cuts off halfway through the interesting part, it definitely gives you a TV episode feel. You are given a complete short story in Hell Holes, don’t get me wrong, but then the author tacks on a mini cliffie that is meant to entice you into reading the next short in the series. That bugged me because, while I don’t mind reading related stories, suddenly it made this ‘complete’ short story feel incomplete. Let me sort of going “erm…but…” but it didn’t serve the purpose of enticing me to read more.

Overall, Hell Holes is worth the read, just keep in mind it does container a bit of a tease/cliff-hanger at the end, and if you’re not a fantasy fan, it’s got enough of that element that you probably won’t enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this story free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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