Scottish crime author Tariq Ashkanani loves to deliver dark, twisted crime thrillers. His last book, which won the McIlvenny Prize for Sottish Crime Book of the Year, The Midnight King, involved a serial killer and a intergenerational trauma. His new novel The Hollow Boys, once again set in a small American town, also takes readers into some dark places.
The Hollow Boys opens on a blood ritual being done by Emily Yates, a grieving mother, to bring her son back before she attempts to commit suicide (but fails thanks to her sister). Her son Danny and his friend Will disappeared nine months after what seemed to be a boating accident. Bizarrely, on the same night, Danny does return, severely malnourished, but claiming to be Will. John Deacon, the local police chief, is on the cusp of returning to duty after dealing with cancer and is drawn into the case. Given it is possible the two boys were kidnapped and Will may still be out there he calls in the FBI, much to the chagrin of the acting police chief and Deacon’s boss who both have political ambitions. Together with the FBI, Deacon starts to unravel the case, finding it gets darker and more complicated as he goes.
Readers should be aware that The Hollow Boys touches on some of the common confronting issues of these types of books – small town attitudes, police corruption, suicide, politics and child abuse. But Ashkanani weaves these themes into an engaging and believable mystery. And he plays fair – providing enough clues that some readers will be ahead of Deacon in working out what is actually going on. Although, even then, Ashkanani still manages to throw in some twisty curve balls. Overall, though this is a darkly compelling crime thriller that once picked up will be hard to put down.
The Hollow Boys by Tariq Ashkanani
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