Crook’s Hollow – Robert Parker
In the quiet village of Crook’s Hollow, almost exactly between Manchester and Liverpool, land and pride are king.
And now someone has just tried to kill Thor Loxley – but Thor has no clue as to why. As the estranged youngest of the omnipresent Loxley farming dynasty, all of whom view him as a traitorous turncoat, in a village where everybody knows everybody else’s business, life is hard enough.
But here, farmers do things the old way. You deal with problems on your own terms. You keep everything in house where possible. You avoid involving the authorities. With nobody to turn to, Thor sets out to uncover who wronged him. But with corrupt land developers circling, the rival Crook family seeking to unsettle the Loxley’s at every turn, his own family despising him, and jealous old acquaintances lurking, the mystery plunges ever deeper – and up floats more greed, betrayal, secrecy and blood than Thor could possibly imagine.
My thanks to Linda MacFadyen for my review copy
I jumped the gun on Crook’s Hollow and read it too early. It was sitting beside me and calling out to be read and I *knew* it was still 2 months until publication date and that I should really wait so I could review it “fresh” from finishing it…but I am weak dear reader, weak. I raced through Crook’s Hollow in two sittings and have had to sit on my hands for a few weeks and not share how much I enjoyed it until publication date loomed large.
Crook’s Hollow releases on 29 March 2018 and I recommend getting it ordered as soon as you can.
I have mentioned more than once that I love a small town story. Usually there are secrets to be uncovered but sometimes there are small town rivalries and feuding families and the town becomes a powder keg with the reader waiting for someone to light the fuse…that’s Crook’s Hollow.
There are secrets too. The biggest secret as far as Thor Loxley is concerned is that someone is trying to kill him and he has no idea who that someone may be. Now…had he given this problem any prior consideration I don’t believe that Thor would have said ANYONE would want to kill him, however, someone tried and now everyone in Crook’s Hollow is a suspect. Finding the responsible party is not going to be easy though. Thor cannot rely upon his family for help as he has alienated himself from their loving embrace. His best friend is a suspect so there is no help available there and as for his girlfriend, well they have to keep their relationship hush-hush…one of those secrets I spoke of earlier.
I really enjoyed following Thor’s story, the book had a claustrophobic feel and thinking back to when I read it I have a memory of dark rooms, shady places and the prevailing feeling of sinister overtones. It felt like I’d been drawn in to a tale spun by a story-teller as the listeners sat around a campfire on a dark night. This may sound a bit odd but Crook’s Hollow drew me in and the fondest memory I have of reading it is of a sinister darkness.
While Crook’s Hollow may not be the longest story you will read this month, there is a lot of story packed into this tale and Thor will face more than a couple of moments of peril to keep readers highly entertained. Robert Parker held my attention from page one and while my TBR pile is threatening to rage out of control it is not easy to command my full attention the way that Crook’s Hollow did.
Crooks Hollow is published by Black Rose Writing on 29 March 2018 and will be available in digital and paperback format – order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crooks-Hollow-Robert-Parker-ebook/dp/B078WDQV4X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518650638&sr=8-1&keywords=crook%27s+hollow