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When 20-year-old Michael Shipman wakes up in a hospital bed, he's confused.  He can't remember where he's been for the last two weeks or why he now needs medical care.  Vague images of an empty, hollow city are the only memories swimming through his muddled mind.  Michael has no idea what happened to him, but he knows who's responsible—Them.  Of course, the doctors don't believe in Them.  They might even be Them.  He can't trust his medical team any more than he can trust anyone.  His best bet is to convince the doctors he's healthy and get the heck out of Dodge.

But, Michael's not going anywhere.  Especially not after the authorities name him as a suspect in a string of grisly murders in the Chicago area.  Michael can't remember killing anyone, but then, he can't remember not killing anyone either.  The voices in his head say he couldn't have harmed another person.  They say lots of things, not all of which are real.  In fact, the longer he stays in the mental hospital to which he's now confined, the less anything makes sense at all.

In his heart, Michael knows he's not a killer.  And yet, he's pretty sure his alarm clock will attack him if he doesn't keep it covered.  What is real?  What's only true in his head?  In order to save himself, Michael must figure it out before he's condemned to a lifetime of incarceration in a mental hospital—or worse.

The Hollow City, the newest adult novel by horror writer Dan Wells, is a riveting mind-twister.  I don't want to spoil it by saying too much, so I'll just tell you that I loved this entertaining psychological/supernatural thriller.  To me, it's more compelling, more entertaining, and a whole lot less gruesome than Wells' John Cleaver series.  I may be in the minority here, but I really think The Hollow City is Wells' best novel to date.   It's my favorite, anyway.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little of Dan Wells' John Cleaver series [I Am Not A Serial Killer; Mr. Monster; I Don't Want to Kill You] and a teensy bit of Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson)

Grade:  B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for mild language (no F-bombs), violence/gore and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of The Hollow City from the generous folks at Tor/Forge.  Thank you!

**Don't forget that you can win yourself a copy of this excellent psychological/supernatural thriller.  Click here to enter the giveaway.  It ends on August 15th, so don't delay!         

First off, I want to announce the winner of One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf.  It's Linda Brower.  Congratulations, Linda!  If you would please send your snail mail address to me at blogginboutbooksATgmailDOTcom, I'll pass it on to the publicist, who will send the book to you.  

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway.  If you didn't win this time, don't despair.  You can still enter to win a copy of Dan Wells' new psychological/supernatural thriller, The Hollow City by clicking here.  And, of course, you must stay tuned because I will definitely be hosting more book giveaways in the near future.  

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Becca Williams can't wait to leave her tiny hometown in the dust.  With her high school diploma now in hand, she's ready to head off to college and forget she ever heard of a town called Bridgeton, let alone lived there her whole life.  Only one thing is holding her back:  James.  She loves him.  The small-town gossips think it's just a high school fling, but it's not.  Is it?  Becca's not sure anymore.

Her conflicted feelings are heightened by the discovery of a dead body on the side of the highway just outside of town.  Becca doesn't know why the young woman's death disturbs her so much—Amelia Anne Richardson wasn't from Bridgeton—but it does.  As the stunned townspeople try to piece together what happened to the woman, Becca grapples to gain her own understanding.  With real-world violence touching her safe existence for the first time, she's paralyzed by indecision.  Can Becca face the brutal realities of life away from home?  Or, even more frightening, accept the stale comforts of the life she's always known, in the place she's always lived?  Amelia Anne didn't make it far in the big, wide world—will Becca be any different?

The plot of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, a debut novel by Kat Rosenfield, is difficult to describe.  No matter how I summarize it, it just doesn't end up making a lot of sense.  When you read the book, you'll see that it does, in fact, make all kinds of sense.  Maybe too much.  At any rate, it's a raw, sobering tale about two girls who have their whole lives in front of them, two girls who must make difficult decisions, two girls forced to choose between risk and suffocation.  Dark and haunting, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone is one of those YA reads that feels older.  It's depressing—no doubt about that—but it's also a seriously compelling novel, one that had me tearing through the pages because I absolutely could not put it down until I knew how the story ended.        

(Readalikes:  Um, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:  B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  R for strong language, sexual content and depictions of underage drinking

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find 

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