This has not be reviewed yet. Audiobook technical issues that stop the book from playing past the intro. NetGalley is aware but as of 7/31 I am still not able to play past the introduction.

I will say that so far I like what I heard but wish I could finish the rest of the audio. I don't think I will get that opportunity before this is due. I'll update if I do.

Another stellar pairing of Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, who brought us The Strain Trilogy. This book is in the same genre as their previous books, thriller mixed in with Sci-Fi.

If you have ever seen the move Fallen with Denzel Washington, you will start to feel a very similar vibe with this story. Odessa Hardwicke is an FBI agent. She and her partner Leppo walk into the unthinkable at the start, and Odessa is forced to shoot and kill her partner. As he is dying, an aura comes off of him, which Odessa cannot explain.

Odessa quickly starts investigating similar incidents and brings in outsiders who might be familiar to what is occurring. In comes Blackwood, who you will get his backstory, does not seem to age, and has been following this phenomenon for many years.

What ensues is a creepy thriller, almost borderline horror. Del Toro is a master at making his writing very cinematic. I can picture everything they are trying to convey in my head. If you are fans of his previous works I do not think you will be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The scare and mystery factor are high in this story. The character of "Odessa" is intelligent and tough and able to lead this eerie tale of the occult. Brittany Pressley is a fairly capable narrator, with a commanding ability to carry multiple characters voices, with distinct efficiency. Highly recommended.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes edge of your seat excitment. I think the narrator did a great job reading this book and was one of the reasons I couldn't put it down.

This was my first NetGalley audiobook and I can’t say that I’ve started my audiobook reviewing life on the right foot. Though The Hollow Ones starts with a bang it soon turns into and underwhelming and frankly, not too original story about evil spirits. Much as I tried, I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and I couldn’t have cared less about any of their fates, which I think we can all agree is not a really good sign in a story about people possessed by demons. The story is told in three different timelines and though, fast-paced, the plot is basic AF in all of them. Both characters and plot are massively underdeveloped and I’m not sure if some plot points and secondary (but important) characters weren’t properly explained and introduced or I may have dozed off for a little bit while listening, that’s how thrilling it was.

The audiobook itself is pretty good. Brittany Pressley does a good job with the acting although in some parts I found it to be a bit overdramatic. Also, I’m not the biggest fan of her male southern voices and accents.

Our main character FBI agent Odessa's life completely changes when she's forced to turn her gun on her partner, who turns suddenly, violent while apprehending a rampaging murderer.
At his death she thought she saw a presence leave his body and it has haunted her ever since.
Odessa is forced in to taking a desk job whilst the investigation takes place and accepts her orders to go clear out the office of a retired agent Solomon. As they talk, a knowledgeable Solomon questions her and nudges her in to admissions hinting at his thoughts on the whole situation. Through a letter she is asked to post by him she then meets Hugo Blackwood occult detective on a mission to rid the world of hollow ones who can take over bodies and control them and the action ramps up to a whole new level as they work together to save the community and capture the evil spirits.
I really enjoyed the characterisation from smart, strong, confident Odessa to Hugo Blackwood and his innocent lack of modern technology knowledge which added a nice touch of humour.
The time scale switch was mastered succesfully with ease and I found it easy to follow.
Although the narrator did a good job with the different voices and especially accents I do think this story would have benefited from the addition of having a male narrator as it took some getting used to at the beginning after recently listening to another audio in the same genre where they had done this.
But overall a audio book I enjoyed listening to and would recommend.
My thanks go to Netgalley, the publishers and authors in providing me with this advanced audio edition in return for a honest review.

Right from the beginning, I'll say this. I'm a big fan of Guillermo del Toro's work. I've seen many of his movies, although I've never read any of his books. After this one, I think I might.

This book is a thrill ride of supernatural and horror-style action. Believable characters, well-spun dialogue and a breakneck pace will keep you turning the pages until you hit the epilogue.

I really hope that there are more of these books. The actual main character (either named John Silence or Hugo Blackwood, depending on which version you read) is a superbly original creation and I'd love to read more of his "adventures".

SPOILERS

This is KINDA like the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington, but on a grander and creepier scale. A rookie FBI agent gets tangled up with a seemingly immortal alchemist to stop a horrible being that delights in causing mass murder. I LOVED IT.

Thank you to Hachette Book Group and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have returned with a new brand of exquisite horror for their readers in The Hollow Ones. The writing team has a way of using language and imagery that creeps into the marrow of your bones in their writing. Whether they are invoking psychological terror or writing about things that go bump in the night, they scare and scare well. Del Toro and Chuck Hogan are also authors of the New York Times bestselling series, The Strain trilogy, adapted to the hit tv show The Strain by FX that aired between 2014 - 2017. Del Toro is a director and writer with notable movies such as Mimic, Hellboy, and Pan's Labyrinth. Chuck Hogan, who is both a writer of screenplays and novels, has eight books of horror and mystery stories.

"To anyone other than a law enforcement professional, the classification of the crime matters little. The only truly important fact of the matter was that, for more than sixty years, Unruh's shooting spree stood as the worst rampage killing in New Jersey.
That is, until the night Walt Leppo ordered meatloaf."

The Hollow Ones follows FBI Agent Odessa Hardwicke as she tracks down who or more importantly what killed her partner. Because even though Odessa pulled the trigger, something happened to her partner before he went crazy. And, like a cat, Odessa is full of curiosity that might get her killed. She wants to know who or what is causing this string of murder and suicides in her city. A low-level desk assignment leads her to a senior FBI agent Earl Solomon, who is coming to the end of his life. Earl introduces her to the mysterious John Silence, a man who is so much more than he seems. The John Silence character is originally based on an Algernon Blackwood character written in the early 1900s about the 'psychic physician.' Between Silence's stoicism and mystery and Odessa's curiosity, the two follow a trail of demons, magic, and the occult that leads to the answer of what killed Odessa's partner.

The Hollow Ones are two dueling narratives. That of young and intrepid FBI agent Odessa Hardwicke. Who in the opening scenes of the story has to make a career-ending decision of killing her partner or watch him kill someone. It is unexplainable what happened to Odessa's partner, and the FBI is in the business of real data and evidence. This case is a career-ender for Odessa. She is put on a desk job that leads her to clean out former agent Solomon's office. Odessa brings Solomon his things in the hospital. We flash to the other narrative of a young and bold Solomon at the beginning of his career in the 1960s. He is the first African American agent in the FBI and is investigating the lynching of a white man in the south. Solomon crosses path with John Silence and with John Solomon investigates the death. There are parallels drawn between Solomon's and Odessa's career. Each follows a similar path with the commonality of John Silence.

"Odessa was riveted, reexperiencing her own trauma as she listened."

Solomon has aged and is now laying dying in the hospital, Odessa is a brand new agent being first introduced to the occult, yet John Silence is the same as ever. As the story progresses, the two distinct stories wind around each other until they eventually mesh into present times. Dek Toro and Hogan do this well. The pacing of the story is quick and exciting. I was as invested in Odessa's fate as I was Solomons. However, there is a sparseness to the writing that leads to a lack of character development. I wanted more from these characters, especially Silence. It is one thing to tell me that Silence has been around a long time, and it is another to demonstrate that. Same with Solomon. A reader could learn so much more from him. Instead, it felt like Solomon was a passing conduit to get Odessa to John Silence. Parts of this book almost felt like reading a screenplay without set descriptions; it perfectly played out in Del Toro's and Hogan's head but did not quite make the transition to the written page. And even though it was still a very entertaining story, the brusqueness of the dialog and story beats left me feeling disconnected from the characters.

"He remembered she recoiled from the taste, the flavor of solder lingering in his mouth. She said she woke the next morning with the burnt taste still upon her palate, the source of which he could not explain."

However, even though the story felt compressed, there is still enough meat for a great sequel. I feel like we are just starting on our journey with Odessa and John Silence, and The Hollow Ones was just a taste of the horrors to come. I hope so. If The Hollow Ones is anything like its predecessor, The Strain Trilogy, the craziness and depth of fear will only increase as the story develops.

Reminiscent of THE THING or perhaps FALLING ANGEL, THE HOLLOW ONES was a good time!

We follow a young female FBI agent named Odessa Hardwicke, as she is temporarily suspended for an officer involved shooting, wherein her partner was the victim and she the perpetrator. She ends up taking a desk job until everything is sorted out. She takes over the desk of an agent on medical leave and for...spoiler-ific reasons, she goes to meet him. He then tells her to mail a letter, which she does and then, POOF! We meet Hugo Blackwood, Occult Detective. Why did she shoot her own partner? How is Blackwood going to help her? You'll have to read this to find out!

I absolutely love the idea of an occult detective and this one being named Mr. Blackwood, is, (I'm guessing), an homage to Algernon. I need to know more about him and the Hollow Ones. Being a man who has lived for a long, long time there could be many more stories about him and his history. I want to read them.

Brittany Pressley is the narrator and she's completely new to me. I thought her voicing performance was pretty good. (I think Ray Porter has spoiled me as far as narrators go, he is so great at changing voices.)

I'm being totally honest here, this book did not knock my socks off. It did pique my interest, though, and I enjoyed the finale quite a bit-enough to continue on with the series. I hope that Mr. Blackwood will be an integral part of it, as I found him to be infinitely more interesting than Odessa.

Recommended!

*Thank to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio download provided in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

The scare and mystery factor are high in this story. The character of "Odessa" is intelligent and tough and able to lead this eerie tale of the occult. Brittany Pressley is a fairly capable narrator, with a commanding ability to carry multiple characters voices, with distinct efficiency. Highly recommended.

This story was really well done! I am a huge fan of Del Toro's movies and this is the first book hes worked on that I read. I really enjoyed the flashbacks that gave some historical background and also Brittnay Preselys narration was fabulous!

I read that a lot of the criticism that came with this story was that the character of Hugo Blackwood is very similar to a character from another series. While I didn't read that series, he did remind me of the same character from a lot of other books - Wednesday from American Gods being one. This didn't really bother me, but I could see how it could bother others.

I also feel like there were a few half-baked plot points - one being more than a little problematic with the lynching of a white man. But I digress, I enjoyed this audiobook and would be interested to see it translated into a movie.

The Hollow Ones is the start of what appears to be a new series by Del Toro and Hogan after the success of their Strain trilogy. I both read and listened to the book and to get this out of the way, it was a strange experience given the changes to the book’s main character after the publishing of the ARC. The main character is originally named John Silence, a direct homage to the Algernon Blackwood detective. In the final version of the book, the character is named Hugo Blackwood as an homage and to separate the character from the Algernon Blackwood creation.

The book itself starts on an absolutely terrifying opening scene in which a spree killer attacks his family and the public and is killed by Odessa, an FBI agent. At the moment of his death, her partner goes crazy and attacks a surviving child with a knife before being shot by Odessa. It’s a shocking opening and sets a bar for energy the book fails to recreate.

This isn’t to say it is a boring book. We are introduced to Blackwood, a mysterious character also related to a 60 year old lynching case in the deep south. Throughout the book we learn about the history of Blackwood (who also appears in scenes set in the 16th century) and his mission. Needless to say, there are supernatural underpinnings both to him and his adversaries.

The book is relatively short and moves along at a good pace. The main plot is sewed up nicely, but it is certainly open to a series. Whether this is in another trilogy or an even longer series will probably be based on the authors and the success of this book.

It isn’t perfect, but it is very entertaining. Especially for a quarantine read or an early Halloween treat, Del Toro and Hogan give us an easy to read book that is a ton of fun.

A note on the narration. It is perfectly acceptable, but the narrator isn’t terribly skilled at differentiating characters beyond vocal pitch. Accents are rather cringeworthy. It is perfectly acceptable, but it certainly doesn’t add to the book.

Thank you to Netgalley to providing an audio and ebook version for review.

I enjoyed this story. I was expecting a horror novel but it was more of a supernatural story. Horror or supernatural aside, it was an entertaining story and I flew through it. There are a few references to things like Amazon Prime and Postmates that jolted you out of the story and it seemed very product placement like. Overall, it was a good story and I look forward to a sequel.

Guillermo Del Toro is a name that conjures up fantastic and/or horror-filled imagery when it comes to movies and fiction writing. This book, written with Chuck Hogan, focuses on FBI agent, Odessa Hardwicke who early in the book, is forced to kill her partner. Here begins the real story…What was that creature, that being, that creepy feeling, that some Thing left her partner’s body just after she killed him? This review is on the audio version of the book which I found interesting but lacking for some reason. This may be a case where reading the actual book may have been more satisfying than listening to it.

What a fun, wild story! The Hollow Ones is gruesome and dark but also really entertaining. It deals in demons, dark magic, and possession with plenty of murder and blood. I listened to the audiobook of this one and it was a very quick listen. The forward momentum was intense and it kept me listening to see if our heroes would survive and the bad guys would be vanquished. This is very much a story of good versus evil in the best “Hollywood” sense. It is clear who wears the white hats and who wears the black with little to no ambiguity. This isn’t a tale of moral complexity but rather a straight forward action oriented thrill ride. We know who to cheer for and do so with passion because the bad guys are really, really awful.

This audiobook is narrated by the prolific and much loved Brittany Pressley. She does such an incredible job with all the characters and completely commits to everything from a male British accent to a growly demon. It boggles the mind that all these diverse voices come from just one women and I would swear it was a multi-cast recording. Every one of the accents and personalities sounds completely authentic and real. It really is an incredible performance.

The story lends itself very well to audio. It has a cinematic quality that practically begs to be performed. Even though the timeline jumps between several different time periods each transition was very clear and each was so different that wasn’t difficult to keep them straight. The Hollow Ones has a complex mythology but it was not confusing at all in audio. It might actually be clearer in this format because the characters in each time period sound so distinct and unique that even if I missed the heading with the date I could tell which period we were in just by listening to the voices.

If you are missing going to the movie theater and watching the newest Blockbuster flick this just might help scratch that itch. It has all the hallmarks of a great movie and I would be surprised if it doesn’t make its way to a screen of some description in the future. The narrator of the audiobook is so good and brings it to life so well that it feels like being at a movie. Make your own popcorn, pull out your Twizzlers and settle in with this audiobook for a night at the movies social distancing style.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for providing an Advance Copy via NetGalley for review.

"The Hollow Ones" by Guillermo del Toro is a twist on a classic story of cop vs mystery, where who "the bad guy is" isn't clear... or even a human being.

I was intrigued by this book and was excited to listen. I have loved Guillermo de Toro's stories in the past and have found stories such as "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Shape of Water" to be fascinating. He is known for violence in his stories, but in a way that blends into intense historical fiction story lines. With that being said, I thought I was ready to read this book but it was too violent for me off the bat. The killing of children is a little too much for me. Are there readers who will read this book and love it? Of course. I just wasn't the best reader of this story and books aren't always "one size fits all."

Narrator was fine and the story seemed compelling. Would recommend to readers who have a stronger stomach.

Not sure what I was expecting when I started this book. I feel left confused and as if I need to go back and listen again. The book switches between timelines and I think that's where it kept losing me. I feel like I don't know enough about the paranormal element of the story. The parts I was able to follow were written well and being a Jersey Girl I enjoyed hearing about familiar areas. For now the book will go onto my re-read list and perhaps afterwards will merit a higher rating.

When an FBI agent goes mysteriously rogue and during a murder arrest attempts to kill a child, his partner, Odessa, is forced to kill him. On forced leave, she is given a low level task leading her to dying retired agent Solomon who is able to cast light on her current predicament, Through him, she meets Hugo Blackwood, a man on a mission to rid the world of nightmare monsters he calls the Hollow Ones. This short novel focuses on these three characters, successfully moving back and forth between the 16th century, 1962, and the present. There is plenty of mystery and action, as the well paced novel gets right down to the tracking ancient evil. Well performed by Brittany Pressley who uses a variety of accents to successfully differentiate the characters. Looking forward to the next novel in this series.

This one sucked me in almost immediately, and it kept my interest throughout the full reading. The narrator was excellent which always adds to the story.

As for the actual writing, it’s certainly not a masterpiece by any means and there are a lot of obvious influences from other works, but it told a great story and it told it well. I look forward to other works in the series.

These authors are new to me, so I was excited to finally focus on one of their stories. The story flips between the past and the present, focusing on one of the FBI's first black agents Agent Earl Solomon and a case from 1962, and current FBI Agent Odessa Hardwicke. Odessa was at the scene of a father killing his family when her partner suddenly turned to attack the last surviving member of the family; she shot him and noticed what looked like a shade leaving his dead body.

The one thing they have in common is Hugo Blackwood, an odd British man who works against evil entities in the world.. Blackwood shows up as Earl Solomon is investigating a lynching of a white man in Mississippi. Many years later he turns up in New York to aid Odessa.

Odessa is smart, feels strongly about ethics, and cares for the people she meets. I liked her paired with the cold, aloof Hugo Blackwood. I felt the story jumped around a bit, but this is the first book in the series and is setting the foundation.

The narrator added so much to this story, adding to the characters' personalities, their responses, and emotions.

I received an advanced audio book from Net Galley and this is my honest review