Sadly this was a DNF for me. The premise sounded super intriguing and thrilling but I just could not get into it, I might go back and try to read it again it some point but I just found it a little boring at parts. Hand is a good writer but the story did not grip me like I thought it would at the time of reading it.

I generally like Elizabeth Hand's writing. The first book I read by her was Waking the Moon and I've been trying to find a book that's she's written that I like as much ever since. Unfortunately, so far I have failed.

Hand tends toward gothic, eerie, moody books that prioritize atmosphere over plot. That's the case with this book. I did like her main character, Grady. He was sort of an everyman, a guy who'd never quite figured out what he wanted. He had useful skills but wasn't getting anywhere with them. A past failure haunted him and kept him in limbo.

There aren't too many books that I've read that are set during the pandemic. This one is, and the isolation that the pandemic brings plays into the uneasiness of the book. Grady doesn't only need to isolate for two weeks after he travels to Hawai'i, he needs to isolate in a small cabin on a cliff that's hours from anywhere, with the only connection to the outside world a one lane dirt road that winds precariously along the cliff. I've been on those roads and they are disconcerting, I can tell you.

Grady's boss is hardly ever there. Grady's job is to care for the private compound while his employer is away doing... whatever it is he does.

The book is certainly atmospheric. You can feel the heat beating down, smell the green aroma of the jungle. Having spent a bit of time in Hawai'i it definitely reads like the author has been there too. The idea of something rotten in paradise is kind of interesting. There is a supernatural aspect to the situation but it's not clear for most of the book exactly how much of that is real and how much is Grady. Ultimately it reads like the author is trying to raise awareness about what's under the bright tourist surface of the islands. As an outsider herself, though, I think she has raised a few hackles.

While all of the above is well done, not too much actually happens. Grady spends most of the book worried about a girl he met on the plane who has disappeared. At the end, I'm not sure it mattered to the plot whether Grady actually was there or not. That's not a great place to be with a main character.

Thriller set on a small island in Hawai’i. Grady is looking for a change from his life in Maine and is offered a position as a grounds keeper/caretaker on an estate in Hawai’i. His employer is a wealthy naturalist who spends is time in an isolated reserve on the island. Grady starts to experience weird sightings and learns that many people disappear from the island.

Grady is a 28 year old out of work carpenter living back home with his Mom. The pandemic has made
it hard to get jobs. Then he gets a text from his brother. It's an ad from someone in Hawaii looking for a caretaker. Figuring "what the hell", he answers the ad.
Next thing he knows, he's on his way to meet this mystery man who has paid his flight. Seated across from him on the plane is a young woman. They chat and it turns out she's been to Hawaii before and is staying with a friend. Maybe they could meet up once they are both out of the required quarantine.
Grady is met at the airport by Dalita, a former caretaker for Wes Minton, the man he'll be working for. A man so wealthy he owns an estate and lands that Grady will take care of and who also owns property that is impossible for anyone else to access.

From the moment Grady lands at the estate, we will follow him on a journey into a territory seemingly breathtakingly beautiful, yet with an undercurrent of dread. The landscape is filled with exotic plants, trees and flowers and wildlife that seems to lurk around the periphery. But there's something else, something he feels is watching him. Is it his imagination? Or are the Island legends haunting more than his dreams?

If you've ever dreamed of going to an island paradise and enjoy a story filled with intrigue and secrecy then this is the book for you! Thank you to NetGalley for the DRC!

📚📚 Review 📚📚

Book: Hokuloa Road
Author: ElizabethHand
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Fantasy, Supernatural
Format: Ebook

This was my first time reading the author and it most definitely wouldn’t be the last.

The book did start off slow but it gained momentum and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mystery was pretty good, throw in a supernatural element and the story was elevated to another level.

It was spooky, oh yeah!! If you wasn’t something that’s easy to read with paranormal elements and Hawaiian mythology, this would be it!! Fantastic mix of folklore and suspense.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC.

I really liked many elements of this book, but ultimately, I found it challenging to the connect to the characters., especially Grady, and the plot could be quite slow at times. I did appreciate the mix of supernatural and real, and the setting was great, but all the pieces didn't add up to a winner for me, personally.

This book was a much slower burn than I was expecting. I also think the author tackled something really difficult in writing about the early days of the pandemic. I went into this hoping for an attention grabbing creepy story and while there were some cool creepy elements there was too much nothing in between them which lowered the suspense factor quite a bit. Grady is living in Maine and working odd jobs since the lockdown started until his brother randomly sends him an ad to work as a caretaker for a rich man in Hawaii . He applies and moves 5000 miles in the pandemic and enters a beautiful paradise. But there are constant reminders this place isn’t perfect with lots of missing people. When a person who he had met (an attractive woman he hoped to see again of course) also goes missing he starts to pay more attention to try to figure out the island’s secrets. I think this is my first book by this author but based on what I’ve seen and the flashes of good in this one I will give her another try.

Grady arrives to work as a caretaker for a very rich, reclusive guy, who professes a deep love for the local fauna. Grady barely sees the guy, who spends most of his time elsewhere on his property. Grady acquaints himself with the billionaire's house, and becomes fascinated by the guy’s big aquarium, and by his caged birds (who are on the endangered list). Otherwise, Grady spends much of his time drinking, and being kind of aimless. Also, he is visited several times by a strange upright, dog-like figure.

There are also several missing young people, primarily people of colour, on the island, with the police either not investigating or having no success finding anyone.


Elizabeth Hand expertly paints a gorgeous picture of Hokulua Road and its surroundings. From that perspective, the book worked well. I could feel the hot air, hear birds and feel the rain. Also, it was interesting to see how people coped with COVID restrictions.

Much as I've loved the two other books I've read by Elizabeth Hand, I did not love this. There were lots of elements in this book that should have come together to make a fantastic read, but these things kept me from really enjoying this book:

-Grady is a pretty lacklustre main character. There's little about him that explained to me why he would become such a focal point in the story.
-I was also really uncomfortable that Hand had Grady, a white guy with no understanding of the beliefs and spirituality of the people of the island, repeatedly see a somewhat terrifying spirit.
-Grady really only cares that there are unexplained disappearances on the island when a young woman from L.A., who was on the plane with him, goes missing.
-The romance between Grady and the friend of missing young woman didn’t feel earned.
-The perpetrator is easy to figure out. This isn't usually a dealbreaker for me, but this was on top of all my other issues with this book.

Mostly, I felt underwhelmed by this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Mulholland Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I love Hawaii, so I was excited to read this book. I enjoyed learning about the Hawaiian culture. I did think the book was slow to get going. Overall, a good read!

interesting characters and settings but too abrupt of an ending for all that build up. It seemed rushed and unworthy of the rest o the book.

This was really slow to get to the creepy and it felt like half the book was a field guide to Hawaii culture and PLANTS. Like LOTS of plants, holy moly. The creepy stuff was good, though. Liked it, didn't love it. But I will try other books by Elizabeth Hand.

Many thanks to Mulholland Books for a free digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

I went to Hawaii on my honeymoon and I was really excited to read a book set during the pandemic at one of my favorite places. However, this was such a slow burn. Normally, I'm a fan of a slow burn and I get really invested, but that just wasn't the case with this book. It felt like it was never going to end and it took me quite a long time to finally finish! When I did eventually get to the end, I felt like there were some loose ends and I was pretty underwhelmed.

Some people may not be ready for a novel set during the pandemic, but it really worked for this one. Grady was so isolated out on Hokuloa Road where he was caretaking for a wealthy man who spent weeks out at the tip of Hokuloa Road where visitors and island inhabitants were strictly prohibited from visiting.

The pandemic and strict quarantine measures enforced in Hawaii really added to the level of eeriness that steadily built throughout the novel. Hand did a great job weaving island myths/legends and history into the story and really capturing native Hawaiians attitudes and opinions about tourists, the US, and their home.

The novel had a bit of a paranormal/folklore aspect that I enjoyed because it felt genuine to Hawaii. There was also a big missing persons piece that was certainly interesting but maybe a little overplayed and ultimately unresolved.

I didn't feel much of a connection to any of the characters and felt like Grady lacked depth, Raina was a mess, and Jessica was put on a pedestal. Lor and Dalita were definitely the most interesting characters but I felt like their chapters were always punctuated with "real life" moments taking them away from the story (i.e. errands for their kids, making dinner, etc.) and adding nothing to the plot.

Regarding formatting, the chapters in this book are ridiculously short and there are well over 100. Normally, I love a quick chapter and it keeps me flipping the pages. However, the chapter breaks were way overused and often, it felt like the chapters really just rolled into each other rather than stating a new thought or plot point. I would have much preferred longer chapters with better structure.

All in all, this was an atmospheric and relatively entertaining read. I loved the setting, the Hawaiian history and folklore, and the overall uniqueness of the story. I will definitely be willing to check out more by Hand in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland books for a copy of this novel.

Elizabeth Hand transports us to a place that is so incredibly beautiful that I wanted to be there in spite of its creepiness. Her writing about the nature surrounding Grady Kendall, an import from the mainland in the early days of Covid, is just truly astounding. As far as Grady goes, Hand’s writing is not so much characterization as it is immersion. The book is told from Grady’s point of view, and we see, smell, hear, and feel his disorientation as he encounters the fantastical in both its tangible and intangible forms.

There’s a mystery here; people are going missing on the island and one of them is the new friend Brady made on the plane as he traveled to Hawaii. Grady doesn’t give up on finding her, and it is this stubbornness that takes him on a days-long hike through the untouched and sacred wilderness and gives Hand free-rein to exercise her descriptive skills as Grady encounters everything from harsh landscape scoured by lava to extraordinary swarms of intricately colored butterflies.

All that Grady encounters on the island is not visually astounding nature, however. There’s some sort of spiritual force at work, one that is hugely creepy and frightening. At first Grady is not sure that what he’s experiencing is even real and later is not sure if it’s out to get him or out to help him. His experience of this elusive being is not made any clearer by the local Hawaiians’ refusal to talk about it. The scenes where Grady and whatever this thing is encounter each other are eerie and truly frightening. I’m not sure whether they move the narrative from spiritual to horror; the book teeters on that edge at some points.

Because of the approach Hand takes to Grady’s characterization, his motivation is unclear at times. It’s almost as if he’s so bewildered at what he’s experiencing that he’s unsure of what’s driving him. Since we live in his mind through this experience, we are also unsure. Secondary characters are not fully realized either; however, some show signs of nuance. This is the main drawback to the book, but it is so overshadowed by the evocative writing that I almost cannot fault Hand for it. I had not previously read this author, but now I will need to go investigate her other books.

Unexpected as I thought this was a traditional mystery, but with a bit of Hawaiian spiritual flavor. Great characters and an unexpected ending!

Other reviewers have mentioned a potential pacing issue with HOKULOA ROAD. I would say that it takes some time to get going, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

The set up in the beginning does pay off as the story progresses.

I especially enjoyed the setting details and the creepy factor. The main character is a bit aimless and definitely relatable. The author does a very good job of weaving the mystery throughout the narrative and it's fun for the reader to gather the clues.

I would describe this as a suspense story with horror elements.

The Hawaii setting is rendered beautifully.

This started out with such promise, but quickly faded into a hot mess! I understand the authors obvious appreciation of Hawaii, but wasn't this supposed to be more of a horror/thriller than an ode to the rape of Hawaii by the white man?

Happy publishing day to Elizabeth Hand and Hokuloa Road!

This was a fast-paced horror/thriller mashup that sucked me right in. I was immediately invested in the plot and the characters and had so much run going through all sorts of theories in my mind as to the end. Hand's writing is wonderful, as always!

The major drawback for me was the ending. I don't want to say too much in my review for fear of spoilers, but if any friends read this one, let's chat!

I also didn't love the way Hand wrote the dialog for the Hawaiian natives. It was clear she was trying to make it sound like they don't speak perfect English, and by changing the dialog specifically, it read as a bit problematic to me. I hope this was fixed for the actual release!

3.5 stars. If you've read The Shining, you know that men named Grady do not traditionally fare well as caretakers of places. Nevertheless, when Grady Kendall is offered the opportunity to become the caretaker of a billionaire's isolated Hawaiian retreat on Kolihi'i, he jumps at the chance. He can't wait to leave Maine and the bad memories it holds, to get away from the looming presence of COVID. When he arrives, though, he finds a Hawaii much different than that of the travel brochures. Grady realizes he's come to a place where a disproportionately large number of people -- residents and tourists alike -- go missing, and that Hawaii's lush rain forests and glittering beaches may be hiding a sinister truth.

Hokuloa Road is a slow-burning, brooding novel, and it does take a while to get going. It's set in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I thought Elizabeth Hand did an excellent job of integrating the virus into this novel, using her plot to mirror how that time felt: listless, uncertain, fraught. It does make for some slower reading, though, at least at first; around the 50% mark things pick up, and Hokuloa Road becomes a page-turner.

This is one of those books that doesn't fit solidly into one genre. It's not a thriller, and it's not horror, although it has elements of both. It's not a character study, although the protagonist, Grady, is likable and authentic. The true strength of the book for me was the atmosphere; I've never been to Hawaii, but Hand made me feel like I was there. Her descriptions of the flora and fauna are rich, luscious, and transportative. In evocative writing, she immerses readers in the Hawaii that exists beyond the resorts, and her portrayals of the local people and places felt authentic and respectful.

I was intrigued by the Hawaiian folklore and legends that Hand explores in Hokuloa Road -- I actually wanted more of that angle, and was somewhat let down by the conclusion and some lingering plot holes and questions. There's a lot of good discussion about a variety of relevant topics: conservation and the impacts of over-development, the socioeconomic structure of tourist destinations, the exploitation of indigenous peoples. Hokuloa Road explores monsters both mythological and human in a haunting, impactful way.

Oh my goodness! This took so long to pick up! A good majority of the book nothing happens. I went into this expecting a creepy, horror story and was disappointed that it fell flat.

Grady Kendall jumps at the chance to work as a caretaker for a luxury mansion on on the famous Hokuloa Road in Kolihi, Hawaii.

Grady can’t stop thinking about Jessie, the girl he met on his flight. He also can’t stop thinking about the islands reputation for people going missing. When Jessie disappears, he springs into action determined to figure out what happened.

Hokuloa Road is available July 19, 2022

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

I really liked the premise of the book and connected more with Grady as a character than I usually do with aimless white dudes. Great creepy/beautiful atmosphere -- loved the descriptions of Hawai'i and the shady billionaire's weird mansion. I didn't love the pace - it got a little draggy in the middle, and I was confused about what exactly happened at the end. Overall, I liked this, but didn't love-love it, but I would gladly read more books by Hand.