Wow, time's flown here.
It hardly seems any time ago that my agent was telling me Angry Robot wanted to publish #TheHollows, and tomorrow it'll be out ther
e in the world.
It's a hugely exciting time, and a slightly scary one. Will people like it? Will people buy it? There's only one way to find out, of course. But there've been a lot of encouraging signs.
About a month ago, Caroline (the lovely and brilliant publicity-person at Angry Robot) told me there'd been just over 70 reviews and ratings on NetGalley for The Hollows, which is apparently an unusually high figure. Better still, the vast majority of them were overwhelmingly positive, rating the book at four or five stars.
I checked NetGalley again this morning, and The Hollows has now received a total of 98 reviews/ratings - the vast majority, again, still hugely positive.
Over on Goodreads the book's received 72 reviews and ratings, with an average score of four stars.
To the NetGalley and Goodreads reviewers, my sincere and humble thanks.
Another advance review comes from Matt Cavanaugh at Runalong The Shelves, and includes the words every writer wants to hear:
"Gentle Reader, I loved this book!"
Matt goes on to say:
"Its use of transitions, genre-slicing and pacing make this a read I could not put down and it delivered all the peaks of the finest horror action film. You can imagine a John Carpenter soundtrack in the background as we look at snow covered with blood, burning fires and hear constant gunshots all alone in an isolated English village. Curl up in a comfy chair, devour this book and get worried about that noise at the window. I shall be watching out for more from Church in the meantime. Strongly recommended!"
Many thanks, Matt.
Meanwhile, The Hollows appears on BookBub's list of Best Horror Books of Fall 2022, BookRiot's 10 Horror Books Coming Out This Month That Will Thrill And Chill, and Cats Luv Coffee's This Month In Horror.
If you're curious to know a little more about the genesis of The Hollows and what to expect from it, I talk a little about it over at Kendall Reviews.
And finally... for those of you in travelling distance of Liverpool, I'll be appearing in the (all too solid) flesh at Blackwells Bookshop in conversation with the one and only Ramsey Campbell to read a short extract from the book and talk about it. And to sign copies, of course!
If you'd like attend, it's free, but you need to book a ticket here.
Hopefully, the event will be livestreamed, so if you can't make it on the night but want to watch, you can do so on Blackwell Liverpool's Facebook page.
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