A(nother) Year of Orenda – Hinton Hollow Death Trip by Will Carver

So the time has come to continue our celebration of all things Orenda Books. Not satisfied with reading over 60 books last year, today Mandie continues her quest to read all of the Orenda Books titles. She starts by sharing her thoughts on the third book in Will Carver’s highly original Detective Sergeant Pace series, Hinton Hollow Death Trip. Now I read and loved this book last year and if you want to know why and how much, you can find the review, right here. If you want to know what Mandie thought, then read on.

About the Book

It’s a small story. A small town with small lives that you would never have heard about if none of this had happened.

Hinton Hollow. Population 5,120.

Little Henry Wallace was eight years old and one hundred miles from home before anyone talked to him. His mother placed him on a train with a label around his neck, asking for him to be kept safe for a week, kept away from Hinton Hollow.

Because something was coming.

Narrated by Evil itself, Hinton Hollow Death Trip recounts five days in the history of this small rural town, when darkness paid a visit and infected its residents. A visit that made them act in unnatural ways. Prodding at their insecurities. Nudging at their secrets and desires. Coaxing out the malevolence suppressed within them. Showing their true selves.

Making them cheat.
Making them steal.
Making them kill.

Detective Sergeant Pace had returned to his childhood home. To escape the things he had done in the city. To go back to something simple. But he was not alone. Evil had a plan.

Mandie’s Thoughts

Hinton Hollow Death Trip is the third in the Detective Sergeant Pace series and for me it is by far the darkest of the bunch, even the narrator is Evil…. Seriously its Evil that is narrating the events that take place. I honestly have no idea what I am going to say about this book and it may turn out to be complete gibberish (often my reviews are) but I will give it a go (in case I don’t manage to convey it, this book is brilliant)

The book only takes place over a short period of time, but a lot happens, some of the events don’t seem to have a link, yet others clearly do but working it out is no easy task for Detective Sergeant Pace. Hinton Hollow is one of those small communities where if you have lived there a long time you know most of the people and you know most of what has gone on over the years. Detective Sergeant Pace was born there but had moved away. Now he was returning to take a break from events in London. What he was returning to was not the quiet time he was expecting. This book is as much about Detective Sergeant Pace as it is the events in Hinton Hollow

Now I had been warned about certain events in this book but even so there were still some things that garnered a stronger reaction than others, and if you have read this book then I am sure you know which events I am referring to. These reactions say as much about how society as a whole reacts, as much as it does me. This is definitely a book that will have you questioning yourself, how you would react in the situations that are depicted in the book, just as “evil” is nudging the residents of Hinton Hollow into their actions, showing what is really there below the surface and not everyone is as good as they appear on the surface.

After reading all the books in the series I am not sure if Will Carver is an evil genius or is just very good at shining a light on the true nature of people in his own unique, dark way. One thing I do know is that despite the subject matter these books are brilliant, and they make you take notice and make you think. Sometimes you need books like these in your life. The ones that will hurt your head but make you read well into the night as they are addictive. Evil does warn the reader that this story may not be for all, and its true but as I said before I think this book is brilliant with an ending that I was not quite expecting and I am now going to lie in a dark room and try to recover.

About the Author

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Good Samaritans was book of the year in Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Express, and hit number one on the ebook charts.

Author links: Twitter

Books by Will Carver