I fell in love with this book! The Curse of Crow Hollow is a spine tingling story related to you slowly through a folksy down home narrative that made me feel I was a trusted friend sitting around a spooky campfire being let in on a secret.

It is a story of superstition, suspicion, mob mentality oh and lets not forget the witch! Is she or isn't she? Can she really curse a whole town or is it all in their own minds like some mass hysteria? When a birthday party gone wrong leads a group of teens to the witch's door long hidden secrets make their way to the light and evil can live not just in a witch's shack but in the hearts of men.

I received an advance copy for review. ( )

This is a Southern gothic tale of a small town in a hollow between mountains. They are a law unto themselves. The preacher and the mayor run things and the part time constable is a garbage dump worker. A story of good and evil but really this is not a Christian fiction as some might say and I am surprised that it is published by Christian book seller. It is a negative picture of Christianity. And in the end, there is no evidence that good really wins. The narrator is unnamed. The story seemed to me to be a retelling of the Salem Witches hysteria with a couple of added twists. Over all, it was entertaining audiobook.

This is a top-notch work of Southern Gothic, with odd characters, an alleged witch, and a small Appalachian town under attack by evil--both the evil from within people and evil from without. No character comes out squeaky clean in a town where ordinary human fallenness is shown through the flaws of each character. Yet there remains good, even in the worst of people, and the horrors of hatred and murder contrast with moments of love. There is a surprise in the plot that I will not give away except to say that this book is a bit of Clive Barker, a bit of Flannery O'Connor, and a bit of Cormac McCarthy rolled into one. It is well-written, and the scenery and characters stand out through excellent dialogue and imagery. Although published by the Christian publisher Thomas Nelson, the book is not preachy at all--anyone of any background and belief can read and enjoy it. I give it my highest recommendation. ( )

Tedious and stagnant made only more boring by the narrator's droning voice. ( )

Something strange is going on in Crow Hollow. People say a witch on the mountain cursed the town many years ago, so have stayed away from her mountain out of fear. The day Cordelia and her friends decided to trespass on the witch’s mountain was the day something caused the girls in town to be stricken with a mysterious illness. As town residents try to find out why the witch has stricken them and how to rid themselves of her reach, they end up turning against each other in ways no one had ever thought could be possible.

A mysterious narrator takes readers through chaos of their own making in a supposedly religious town. Once actually face-to-face with the “evil” they heard about every Sunday morning from their Reverend, they forget what they’ve been taught. Casting suspicious eyes outward rather than inward serves only to fuel the fires of distrust. While echoing some events from the Salem Witch Trials, “The Curse of Crow Hollow” works to show readers what can happen when religion combines with hysteria rather than common sense.

Recommended for Adult readers.

Book review link: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2016/04/03/the-curse-of-crow-hollow-bil... ( )