Brimstone Hollow: An Annie Gore Novel
Following her powerful debut in The Witch’s Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth-generation Appalachian, knows so well.
There isn’t much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn’t seen. Before she was an Air Force Special Investigator, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she’s ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she’s about to enter unknown territory.
Katie May has been estranged from her father—one of Appalachia’s last infamous snake handling preachers—for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he’s been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie’s doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.
As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client—and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie’s investigation to stop—by any means necessary.
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Community Reviews
I’ve been excited about catching up with Annie Gore, a former military (Air Force) investigator turned PI in Louisville, KY. This installment has Annie heading back into the Appalachian hollers to investigate the death of a snake preacher.
The book summary basically just introduces a couple of the storylines, one of the death of Ezra King, a degenerate gambler and deadbeat dad, who’s born again and who claims his sermons and tent revivals with snakes is a testament to the strength and power of his faith. There are also two other deaths, days after Ezra’s death, that are possibly linked to both Ezra King’ death and the recent parole of Joel Shepherd, aka the Weed King. Lastly, there is the storyline of Annie’s investigation triggering memories of her own childhood in KY.
Most of the story has Annie investigating Ezra’s death with some help from the local police chief Dishman. It’s not long before Annie and Dishman are making connections and running down one lead after another. It’s deep in the second half when Annie and Dishman discover a shocking clue, one I never saw coming. After that, it gets pretty scary and intense, especially for Annie. There was another major reveal at the end that is probably a lead-in for the next installment. It will be interesting to see where Sullivan goes with it.
The continuing character development of Annie was well done along with a couple of other characters like Dishman and Will. The pacing was steady to fast, especially in the second half. The writing was also well done, and I really liked the storyline of Annie’s childhood memories and how they became part of her dreams and nightmares. The storyline was very interesting too. That’s one of the things I like about this series; the locale of the KY hollers is a great place for a range of weird and creepy storylines. I flipped back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook, but especially enjoyed the audiobook and the narrator Emily Pike Stewart. It's not often that I come across a narrator who sings, and a pretty good one too. I've said this before, but it bears mentioning again, a really good narrator adds so much entertainment value to a story. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.4 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MacmillanAudio #BrimstoneHollow
The book summary basically just introduces a couple of the storylines, one of the death of Ezra King, a degenerate gambler and deadbeat dad, who’s born again and who claims his sermons and tent revivals with snakes is a testament to the strength and power of his faith. There are also two other deaths, days after Ezra’s death, that are possibly linked to both Ezra King’ death and the recent parole of Joel Shepherd, aka the Weed King. Lastly, there is the storyline of Annie’s investigation triggering memories of her own childhood in KY.
Most of the story has Annie investigating Ezra’s death with some help from the local police chief Dishman. It’s not long before Annie and Dishman are making connections and running down one lead after another. It’s deep in the second half when Annie and Dishman discover a shocking clue, one I never saw coming. After that, it gets pretty scary and intense, especially for Annie. There was another major reveal at the end that is probably a lead-in for the next installment. It will be interesting to see where Sullivan goes with it.
The continuing character development of Annie was well done along with a couple of other characters like Dishman and Will. The pacing was steady to fast, especially in the second half. The writing was also well done, and I really liked the storyline of Annie’s childhood memories and how they became part of her dreams and nightmares. The storyline was very interesting too. That’s one of the things I like about this series; the locale of the KY hollers is a great place for a range of weird and creepy storylines. I flipped back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook, but especially enjoyed the audiobook and the narrator Emily Pike Stewart. It's not often that I come across a narrator who sings, and a pretty good one too. I've said this before, but it bears mentioning again, a really good narrator adds so much entertainment value to a story. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.4 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MacmillanAudio #BrimstoneHollow
