The Hollow Place by Rick Mofina is the second book in his Ray Wyatt trilogy. Samantha is a young woman who has just recently lost her mother to cancer. To honor her mother and her heritage she is moving to Canada where her mother is from to go medical school. While on the trip moving her stuff with her boyfriend she ends up tragically disappearing from a small town in rural Vermont with nothing being turned up in the subsequent investigation. As the months go by little new information comes up though the investigation itself is never closed. When the six month anniversary of her disappearance approaches investigative reporter Ray Wyatt is assigned by his new agency to do a deep dive on her disappearance in hopes of renewing interest and possibly even finding out what actually happened. Around the same time new information potentially comes to light in the form of camera footage that may have some information and DNA testing of blood from the scene of the abduction. DNA that may lead back to a killer Wyatt is already somewhat familiar with but also brings Agent Jill McDade into the investigation.
Much like the first book this did a good job of showing how these types of events can occur and the role played by investigators, reporters and the public in solving them. In terms of plot and story this was pretty good and while not overly complex it was complex enough to probably keep the interest of the reader. Unlike the first one, this one includes viewpoints of both the victim and the perpetrator so the reader is not left guessing about what actually happened. We are instead left guessing about whether or not Samantha is going to be rescued in time. It makes for a different tone and a slightly different feel to it. Not in a bad way though but different enough I noticed it. As for the characters they were portrayed pretty well and I felt like they were well developed but like I mentioned in the first book they also still feel really stereotypical. There doesn’t really seem to be anything about them that makes them stand out in any way. Again not necessarily a bad thing but I would have liked to see a bit more variety I guess in terms of character background. That being said, I actually do like the characters as they still feel relatable because their background makes it feel like they could be anybody, potentially even someone we actually know. Overall, it was a good addition to the series and I am looking forward to wrapping it up with the final volume. This book gets four out of five stars from me.
A pretty decent thriller and mystery which should appeal to readers who already prefer that type of work. I would probably agree that this is aimed predominantly at adults considering the content. While it is not overly gruesome or graphic there is still some violence and continual threats of more so it would probably not be overly suitable for younger readers. I would suggest no one younger than about fifteen or sixteen. This book is also the second book in the trilogy and while I would recommend reading the previous book before reading this one it is not absolutely required in order to understand it. As always, if you decide to try this one out feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.