Review Request: Rarity from the Hollow

Review Special: Review Request

Title: Rarity from the Hollow

Author: Robert Eggleton
Publisher: Dog Horn Publishing Genres: Horror & Sci-Fi
Release Date: March 16th 2012

Pages: 354

Where Acquired: I was given a copy of the book from Robert in exchange for an honest review.

Buy On Amazon Here 
- Kindle Price: £4.54 Book Price: £7.72 (as of when posted) 

About the Author:
Robert Eggleton is best known for his investigative reports about children’s programs. Today, he is a recently retired psychotherapist at the Mental Health Center in Charleston, West Virginia. Rarity from the Hollow is his debut novel and followed publication of three short Lacy Dawn adventures. Author proceeds are donated to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia.

Cover: 


Description:
Lacy Dawn is a true daughter of Appalachia, and then some. She lives in a hollow with her worn-out mom, her Iraq War disabled dad, and her mutt Brownie, a dog who's very skilled at laying fiber optic cable. Lacy Dawn's android boyfriend, DotCom, has come to the hollow with a mission. His equipment includes infomercial videos of Earth's earliest proto-humans from millennia ago. DotCom has been sent by the Manager of the Mall on planet Shptiludrp: he must recruit Lacy Dawn to save the Universe in exchange for the designation of Earth as a planet which is eligible for continued existence within a universal economic structure that exploits underdeveloped planets for their mineral content. Lacy Dawn’s magic enables her to save the universe, Earth, and, most importantly, her own family.

My Review: 
I didn't manage to finish this book. Mostly because I found it a little too disturbing for my tastes. I am a 19 year old who still enjoys Disney and can't watch a horror film because they are terrifying after all. But for fans of horror movies and Stephen King this book is perfect. It is psychologically disturbing at a different level to what I have seen before and this made it hard for me to read, especially the scene describing her friends death. The writing style is very good, you can actually imagine it is written by a child right from her thoughts as she struggles through her life of abuse. But the book just wasn't right for me, I would urge you to make your own opinions up about the book and if you are not easily scared or disturbed like I am, then I would urge you to give it a go for yourselves; It does have fantastic reviews from people who have read all of the book so I would urge you to goodreads to read the other reviews to help make your judgement on this book. I have heard from the author that the book becomes increasingly funny after the first few hard to read chapters so if you can get through the disturbing parts then make sure you give this book a go! Another thing to keep in mind is that this tale may be so disturbing to some as it is actually based on real problems children have shared with the author in group sessions over his years as a psychiatrist. The author gives all of his proceeds from the book to charity too so it is definatly worth reading if you are not faint of heart like me as I said earlier after the first three chapters it changes from Stephen King to more like Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy.

'Parent's Guide' to the Novel:

Piers Anthony found that my novel was “…not for the prudish.” Kevin Patrick Mahoney, editor of the once noteworthy site, Authortrek, found that it was, “…not for the faint hearted or easily offended….”   An early voice in the 1^st chapter speaks about things that no child should know. It is that of a traumatized child – a voice most of us never listen to, or want to hear, but in real life is screaming. This passage is mild in comparison to some of the stuff that kids have said during actual group therapy sessions that I facilitated over the years. By child developmental stage, it is similar to the infamous early adolescent insult in E.T: “penis breath.” It is tame in comparison to the content of the popular T.V. series, South Park, which was devoured by millions of teens.  

Except for a scene involving domestic violence in the 3^rd chapter, this early dialogue is the only mildly graphic content. There are no graphic sex scenes in the novel. The renewed romance between the protagonist’s parents does include sexual reference. The android coming of age during his pursuit of humanity is reality based. However, Lacy Dawn never lets the android get farther than to kiss her on the cheek. The android expresses no interest in sex – he falls in love, all consuming love by the middle of the story. The “F word” is used once, but there is no other profanity.

Rarity from the Hollow is A Children’s Story for Adults.

Rating: 

 It would be unfair to rate this book as I didn't finish it because it just wasn't my type of book, not because it was a bad book. I'll leave it to you to decide if the book is for you or not follow this link to give it a try:
Rarity From The Hollow Excerpt

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-The Reading Rose