马克·爱德华兹 (Mark Edwards) 的《空洞》(The Hollows) 是一本令人毛骨悚然的好书。 这部小说在二十年前和现在之间来回穿梭，但叙事节奏流畅。这是我第一次读这位作者的作品，我简直惊呆了。我平时比较喜欢超自然/恐怖题材的小说，但这部惊悚小说营造的氛围恰到好处，让我欲罢不能。情节转折虽然有些在意料之中，但依然令人满意。我喜欢书中父女间健康的互动，以及没有爱情元素的设定（我觉得很多小说都过度依赖爱情描写）。
The story of this novel is set in the backwoods hollows of Maine and investigates the truth of “dark tourism.” Tom Anderson, who is a journalist, has brought his teenage daughter (Frankie) to the hollows for a vacation. With no internet or most current conveniences, he’s anticipating calm time with his daughter who he infrequently sees since separating from her mom. However, 什么 Tom doesn’t understand is that inside these backwoods hollows lies a decades old mystery, that of a double murder where the supposed killer actually stays on the loose.
A long time back, two secondary teachers engaged in an adulterous 性 affair were ruthlessly killed in the forest. The supposed killer, Everett Miller, a young fellow with a dark character, gotten away and since then rumored to be living deep in the woods. Since that time, many “dark tourists” have gone to the hollows to look at the famous scene and submerge themselves in its mysterious nostalgia. Two such individuals are David and Connie, the couple rending the lodge nearby.
Connie is a famous podcaster. She hosts a talk show about mysteries which are unsolved and bizarre events. The 故事 of the hollows even motivates Tom to publish an article about the subject, however little does he know that Frankie is the middle of the risk. She has become friends with Connie and David’s child, Ryan, and in the wake of finding a way onto the web, Ryan posts trashing comments about the scary neighbouring town. This offense has caused undesirable attention from two juvenile delinquents, Buddy and Darlene, who have an association with the past secret.
爱德华兹笔下的人物一如既往地跃然纸上，栩栩如生，且都隐藏着不可告人的秘密。读者迫不及待地翻阅书页，想要探寻他们的真实身份。在这样一个彼此熟识的地方，一些居民自然与过去有着千丝万缕的联系，但究竟有多少秘密，作者却以一种引人入胜的精准笔触，逐步而又精心地将其揭开。《空心谷》是马克·爱德华兹的又一力作，如同他绝大多数的作品一样，让人爱不释手。
另请阅读：莎莉·拉佩纳著《并非幸福的家庭》
