The Hole

Joe’s always been likable enough, but a bit odd. He mostly keeps to himself, minds his own business. No one knows much about him, after high school, except he had once been married and had a child. But they’re gone now. They disappeared a long time ago. Now he’s asked Sam for help in discovering who is dumping garbage down his well.

Cathy’s got a reputation. It’s not necessarily a fair one, and it’s one she’s sensitive about. Her ex-boyfriend’s back in town and he’s threatening to ruin her finally good relationship with a young man named Terry, who truly appears to care about her and not just her reputation.

Mary’s a single mother, raising a boy who she resents, who she thinks ruined her life. Mary deserves the reputation Cathy has, but she doesn’t seem too inhibited by it. Her sanctuary is a bar. It’s her home and in it she finds a tall, handsome stranger. He’s what she wants and though he’s tender to her, and looks to her needs, he is more interested in her past than her future.

There seems to be a long history of people disappearing without a trace in their town. A mystery that points to Joe’s back yard. A mystery Sam’s destined to solve.

Lots of shady happenings here at the Six Points. Characters with questionable pasts, people who’ve disappeared, and a lot of unanswered questions. David Halliday does a fantastic job of taking the reader right into the grit and the grime his characters live in. He has a knack for almost submerging you into the cesspool that the characters, their manipulations and ministrations have caused. The echo of pain through the years is a tangible entity in this highly crafted tale. Though I still had some questions of how certain people unjustifiably got away with their lives, I realized…that is how life is. Sometimes, it just is.

Reviewed by: Izzy