Review Detail

I’ve had Wake the Hollow by Gaby Triana in my TBR pile for two months, and happy circumstances led me to read this horror/thriller/mystery tale during the month of October as the air begins to become more brisk, leaves start to brighten the trees as they change, and people are decorating their houses with pumpkins, ghosts, and spider webs. This time of year is also the setting for the book.

Wake the Hollow brings Micaela Burgos back to the town where she spent the first twelve years of her life, Sleepy Hollow, New York, to deal with matters relating to her mother’s unexpected death. Having left the town and her mother when her parents split up and her dad moved to Miami, Florida, Micaela is uncertain of the reception she’ll receive from the people of the town. Her mom was widely regarded as a little eccentric and kooky at best, and plain crazy and a thief at worst, and Micaela’s memories of her first twelve years have been honed and focused on her mom’s faults and the hurt she felt while living in Sleepy Hollow. Added to the difficulty of returning is Micaela’s ability to see and hear dead people—persistent dead people (including her mother) who desperately want Micaela to solve problems for them.

Micaela is reunited from the beginning with her best friend from her years in the town, Abraham. Bram, as he’s now called, has grown into a handsome young man, and he makes it clear to Micaela that he hopes their relationship will grow from the adolescent crush he originally had on her. As Micaela deals with fallout from her mother’s reputation and history, manages communications from the dead, and struggles to come to terms with her own feelings with the town and its people, Bram resumes his role as one of the few people Micaela trusts—while also developing into one of her problems.

As in the original Sleepy Hollow legend, there is a love triangle that helps propel the plot. A mysterious student teacher shows an unusual interest in Micaela, and he appears with disturbing regularity wherever Micaela happens to be. Young enough to be in their peer group, and attractive enough to catch Micaela’s eye, Dane Boracich is more than he seems, and Dane incites Bram to jealous fits as he insinuates himself into the story.

Triana does a wonderful job of giving a nod to the original “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” as she writes. It’s obvious that she’s a fan of Washington Irving, and lovers of literature from the period in which he lived and wrote will have extra incentive to read this book. Another positive of Wake the Hollow is Triana’s setting of Sleepy Hollow. The town is a character in and of itself, and I had no trouble immersing myself in the place and its culture.

Choosing the absolutely perfect time of year to read this book probably increased my enjoyment of it, but Triana’s ability to weave a tale, build tension, and bring a satisfying ending would have ensured a positive review no matter when that happened. Wake the Hollow will be a treat for many: readers of speculative, historical, and contemporary fiction as well as fans of the mystery, thriller, and horror genres.