Holly and the Nobodies
Ben Pienaar
HellBound Books
SYNOPSIS:
Holly Anderson is a lonely girl, born with the power to materialize living beings from thin air. When she decides to kidnap a ‘real’ person to be her friend, schoolgirl Alex Miller becomes the target. But, when Alex goes missing, her close friend, James, is the only one who suspects what really happened. And, the further James pursues the truth, the deeper into Holly’s bizarre world he finds himself. Even with some of Holly’s odd creatures on their side, it is soon apparent that they won’t get out unscathed – if they get out at all.
REVIEW:
While reading the eGalley for Holly and the Nobodies, my first impression was a haunted house tale combined with “It’s a Good Life,” the 1961 Billy Mumy episode of The Twilight Zone. Like Mumy’s character, Anthony Fremont, Holly has seemingly limitless mental power she lords over those around her with little restraint and an undeveloped—maybe even atrophied—conscience, unmoored by her need for instant gratification. A malevolent house combined with a supernaturally powerful child—who moonlights as an immature mad scientist to create her bizarre and sometimes bloodthirsty ‘nobodies’—makes for a deadly combination. First-time novelist Pienaar imbues Holly’s maze-like house with an impressive amount of claustrophobia and, once Holly secures her two young captives, the walls really do close in on them, literally and figuratively, producing a growing sense of dread and hopelessness. Even so, the story managed to subvert my expectations at several turns.
Since I read an eGalley rather than the finished book, I was not too surprised to find a few rough spots in the prose, likely smoothed over in the final edit. Otherwise, a few minor gripes include: wanting to know more about the genesis of the house and its affinity for Holly; the parents of her captives come across as little more than convenient ciphers almost unconcerned about their children’s welfare; speaking of Alex and James, I wanted a bit more of their relationship pre-capture, though, debatably, that may have bogged down the start of the novel; finally, what felt like a false emotional note or two relating to extreme bodily trauma, but this is a bit of an authorial judgment call.
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