Hokuloa Road
A Novel
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3.8 • 72 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A young man is drawn into the dark side of paradise in this "brilliantly atmospheric" (New York Times Book Review) and "refreshingly creepy" (Washington Post) mystery.
A New York Times Notable Book of 2022
On a whim, Grady Kendall applies to work as a live-in caretaker for a luxury property in Hawaiʻi, as far from his small-town Maine life as he can imagine. Within days he's flying out to an estate on remote Hokuloa Road, where he quickly uncovers a dark side to the island’s idyllic reputation: it has long been a place where people vanish without a trace.
When a young woman from his flight becomes the next to disappear, Grady is determined—and soon desperate—to figure out what's happened to Jessie, and to all those staring out of the island’s “missing" posters. But working with Raina, Jessie’s fiercely protective best friend, to uncover the truth is anything but easy, and with an inexplicable and sinister presence stalking his every step, Grady can only hope he'll find the answer before it's too late.
Perfect for fans of Peter Heller and The White Lotus, and from award-winning writer Elizabeth Hand, a master of crime fiction known for her magnetic characters, seductive prose, and fearless excavations into the darkest corners of our world, comes a chilling and illuminating new novel about a place unlike any other—and the deadly cost of keeping it so.
"Set in a Hawaii so vividly imagined I'm still shaking sand out of my shoes."—Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of The Final Girl Support Group
“Twisty and dark . . . easily one of the best thrillers I've read.” —Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs
“This is the perfect book for your summer beach bag—an evocative mystery set in a tropical island paradise.” —Jason Rekulak, author of Hidden Pictures
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grady Kendall, the protagonist of this atmospheric if flawed thriller from Hand (Curious Toys), escapes his depressing life in Maine to become the caretaker for billionaire Wes Minton's mansion on the beautiful but perilous Hawaiian volcanic peninsula of Hokuloa, complete with a tank of poisonous sea urchins, an aviary of near-extinct birds, and a creepy doglike specter. Meanwhile, Minton spends most of his time at remote Hokuloa Point, where his plan to build a resort has been blocked by environmental activists. Grady discovers via the locals that homeless people often disappear and the police don't much care. But when Jessica Kiyoko, a visitor to the area whom Grady met on the flight over, looks to be among the missing, Grady feels compelled to unearth his employer's secrets. The core story moves smoothly between Grady's fears and the social moments that advance the plot, though Grady's past trauma comes up several times without payoff, and the emotional aspects of the relationship between Grady and Jessica's best friend stay unsatisfyingly off-screen. Hand neatly balances tense action with rich environmental ambience, and the supernatural with the darkly human. She remains a writer to watch.
Customer Reviews
I don’t get it
This book was so well-reviewed, but I found it truly underwhelming. Maybe it suffered for me from unmeetable expectations. But I found it nearly impossible to get into or through, which shouldn’t be with a fun, light read.
I felt like I suffered in something like real time through the protagonist’s isolated, two-week COVID quarantine. The sense of place IS rich and evocative, but the story drags horribly through the first half or two-thirds. When it finally picks up some momentum two-thirds of the way through, the author relies on near-miraculous turns of events to resolve the mystery. If I could go back again and do it over, I’d skip it altogether.