Hell Holes: What Lurks Below is not in my favorite genre. It is actually in one of my least liked. I tend to find a lot of SciFi-Fantasy gets bogged down with a lot of terminology I don't really know. In trying to figure things out, I tend to come to the conclusion that there are many other books that I could be reading. I decided to read Hell Holes because it sounded interesting and was set in Alaska. I wasn't expecting very much though. I ended up being surprised by a story that held my interest. I found myself really being interested in the holes. That was surprising to me. I'm not sure how I feel yet about the demons and such coming out if the holes. I also didn't feel as though I got to really know the characters. There were some deaths but I didn't really dwell on any of them. By the end of the book I did find myself caring about whether or not Jill survived. I think she was the character I attached to the most. The action became nearly nonstop about midway through the book. For the most part this was really good. The ending though, being mid action, left me feeling adrift. I understand that it is the first book in a series. I am hoping we get to know the characters a bit better in the next one. I'm not a big fan of cliffhangers though I usually handle them well. This one left me feeling abandoned in battle. I do hope the author picks it up where we were left. Am I happy that I read this book? Yes, I am. Flawed, (in my eyes), as it is, it did draw me in. Would I recommend it? Yes. Will I read more from this author? Most likely I will come back and read the next book.
I would like to thank BookTasters and the author for the opportunity to voluntarily review this book. I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.
I changed the dates to reflect when I actually read the book. I had picked it up on Christmas Day intending to read it then. With the holidays and a sudden illness with my Dad, I did not get to start it until almost a week later. ( )

"I'm afraid we're all likely to come out of this with some degree of PTSD, that is assuming we're lucky to come out of this at all."


While preparing for his upcoming classes, Jack Oswald, a geology professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, received an urgent phone call from Kevin Kowalski, an ExxonMobil manager, asking him to come and examine the mysterious holes that seemed to have appeared overnight and are threatening the oil company's operations in Alaska's North Slope.

Having been told to put a team together, Jack Oswald asks his wife and colleague, Dr. Angela Menendez and two of his grad students, Mark and Jill Star to accompany him. Meanwhile, Aileen O'Shannon, a reporter for the Fairbanks daily news-miner, came to interview Mr. Oswald about the baffling craters that have been popping up all over the world. Instead, she overheard his conversation with Mr. Kowalski, and though it was made clear that she wasn't wanted as a member of his team, she included herself on their research trip, and met them at their plane anyway, giving the others no choice but to let her join them.

When Jack Oswald and his research team arrive at Deadhorse, Alaska, they're met with the oil company representative, Mr. Kowalski and field biologist, Dr. Bill Henderson. After introductions are made, their camp site put together and their scientific instruments prepared, they begin their investigation. Soon after, though, they are met with a great tragedy, and unfortunately for them, their hardships had only just begun.

After experiencing the loss of one of their members due to a reckless mistake, they discover that what lurks within those holes are something that are far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined. Monstrous beasts emerge and the holes continue to grow and multiply.

All hell breaks loose... Literally.

You can tell that [a:Donald G. Firesmith|1290902|Donald G. Firesmith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1479924694p2/1290902.jpg] put a lot of time into researching certain aspects for his book; very factual. I really loved how the scientific parts of this story are so well explained and detailed.

I'll admit, when I began reading this story I really thought it was going to just be a thrilling sci-fi, but I was wrong. What Lurks Below has paranormal elements in it as well. While I wouldn't normally think that those two genres could do well together, Donald G. Firesmith does a great job bringing them together and making it believable.

I wish that there was a little more information on the "Tutores Contra Infernum" (The Guardians Against Hell). I'm hoping there will be more on the secret society in book two.

This book ends on a major cliff hanger, in the middle of chaos, so I'm definitely glad that book two is available. At the end of this book, the author gives a list of the characters, both human and supernatural, along with some added information, which I thought was cool.

Overall, this is a fast paced and thrilling sci-fi / paranormal story. What Lurks Below is a fairly short read but it's packed with exciting action and plot twists! I would recommend this to adult readers as there are some graphic scenes (death, injuries, demonic creatures, etc) and some cursing.


**** I was given an eBook copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Booktasters for introducing me to this authour, and thank you to Donald G. Firesmith for giving me the opportunity to read and review his book. **** ( )

Hell Holes by Donald Firesmith was everything I had hoped for and more.

They were asked by Exxon to come up and check out the Hell Holes that had become a threat to the pipeline. Stowaway photographer, Aileen O’Shannon, is quite a handful and so much more than she appears to be.

Have you ever thought about not just climate change, but all the holes we punch into the earth? Could we be destroying the planet we live on…or is there something else happening, something so monstrously evil we cannot imagine.

What had been a secret, which I love to have revealed to me, was on the verge of becoming Armageddon. Bloody, gory, slasher type horror. Demons rise from hell, hungry and I sure don’t want to meet them on a dark lonely highway…or anywhere else, for that matter.

Characters fall, so be careful who you become attached to. I love when an author does that, leaving me wondering who will be taken out, how they will be taken out, and who will be left standing. I also love when an author can surprise me and I did not see the direction the story would go when I began. Nice job, Donald.

I wasn’t ready for the ending!!!!! but end it did. Does not stand alone and I am left hanging…BUT This is a two book series, and Book II is out and ready for reading. ( )

Dr. Jack Oswald is a geologist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. Just before classes are ready to begin for the semester, Jack receives an urgent call from Kevin Kowalski who works for ExxonMobil drilling oil. There have been a series of mysterious holes opening up around the drilling fields that are affecting operations. The holes are deep and perfectly cylindrical and just plain strange. Jack has been hired to investigate; he assembles his team consisting of his wife, Dr. Angela Menendez, a climatologist, two of his grad students Mark and Jill Starr, a wildlife biologist Bill Henderson and is cajoled into taking along AIleen O'Shannon, a photojournalist. When the team arrives in Deadhorse, they immediately get to work exploring the holes. However, upon closer examination of the holes, no explanation for the holes can be found. Then, disaster strikes and all hell is literally unleashed. Now, the research team turns instead to survival and perhaps sending the demons back to where they belong.

This was a fast-paced and short read that managed to combine climate science and supernatural horror in an effective way. The book is written from Jack's point of view as a memoir of a survivor the attacks. The first part of the story is a bit of an info dump as Jack's explains what he does, describes the fieldwork and his team's hypotheses about the holes. As a scientist myself, I enjoyed reading about permafrost and pingos and liked that climate science is featured in a book. The story quickly picks up as hell breaks out on Earth. One character has a large surprise up their sleeve that may help the team out of the mess if they can accept their new reality. The different demons were all very interesting and I wish Bill could have continued his post mortem of the Hellhound. Since this is a memoir of events, there is not much characterization, but more focus on events. The story ends on quite a cliffhanger and with a sneak peek of book two at the end, I will definitely want to read on.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )