“Some people run from their demons; others sit down and have cocktails with theirs.”
When single father Jack Henry accompanies his girlfriend to check on her beloved third-grade schoolteacher, he is horrified to find Ms. Lyon self-imprisoned by a sprawling hoard of trash, trinkets and the broken remnants of every object she has ever owned. Reluctantly enlisted to help Ms. Lyon get her life in order, Jack is forced in the process to confront the mess he has become. Past trauma and long-silent suffering have left Jack’s own life on the brink of collapse, and as the failures mount and his self-doubt grows, Jack is left scrambling to nurture what he loves instead of feeding the impulses that threaten to rip him and his family apart.
“Hincy has the quality to capture the new millennium the way Vonnegut captured the 1900’s. Hincy’s story about loyalty and personal war is relevant, hilarious, new, smart, irreverent, historical, and sad. If you have ever cared for a teacher, a stranger, a friend, a spouse, a wife, family,…anyone BUT yourself, then read this exceptional novel. Hincy’s insight and perspective has the power to improve and connect the world, not just add to it.” – Connie Kuntz, managing editor of The Rockford Review
“In this surprisingly tender story, we meet lives touched by horror and prayer, terror and beauty, loss and redemption. This book reminds us that Hell is all around us, but so is Jesus, hope, philosophical tow truck drivers, and strange moments of utter grace. This is one wild opera.” – Charles Hood, poet The Xopilote Cantos and South x South: Poems from Antarctica
“For all its bleakness, this novel is a convincing study of how we so often get lost in mid-life, struggling to connect to anything that gives meaning longer than the moment, yet finally understanding that our sense of purpose comes in the simplest of connections.” — Philip Culbertson, author and co-editor of the New Zealand Journal of Counseling
“Deeply felt and deftly written, The Hoards of Torment by debut novelist William R. Hincy chronicles a young man’s painful journey to self-awareness. At thirty-two, and a father of two, Jack is stuck in an adolescent, destructive rut — and old enough to know better. But a battle with his demons leaves him at the cusp of maturity and, just possibly, redemption. The story’s hoarding theme, both literal and symbolic, provides a powerful and compelling motif throughout. William Hincy is an emerging writer of great promise. Keep an eye on him.” — Michael Craft, author of The MacGuffin and the Mark Manning mystery series
