Hide

Twenty-five years ago, seven year old Annabelle Granger came home from school to find five suitcases packed and her parents urging her to grab just two things to take with her as they fled from their home and the life that they knew. For years they shuffled around the country, leaving at a moments notice, keeping their heads down and changing identity with each location. Annabelle...though she didn't go by that name anymore...never new why. First, she lost her mother to a combination of booze and pills, the constant flight too much for her. Then, older and wiser, Annabelle and her father return to the city of Boston, the same city they'd fled from so many years ago. Her father died not long after, a victim of a hit and run. For a decade following that, Annabelle, known as Tanya now, has worked and lived in the city of her childhood. Then one day she read a newspaper and saw the news. Her body had been found. Annabelle Granger was dead, along with five other young girls found in a pit of darkness and horror far deeper and more malignant than the earthen tomb itself. Maybe now, after all these years, Annabelle can find out why. Why had she been forced all her life to hide?Lisa Gardner has penned an incredibly complex, twisted, and gripping suspense novel in Hide, pairing former sniper turned state detective Bobby Dodge together with ex-lover and now Boston PD Seargent D.D. Warren to solve a case with a myriad more questions than answers. A veritable rabbit warren of paths lead to clues and connections that only a true mastermind of suspense could ever dream up, and I was utterly compelled by the intensity and vitality of the story and characters. With impeccable pacing, the plot twists tighter and tighter as Annabelle goes to the police to both get answers and give them, and Bobby finds himself drawn to the reclusive woman with such stark strength in her eyes, but Annabelle's emergence from a lifetime of shadows sparks a sick and twisted mind to focus on her yet again. Apparently not even a lifetime can stop evil when it's intent enough.I loved this book. It was creepy and dark and the threat was carefully controlled and dished out by the author with a sparing intensity that was chilling. I, much like Annabelle, was totally committed to finding out why her father had been so out-of-his-mind paranoid, and the revelations were mind boggling as the truth slowly comes to light. Kudos to Gardner for her wicked, twisted psyche and her deft ability to translate that into imaginative works of macabre entertainment.My only - small - complaints were that I had to kind of sit on my suspension of disbelief and force it to behave when it came to how much access Annabelle was given to the case. I found that a little implausible, but once I beat that suspension of disbelief into submission, I just enjoyed the ride. I also thought the final conflict was a little too convenient and a bit too many of the wild warren paths led to the same den, so to speak. The only thing that I really wish had been different, though, was I wish that the romance between Bobby and Annabelle had been given a bit more room to breathe, because I enjoyed their attraction. It was extremely subtle in developing, and have to admit, Bobby acted very professionally overall, but I read this under the impression that it was a romantic suspense novel, and that's not exactly true. I consider this a suspense thriller with a thread of romance in it. A tiny thread.Overall though, this was an eminently enjoyable read that kept me wildly flipping pages well into the night until I had all the answers. Very well done. It's been quite some time since I've read a Lisa Gardner book, but after Hide I don't think I'll be staying away nearly so long ever again. 4.5 Stars.Originally reviewed on One Good Book Deserves Another.

Yes, I enjoyed this book. It seemed to start a little slow but it did pick up and had many interesting characters. I saw the review from BOOKLIST that said something like: Head and shoulders above anything else she has written and this is Lisa Gardner at the height of her powers. That is not word for word, but pretty close. That also is not right. Lisa Gardner has written a lot of very good thrillers and I count her as one of my favorite authors. I look forward to her next book whenever it is coming out. Part of this book was written in third person and some in first person from the point of view of Annabelle, the main heroine. As a child she is moved with her family repeatedly and during the course of the story we get the idea why and then that turns out to be not what it seems to be. Was it all her father's imagination? sigh... Anyway, D.D. and Bobby are the two main detectives on the case after an undergorund chamber is discovered containing six bodies is found. D.D. is the lead detective on the case and she calls in Bobby from the State Police to help out. I guess she calls him in just because they once had a thing for each other. Yes, the Catherine connection is there, but that seemed a little weak to me. The whole Catherine Cagnon thing just seemed like a way to make the story longer. When we got to the final resolution it seemed like half of Boston was populated by nuts who should have still been locked up in the mental ward. I don't see the necessity to comment on that statement. The climax to the story gives us multiple psychopaths who have assumed new identities. D.D. is correct when she calls something that was overlooked a 'rookie' mistake. Shoot, even I wouldn't have made that mistake. Anyway, this is a good read that keeps the reader interested. Lisa Gardner keeps the action moving and never lets the plot slow down while the main characters get too bogged down in their personal demons (something that really bugs me in a lot of novels.) Yes, all of the main characters have issues from the past to deal with, but they don't spend half the book crying about them. 'HIDE' is an easy book to recommend but to say that this is Gardner's best work ever is setting the bar a little high. I say, go ahead and buy it. One of the better efforts by one of the more dependable authors around.

Awesome book! So many storylines interwoven into a non-stop thrilling book. The characters are surprising, and my feelings towards each were ever changing. Thank you, Lisa Gardner!

Another amazing page turner of a story by Lisa Gardner full of twists and turns from start to finish....yes, right up to the end. Lisa Gardner's books are amazing as part of a series but each novel can be read on it's own and still be just as intense and fabulous to read. Fast paced as always to point you just can't stop turning the page. Fast moving psychological suspense thriller that gets you hooked from the start.

Not much story line.

c ' est le premier roman de Lisa Gardner que je lis et je peux vous dire que je vais en lire un autre tout de suite .C' est tout simplement un grand roman de suspense !

Ich liebe die Bücher von Lisa Garner.

I really enjoy D.D. Warren books and this is the best one in the series. I've read both ones before and ones after this one but this is the best one I've read. I would recommend reading the previous D.D Warren book before this one, it's named "Alone". The stories are tangentially connected and reading Alone first will add depth and dimension to this book. Once again Warren and Dodge work together and since they bring out the best and worst in each other, the ride is extra fun. I had real trouble figuring out what was happening and I love that in a good mystery. So well worth the time to read, definitely a "Hit it out of the park" kind of book, don't miss this one!