Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Hide Away, by Jason Pinter {ends 6/8}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

She approached a filthy pay phone nestled between a Chinese takeout restaurant and a check-cashing joint. A group of teens loitered outside, performing skateboard tricks. One of the kids filmed the stunts with his cell phone.

Rachel took a packet of disinfectant towelettes from her pocketbook and wiped down the phone and handset.

She opened an app on her cell and tested it several times for clarity, pitch, and tone. Then she put on her gloves and dialed 911. Time to see if the Ashby Police Department was worth a damn.

When the dispatcher picked up, Rachel said, “This message is for Detective Serrano of the Ashby PD. It’s regarding the body found at the Albertson Bridge last night. He needs to know this was not a suicide.”

This was an exciting thriller with several gripping plotlines. So many characters have secrets, but the real mystery is which secrets are harmful to other characters, and which are truly just personal details.

Official synopsis:

On the surface, Rachel Marin is an ordinary single mother; on the inside, she’s a fierce, brilliant vigilante. After an unspeakable crime shatters her life, she changes her identity and moves to a small town in Illinois, hoping to spare her children from further trauma…or worse. But crime follows her everywhere.

When the former mayor winds up dead, Rachel can’t help but get involved. Where local detectives see suicide, she sees murder. They resent her for butting in—especially since she’s always one step ahead. But her investigative genius may be her undoing: the deeper she digs, the harder it is to keep her own secrets buried.

Her persistence makes her the target of both the cops and a killer. Meanwhile, the terrifying truth about her past threatens to come to light, and Rachel learns the hard way that she can’t trust anyone. Surrounded by danger, she must keep her steely resolve, protect her family, and stay one step ahead, or else she may become the next victim.

Sometimes, a book with multiple timelines and plots can be hard to follow, but not in this case. The story started four years ago, when a woman and her young son find something horrible on their front porch. Then the book begins alternating between the present, and the past working closer to the present. We’re constantly finding out more about how the woman and her children got to where they are, trying to solve another woman’s murder, and a political conspiracy that had ruined the woman’s life before her murder. The players in all three dramas potentially overlap. It could be chaos, but instead comes off exciting and detailed.

Rachel Marin is an impossible woman not to like. She’s strong, smart, and sassy. She does what she thinks is right, regardless of the consequences. Watching her character evolve and try to mete out justice was entertaining and satisfying. Who doesn’t want to see the good guys win? But everyone has secrets, and hers may be deeper than most. She insists she’s trying to help two police detectives, but they all spend time being wary of each other.

Overall, this was a very readable and enjoyable book. I’d give this 4 out of 5 stars, and I’m excited for the next book in the series, due next January. I’d recommend this for readers who like thrillers and strong female characters.

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Becki Bayley is a married mom of two. She has no secrets in her basement or skeletons in her closet. Her life—especially about the books she reads—is an open book at SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Hide Away!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Monday, June 8th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Due to the pandemic: winner can choose a finished copy of the book, but shipping may be delayed, or a PDF (digital) copy.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Hide Away, by Jason Pinter