Gwen’s review of The Hiding Place by Karen Harper
Contemporary romantic suspense released by Mira 1 Nov 08
I like Harper’s writing. I do. I just don’t like how she limits her story-telling. This is an interesting story with some unique elements that I can just see happening in a “movie of the week” (and probably have). It was good, but I wanted more. Just FYI – the title doesn’t really make a lot of sense for the book.
I’ll just get right to the point. My chief complaint with Harper’s writing is she stops at the bedroom door, so to speak. She hints at intimate relations between her heroes and heroines, but we don’t get any details. And me, mildly prurient child that I can be, I like the details. For one, they’re HAWT and, for another, they tell me a lot about the relationship dynamics and help develop the characters. That is, if the sex scenes are done well and aren’t just secks for the sake of secks.
As a result of no sensual details in this book, I feel the hero isn’t developed enough. I didn’t know enough about his motivations and the way he thought. I love his dog, though – and sometimes an animal in a story can be a distraction or seem to be just an unnecessary detail.
I feel the little girl (his niece, her ward) is alternately too old and too young for the purported age in the story. So her element was a little confusing and, again, because we don’t spend any time in her head, we don’t really know much about her.
The suspense is nicely done, but the evil-doers are not developed enough. I needed a little more time in their heads to understand if they were truly bad people or just doing the best they can. When they meet their demise, I didn’t really care about it or whether they get their comeuppance.
So, while this story is a bit too tangled and involved to be wholly believable, it is still interesting enough to be a good read for someone who like to keep their reading “clean”. Me? Not so much – I don’t mind a bit of grit and spooge. I had the same problem with Below the Surface, Harper’s other book I’ve read.
Grade: C+
Summary:
She awakened from a coma — and found herself trapped in a nightmare.
After spending nine months in a coma, Tara Kinsale awakes to devastating news. Her best friend, Alexis, has been murdered, leaving Tara as guardian to her daughter, Claire. And Tara’s husband has divorced her for another woman.
Forced to start over, Tara focuses on reopening her P.I. firm and caring for Claire. But soon her world is shattered again when Nick MacMahon, Claire’s uncle, returns from military service in Afghanistan to take guardianship of his niece. The bad dream turns unbearable when Tara learns that something precious was taken from her while she was in a coma.
Working with Nick, a man haunted by his own past, Tara begins to investigate the missing months of her life. Together they will find that secrets don’t stay buried forever… even when they are kept in the darkest of hiding places.
No excerpt available at the time the review was written – will update if one becomes available.
