Hide

Read: November 2017
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The second novel in the Detective DD Warren series brings us back into the world of Bobby Dodge. He is now a homicide detective working for Warren who has been promoted. They have to investigate the deaths of six young girls, whose bodies have been found in an underground chamber on the site of a formal mental hospital.

There are lots of crossovers here with the events of the previous book Alone which means that I wouldn't recommend that anyone read this book as a stand-alone as there would definitely be a sense of not getting the full story from Hide. I once again liked Bobby's character, and I liked the new chapters from the POV of Annabelle. The 'whodunit' aspect of the plot was genuinely show more perplexing to me; one moment I thought I'd figured out the killer, then I would change my mind, then I was definitely sure I knew, only to find out my theories were way off track by the end. I read this book quicker than the previous instalment; it was more compelling and it helped that Annabelle was a much nicer and more interesting character than Catherine.

I am enjoying this series, and looking forward to the next book The Neighbour which I did read as a standalone around seven years ago. I don't remember much about the plot but I'm sure I will enjoy reading it again. show less

Immediately after finishing Alone I started on Hide (it was that much fun) and though I knew these were books 1 & 2 of a series, I didn’t know they they were connected so tightly. I won’t go so far as to say they’re one long story arc, but there is enough continuation of the first story that I’d recommend reading Alone first. That and there are spoilers for Alone in Hide. It is interesting that these are billed as D.D. Warren books, when I think that the first one wasn’t really intended as a start of a series, and the second, if it is, features Bobby Dodge, not D.D. It seems like the D.D. books took off later and these were tacked on just because she’s in them and that if no other stories focus on Bobby, you can’t really show more name a series after him with only 2 books. Awkward explanation, I agree, but that’s my perception.

In my previous experience with a D.D. Warren book, I didn’t much care for her, but I did like the way the victim was portrayed. She was complex and her situation was tangled in the extreme. We have that type of story again with both of these books. Catherine I found to be a really interesting ‘victim’. She’s got enough ambiguity and doubt clinging to her that it’s difficult to use that term, but it does apply and it’s not hard to see how her traumatic experience would warp her personality into what she became. I didn’t like her, but I did sympathize. Gardner builds a lot of doubt about the circumstances for the bulk of the readers’ sympathy to shift to Bobby. Used to being behind the gun, he gets himself into a lot of other people’s crosshairs and it’s mostly him you worry about.

We meet Cat again in Hide, but she’s not the focus for that book. Instead we get another woman trying to hold herself together after a disturbing childhood. Annabelle is way more sympathetic than Cat even though what she suffered wasn’t nearly as horrible. Instead we’ve got a woman so scared of being known to people that she continues to live under the alias her father selected for their last desperate flight to escape an enemy he’s never explained to her. She’s strong and capable, but those skills are built on fear, paranoia and complete uncertainty of what or who her enemy actually is.

In both books we have a good variety of suspects who come to light one at a time. There are a lot of unknowns and it’s police work and investigation that gets results, not rabbit-out-of-a-hat forensics. It feels more desperate as a result. The changes from viewpoint to viewpoint are done well. Not too long or too short and the voices for Bobby and the two victims are distinct. There were a few clangy phrases (like ‘death investigators’) that I didn’t like, but not many. One of the characters in Hide got a little preachy about the implosion of the mental health system in the US, but because I agree with the rant, it didn’t bother me. Some details about ordinance and cars were wrong, too (a BMW 450i? I don’t think so.) and so better research is needed. Still, the overall stories are powerful enough to keep me reading Gardner’s books. Seems like she has a lot of them, so a lot to look forward to. show less

On the grounds of the now-defunct Boston State Mental Hospital, an underground chamber containing the bodies of six young girls is found. One of the bodies has a locket with a name engraved on it--Annabelle Granger.

Annabelle Granger, now living in the North End, building up her own small window treatments business, is not as startled as one might expect by the news of her own death, but she is very alarmed. She's been living in hiding and on the run since the day in 1982 when her parents packed their family belongings into five suitcases, put them in the car, and drove away from their Arlington, MA home forever.

As Boston Detective Sargent D.D. Warren and Mass. State Homicide Detective Bobby Dodge try to identify their six victims and show more puzzle out the possible connection to an earlier case, also involving a kidnapped young girl held captive in an underground chamber, Tanya/Annabelle tries to figure out who her father realy was, and why he kept them on the move, changing names and cities every couple of years. Why he started, when she was just seven years old, schooling her in the basics of self-protection and self-defense, of evading and resisting possible kidnappers.

And the more she learns, the more confused and alarmed she becomes. Was her father the loving, protective parent she remembers, or was he someone else, someone much scarier?

This is a very tightly plotted mystery, keeping the reader guessing all the way, sharing Annabelle's confusion and bewilderment, and the frustration of Bobby Dodge and D.D. Warren as they attempt to find the killer. I was on the edge of my seat all through the story. Character development is also excellent, especially for Annabelle and Bobby Dodge, but also for lesser characters, including Charlie Martin, as well as the parents of Annabelle's girlhood best friend.

Recommended.

I borrowed this book from the library. show less

Growing up, Annabelle Granger knew she and her parents led a strange life. From the time she was seven they never lived anywhere for more than a couple of years before mysteriously moving to a new state with new names. She never knew why and now, twenty-five years later, her parents are both dead and she is back to living in Boston where she last felt stability. She lives a reclusive life, still anonymous and known by the name Tanya, and still feeling the fears of her childhood. Only the startling news that Annabelle Granger is dead, part of a gruesome crime scene involving six children buried in an underground chamber on the grounds of the now-closed state mental hospital, causes Annabelle come forward. Annabelle tells Detectives Bobby show more Dodge and D.D. Warren her strange story. Not many facts of her past can be substantiated due to the frequent change of names and address. The investigation of the serial murders unearths more than one suspect.

The author builds suspense by raising a number of questions that are not answered until the very end. She did a great job of writing fully dimensional characters and writes a very readable suspense/thriller novel. I thought the book was great up until the last few pages where the ending felt a little rushed but that didn't spoil my overall enjoyment of this book. I'll definitely pick up the next book of the series. show less

Very suspenseful read. All of Tanya's life she's been on the run and hiding and she never knew why. Her parents moved every few months or yearly and changed their names. Now she's adult with both her parents deceased and living in Boston with 5 locks on her door and then a grave is turned up with 6 bodies and one of them has been identified as Annabelle Granger because of a locket around the neck of a little 7 year old's body. Tanya goes to the police and tells them her story and that Annabelle Granger was an alias her parents gave her when she was seven. The police are suspicious but start digging into the past. One of the detective's, Bobby Dodge, starts having feelings for Tanya and this complicates his relationship with his partner show more D.D. Lots of twists and turns in this story. show less

"Hide" was my first Lisa Gardner novel. Even though it's the second book in the DD Warren series, I didn't feel that I missed any of the plot, due to not reading the first book. The novel follows the past and current life of Annabelle Granger. She finds herself involved with Massachusetts's State Police Detective Bobby Dodge and Boston Detective D.D. Warren when an underground chamber is discovered on the grounds of a former Massachusetts's mental hospital. The chamber is found to house six mummified corpses. One of the bodies is wearing a necklace bearing Annabelle's name. Ms. Gardner did an amazing job of developing the plot, characters and setting. This whodunit mystery is very well written. I love a mystery that has me guessing show more until the very end. Without giving the plot away, the ending was well thought out and a surprise.
I would definitely recommend this novel! show less

I was creeped out and hooked before chapter 3. A very wild ride among the living, the dead and all the lies. I had a completely diferent ending in mind which could still be a fabulous ending. : ) Gardner has another great read!