- Date Read: June 16, 2022
- Publication Date: May 2022
- Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
- Format: Physical Book
- Page Count: 384
- Listening Time: 9 hours 24 minutes
- Print Publisher: Flatiron Books
- Audio Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak has been popular on Booksta and I had seen comparisons to The Whisper Man in terms of creepiness, so I was excited to read it. When I saw it at my library, I paused another book I was in the middle of (and enjoying!) to start this one. I tore through it in a day and it’s a definitely a page-turner with a unique-ish concept.
The book centers on Mallory, who is a young woman actively working on her sobriety after an addiction relapse with narcotics. She takes a job as a live-in nanny in an affluent suburb and the child she is caring for begins to draw unsettling pictures. The physical book is a MUST for this book – do not do the audio book! The pictures throughout are key.
I read a lot of thrillers and it takes a quite a bit to get under my skin, so for me this was not creepy or tense. It was, however, incredibly interesting. It had my attention for the mystery and puzzle-solving.
It’s worth mentioning, the representation of someone in narcotics recovery was very surface level and used primarily to discredit Mallory as a reliable person. Many of the characters were stereotypical representations (the neighbor, the boyfriend, etc.) so approach this one with plot over character assumptions. There was one other plot issue I had, but to avoid a spoiler I will leave it unmentioned here (DM me if you’ve read this so we can chat!). None of these were major issues for me and I still enjoyed the mystery very much.
If you need a slump-busting, quick mystery – I’d give this a go!
Content warnings: Addiction, Murder, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Child abuse
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