Customer Reviews

Hidden

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Two years ago, Kate Whitehead vanished, taking with her her unborn child. Believed dead, she has made a life for the two of them in safety, even finding love. Then, her best friend vanishes, much as she did, but likely with more deadly results. Kate knows in her heart that her evil husband has struck again. She ought to be relieved when he's arrested for not only her friend's murder, but her own. Yet, the lie behind the charge drives her to risk losing it all to step forward and clear him. Instantly, Kate finds her life and her child's in the same jeopardy from which she ran once. Now, her only hope of surviving, or more importantly to her, seeing her son survive is that the one who loves her can reach her in time.

*** Texas readers will be struck by the similarities between Hidden and the infamous John Hill case (Blood and Money, Prescription: Murder), but readers everywhere will be able to enjoy it. Though Kate's romance is not a prepossessive factor in the plot, it is critical to the story. Her actions may strike some as illogical, but her strength of character is commendable. The main weak spot to this book is there are times that the narrative has a jarringly graphic quality that effectively conveys revulsion. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.

I read the back of this book, and thought, "what a cool idea for a book". Then started trying to actually read the book, and the execution just didn't live up to the idea. I got through about a third of the novel and then just returned it to the library. The main characters are unlikable and boring, and most of the first part of the book is the heroine's internal dialog. Didn't even care how this one ended - I just wanted a truck to hit them and put everyone out of their misery.

Tricia Campbell aka Kate Whitehead sews for a living but was born to money and married money. Which came with abuse. Six months pregnant she fled for her life and her child's life and for 2 years has been living with a firefighter in another town. It's a day-at-a-time mutually agreeable situation since niether wants ties. But when Kate/Tricia's best friend disappears and her estranged husband is charged with murder, she knows she has to return to save him, not that she loves him any more - her heart is with the firefighter - but she cannot let a man go to prison for killing her when she is alive. I like this author and I liked this story until the very end when Kate/Tricia suddenly sends her brain out to lunch and behaves with incredible stupidity, when she seems to become a victim once again. It sort of ruined the story for me at that point. Sometimes people have to return to abusive situations for good and sufficient reasons but usually they take steps to protect themselves as much as possible and she doesn't. But I carp. Read the book and decide for yourself. Love with the firefighter does triumph in the end.

Tricia Campbell is a mystery to those around her. Scott McCall, the paramedic who took her in has agreed not to delve into her past, as have the other people she has met and befriended. With a young son to protect, Tricia must be careful in everything she says and does.

What Tricia can't tell Scott is that she's really Kate Whitehead, acclaimed fashion designer and missing wife of Senator Thomas Whitehead. Backed into an ugly corner due to her husband's abusive ways, she ran.

Now her carefully crafted lie is falling apart. Her best friend, Leah, has disappeared, and Thomas is accused of murdering not only Leah, but a pregnant Kate. Tricia, a.k.a. Kate, must face not only the choice of telling the truth, but also growing feelings for Scott, who has his own secrets.

In this multi-layered novel of love and suspense, Tara Taylor Quinn asks the question, "What if an abuser holds so much power that the victim can't get help?" Kate did what she felt necessary for her safety and that of her unborn child. Beyond that, many aspects of the story were difficult to believe.

With all of the funds available to Kate, a reader may question why she made certain choices, including the choice to go to a bar to find someone to take her in. This does not speak well of her common sense. Nor do many of the other decisions she makes throughout the novel. As a mother, I found one of Kate's decisions absolutely terrifying. The reasons given did not outweigh the danger she put her son into-not with the options available, especially with her level of wealth. Other factors diminish the believability of the overall plot, as well.

Overall, Quinn writes in a technically enjoyable manner. Unfortunately, the characters' actions and certain plot elements just don't carry the story, and it becomes a less than satisfying read.

-Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
05-07-2006

Hidden is a great novel because of the authors ability to make Tricia Campbell a realistic character. Quinn seems to do this through her use of two story lines. The first is of a wealthy woman who has to escape her abusive husband and the second is the woman in a lifestyle that is common compared to how most American's live. She isn't completely wealthy and, in fact, tends to make her own belongings. She is able to hold a strong, romantic relationship with a paramedic and she has a roof above her head. In "Hidden", Tricia Campbell is the narrator which gives a psychological view of the stories events. This makes the story more intense for the reader. This is enhanced by the imagery that Quinn uses. Even if it is sometimes too intense, Quinn does have the ability to take the reader to the scene of the crime including the accident in which Scott McCall's life changed and the events leading up to Tricia Campbell's freedom from her husband.

The problem with this story is that it went into intense descrptions about the sexual abuse that Tricia Campbell's husband gave her which could have been expressed in a less intense and more efficient manor. The events could have been to another character instead of the reader being taken to the crime.

I enjoyed this book very much, I have only read 2 of her books and I am looking forward to reading more.

Two years ago Kate Whitehead accompanied by her infant son, fled from her abusive husband powerful Senator Thomas Whitehead. Now in San Diego using the identity of Tricia Campbell she is happy with her life and loves her significant other fireman captain Scott McCall.

Kate reads in the paper that her best friend Leah Montgomery has vanished. Because Thomas knew both vanished females intimately, San Francisco Police Detectives Gregory and Stanton obtain a search warrant to look into the house, office, and cars. In a vehicle he owns they find blood. They soon arrest Thomas for the murder of his spouse. Kate ponders whether she should resurface to get her nasty husband off the hook or let him fry as he deserves. Either way she must reveal the truth about herself that she hid for two years from the man she loves.

Tara Taylor Quinn provides an electrifying clever morality drama in which the heroine must decide whether to re-emerge in order to save the life of an abusive person she believes deserves death yet is innocent when it comes to killing her. The story line switches perspective mostly between Thomas and Leah with the former plotting how to deal with intrusive cops and the latter wrestling with ethics. Fans will be pleased with HIDDEN, a character driven thriller.

Harriet Klausner