Hide [Audio Cassette]

Book Description

Annabelle has had many names in her life - Sally, Cindy, Lucille. Every few months she had to pack a single bag, as her father moved the family from city to city, changing names, houses, careers and histories. But Annabelle never knew what they were running from. Now in her thirties, with both parents dead, she's settled in Boston. But old habits die hard and she still looks over her shoulder when she leaves her apartment, still blends in with the crowd on the subway. Then at the Boston State Mental Hospital a multiple grave is discovered. Six young girls were left to die in an underground chamber decades ago, while their captor looked on. When her original name appears in the paper, wrongly identifying her as one of the dead girls, Annabelle finally knows why her father kept running. But the killer is still on the loose. And he's been looking for her for a very long time. Bobby Dodge has been haunted by the Catherine Gagnon case for years. It nearly cost him his job and his sanity. As a child, Catherine was also held prisoner underground, like the victims in this latest case. But Catherine's captor was in prison when these girls were taken. Yet the similarities are too numerous to be just coincidence...

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reed will find lots of work in the audio whodunit world. She has a low, slightly gravelly voice that fits the genre well. She distinguishes characters without trying to be them and helps a wacky protagonist become a believable character. The gruesome story begins with the discovery of the bodies of six young girls who are bagged, tagged and shelved in an old underground chamber in the yard of an abandoned Boston insane asylum. Bobby Dodge (returning from Gardner's Alone) is called to the crime scene. Gardner offers up numerous plausible suspects, suspense and violence, and lots of requited and unrequited love. The book is longer than it needs to be, somewhat repetitive and has a hokey ending with a murderer who appears out of nowhere. But Hide is still an enjoyable thriller and a well-read listen.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gardner fans look out: this one will take your breath away. Near the grounds of an abandoned mental hospital, a buried chamber is discovered. Inside are six bodies, one of which may be that of a girl who has been missing for two decades--the best friend of a woman, Annabelle, who has spent her childhood moving from city to city, from identity to identity, hiding from someone or something totally unknown to her. She's been safe for several years now, but a single act of bravery plunges her right back into a life of fear. This is a rich, complex tale that juggles a handful of mysteries at once. Who is the killer, and could it be someone connected with a notorious child murderer? Who or what was Annabelle's family running from? How did her father, a mathematician, know how to set up foolproof new identities? And why does an old sketch of a murder suspect look unsettlingly like Annabelle's father? Head and shoulders above anything else Gardner's written, this riveting novel represents the author at the height of her powers. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Books on Tape; Unabridged edition
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1415937036
• ISBN-13: 978-1415937037
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (147 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,167,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times #1 bestselling crime novelist Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots into a streak of thirteen bestselling suspense novels, including her most recent release, Catch Me.

Readers are invited to get in on the fun by entering the annual "Kill a Friend, Maim a Mate" Sweepstakes, where they can nominate the person of their choice to die in Lisa's latest novel. Every year, one Lucky Stiff is selected for Literary Immortality. It's cheaper than therapy, and you get a great book besides. For more details, simply visit Lisa's website.

Lisa lives in New England with her family, as well as two highly spoiled dogs and one extremely neurotic three-legged cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and quick read!, February 6, 2007

By 

Amy Y. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do wi... (FREMONT, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hide (Hardcover)

I found this book to be an easy, enjoyable read. It pulled me in right from the beginning. It alternates between first and third person narratives which I normally find somewhat annoying but I think really added to the character development in this story.

Annabelle is at the center of the mystery. Her family has been on the run as long as she can remember but from what? When her father, obsessed with keeping his family safe, dies, Annabelle is left with only questions about her past and the unknown threat from which she has spent her life running.

Bobby Dodge is the detective brought into consult on gruesome discovery on the grounds of the long-defunct state mental hospital. A piece of evidence at the scene ties Annabelle to what remains of a horrible crime. Discovering Annabelle's identity and how she is related to this crime is what drew me in.

The plot, while somewhat complicated, never gets terribly convoluted and things are tied up neatly in the end. I felt like the conclusion, though satisfactory, was a little rushed and a little too neat. However, the characters were enjoyable and it was a light, quick read. I'd recommend it as a great vacation/beach read. It was never slow and there is some light handed romantic interest that never goes over the top. Just enough of everything, I'd say to be an all-around good read.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Family secrets, July 7, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hide: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

You can run, but you can't hide - at least not forever. That's what decorator Annabelle Granger learns when, after 25 years of changing homes and changing names, she returns to Massachusetts where all the madness began. It's obvious to Annabelle that her parents were protecting their family from something or someone, but never once did they reveal the reason why, and now both have died. Shortly after establishing herself in Boston, Annabelle reluctantly becomes involved in helping the police with a 20 year old serial killer case. The deeper they delve, the more danger she's in.

Author Gardner manages to spring a few surprises in this thriller. Ultimately, the resolution owes more to luck (bad luck) than to solid evidence, but the ending is fairly satisfactory. Read this and you'll never view an abandoned mental institution in the same light again!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously creepy, February 8, 2007

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hide (Hardcover)

Lisa Gardner's work is most easily classified within the thriller genre. But in her new novel, she infuses a solid, complex mystery into the plotline, nicely balancing excitement --- make that terror --- with whodunit elements to create a work easily accessible to fans of any genre. HIDE is much more than a nominal sequel to ALONE; it is a deliciously creepy tale that begins with a crime scene so startling and horrific that it resonates throughout the book.

HIDE marks the return of Massachusetts State Police Detective Bobby Dodge and his former partner, Boston Police Detective D.D. Warren. Despite Dodge's newly minted position, Warren brings him into a Boston investigation. The crime scene --- a vision of nightmares that will shut you down --- is reminiscent of the Richard Umbrio case that figured so prominently in ALONE. As the result of evidence found at the current scene, one of the victims is tentatively identified as Annabelle Granger.

Thus, Dodge and Warren are baffled when a woman shows up in their office and identifies herself as Granger. She relates the story of a life lived on the run, with her family changing residences and identities on an annual basis, crisscrossing the country as if being pursued by an omnipresent, unknown tracker.

Dodge and Warren's investigation is further complicated by the fact that Granger bears an uncanny, startling resemblance to Catherine Gagnon, who as a child was one of Umbrio's kidnapping victims. Gagnon grew up into an exotic, enigmatic lady who may have manipulated Dodge into shooting her husband.

Another issue is the slowly blossoming, if reluctant, attraction between Dodge and Granger. Dodge struggles with the impropriety of a relationship with a subject he is charged with protecting, and possibly investigating. Granger finds that she is experiencing emotions long gone cold, if ever felt at all.

Gardner keeps the plot wheels slowly but steadily moving toward a cataclysmic conclusion that ties up the apparently irresolvable plotlines with a plausible and unpredictable explanation.

While built upon the foundation of ALONE, HIDE stands firmly on its own. Primarily character driven --- the crime scene at the beginning is over two decades old, and most of the violence in the book is confined to one scene --- HIDE is part puzzle, part romance and all good. Don't miss this one.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub