Customer Reviews

Nowhere to Hide

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joan Hall Hovey's Nowhere to Hide, is a fast moving suspense thriller, that will keep you up all night to finish it. Ellen Morgan, who is still recovering from the untimely death of her husband, is shattered when her younger sister is brutally murdered. Her pain soon turns to rage when she realizes that this man has killed before and will probably kill again and that the police seem unable to catch him. When the evening news wants to interview her about her work as a psychologist, she uses the opportunity to challenge the killer and sets into motion a series of events that will leave you turning all the lights on and locking your doors as you breathlessly await the outcome. Ellen and her sister grew up in an abusive home with alcoholic parents that ended with her sister living for a time in a local orphanage. Ellen senses that the answers she seeks my lie in the old orphanage but before she can really begin to look into her theory, the killer strikes again. As Ellen races to discover the identity of the killer, she finds that in order to live, she has to confront a past she has tried very hard to put behind her. Hovey has created a disturbing look into the mind of a serial killer that will send chills up your spine.

Betty Sullivan La Pierre, Author of the renowned `Hawkman Series'

"NO WHERE TO HIDE" by Joan Hall Hovey, is a fast paced thriller. Several times I caught myself holding my breath and had to stop a moment to exhale.

When Ellen Morgan hears her beloved younger sister, Gail, has been brutally murdered, her grief turns to anger and she vows to find the person who did it. A dangerous undertaking for a woman to find a serial killer, especially after she was interviewed on the news and in so many words threatened him.

A page turner, hard to put down. Don't miss this one, but be sure to turn on the lights, bar the windows, and lock the doors.

"NOWHERE TO HIDE" by Joan Hall Hovey, is an exciting read. The writing reminds me of the first books by Mary Higgins Clark (one of my favorite authors). Highly recommended for those who like fast paced thrillers. You won't be disappointed.

This book is right up there with the greats, in my opinion. While I think the author could have started off with more action, then perhaps after hooking the reader, gone back to the beginning, it still nonetheless is an excellent read. Once it heated up, I couldn't put it down. It was enthralling, captivating, and I was anxiously anticipating the ending. Ms. Hovey did such a remarkable job with the keeping the reader in suspense and caring about the lead character's fate. I recommend this story without hesitation. Ms. Hovey has a refreshing writing style, which I found to be clear and to the point, and as I stated previously, an absolutely marvelous ability to keep the suspense turned up high.

Synopsis: The story takes the reader into the world of orphanage girls and the depraved persons who either prey on them or allow others to. In this story, two sisters who survive life as orphans, grow up to become professionals. The oldest, a psychologist; the younger, a singer. Unbeknownst to them, the younger sister is being trailed by a sick person from their past. When she is murdered, the older sister, Ellen, finds solace in her best friend, who also happens to have spent some time in the same orphanage. As Ellen's life begins to spin out of control, she takes up the habit which killed her parents: drinking. Her best friend, Myra, who also doubles as her patient, on occasion, has been having weird dreams of which Ellen has been trying to help her figure out for the last year or so. However, after finding out about Ellen's sister's murder, the dreams come back with a rage. Myra is concerned about them, and even asks Ellen what they could mean, but Ellen is too caught up in her own nightmare to really concentrate and focus on their meaning. After Ellen challenges the murderer to come after her a police officer is assigned to protect her. She develops a great rapport with the officer, and when things seem to be less intimidating and the killer makes no further move to contact her, she convinces the officer of her safety and need for solitude. As if right on cue, all hell breaks lose and the reader is panting to keep up with the events in the story. Ms Hovey does an excellent job of fanning the flames of suspense and thrill, page after page until the very last word.

NOWHERE TO HIDE by JOAN HALL HOVEY is a thrilling novel with "flash-backs" of several of the main characters woven into the present-day story so neatly that you really appreciate the plot. A
home for "wayward or abused girls" in a small Maine town starts you on this freightening journey.
JOAN HALL HOVEY has created characters so believable you feel you can reach out and touch them . . . and you want to; to warn them, to save them. A serial killer has been "under the police radar" for years. Suspected of murdering young women, all blondes - in California, New York and Maine, no police agency has made a connection between the murders. Dr. Ellen Harris, a Psychologist lost her devoted husband to a heart attack at the age of 36. In the two years since she has concentrated on her work at a clinic counseling patients of alcoholic parents. She has buried her secrets and functions well. Her younger sister Gail Morgan has been living in New York City pursuing a career as a singer. She signed a recording contract with a major label and would be making a tour of the Netherlands the following summer. It was Ellen who sent her off with $2,000 to pursue her dream. Present day; Christmas, 1992 and Gail Morgan is coming home to visit her big sis, Ellen. She is not on the flight from NYC and Ellen is preplexed and worried. As she stands at the pay phone in the airport calling her sister's number, she sees her close friend Myra Thompson and Mike Oldfield, a Police Lieutenant approaching her. Lieutenant Oldfield, of the Evansdale (ME) Police Department gently tells Ellen her sister has been murdered in New York City. Her world comes crumbling down upon her. After her sister's funeral in Evansdale; Ellen travels to New York City, and meets the lead Homicide Detective, Sergeant Shannon. She stays in her sister's apartment, where she was found brutally beaten and raped. She interviews the landlady and her sister's friends. She is determined to find her sister's killer and embarks on this daunting quest.

I started reading this KINDLE EDITION of "NOWHERE TO HIDE" at 11:30 AM (EST), it is now 8:15 PM - I finished this novel at 8:00 PM. YOU CANNOT and WILL NOT put this book down, (or in Kindle, take your
eyes off your screen) until you have read all 56 chapters! Now I have to order the Paperback Edition for my bookshelves. This is a book I will read again! It rates TEN STARS, but Amazon only let's me post FIVE STARS. I will have to purchase and read MS. HOVEY'S "CHILL WATERS" and "LISTEN TO THE SHADOWS". She is an extraordinary Author.

Michael Phelps

ms. hovey,s book reads like a 1940s movie in black and white. i have a few of her books but this one is the best.i read it on an icy winter weekend and it kept me involved for hour.it is another kindle freebie.

From the time I started reading this book I could not put it down. Wonderful thriller. This one will have you checking your doors and windows at night before you go to sleep. This is an awesome book. I highly recommend reading this book or any of Joan Hovey books.

Joan Hall Hovey hits another one out of the park with NOWHERE TO HIDE. The Canadian Mistress of Suspense brings her readers another taut, psychological, page-turner. This is an incredible read that will keep you up well past your bedtime late at night. It did to me. A book that is very hard to put down.

After reading Hovey's CHILL WATERS and LISTEN TO THE SHADOWS, I thought these would be almost impossible to top. But Hovey does it. This is her best yet. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.

The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense. With great characterizations and dialogue, Hovey writes clearly and concisely with short chapters (a feature I really like) that prompts the reader to keep on turning pages.

After fanning the flames of suspense, she ends the book ends with a fiery climax. Overall, a very satisfying read. Don't miss this one. I look forward to reading her latest,Night Corridor, now also available on Kindle.

James A. Anderson, Author
DEADLINE

As I sit here and write this review, all I can say is WOW! This is one heck of an exciting, edge of your seat read! Nowhere to Hide had EVERYTHING you could want in a suspenseful thriller. The character development in this book is unreal. Each character complemented the other perfectly and the plot line was exquisitely written. I was actually holding my breath long before the ending. My mind kept trying to figure out which direction the plot might go. Ms. Hovey has done an incredible job of getting into the mind of a serial killer. The descriptions of the serial killer and the twisted way his mind worked kept me turning the pages as fast as I possibly could. This book was 156 pages jam packed with action, adventure and every emotion imaginable to man. If you haven't gotten this book yet, I highly suggest you do. You will not be disappointed as this is one of the best thrillers I have read yet.

As Christmas approaches, Ellen Harris looks forward to seeing her sister for the holidays. Gail is the only family that Ellen has left, and she couldn't be prouder of her sister, who perches on the edge of music stardom. Unfortunately, sudden tragedy strikes when Gail is brutally murdered in her apartment after a performance.

At first, Ellen falls to pieces and plunges into deep depression--but then anger sets in. Determined to find her sister's killer, she heads to New York and begins to question anyone who might know something about her sister's death. What she doesn't know is that she's looking in the wrong place; the killer is a little closer to home than she imagines.

Ellen's friend Myra hasn't had an easy life, but now she's settled down with a wonderful man and started a family. Lately, though, her nightmares have become more intense, and she feels as if she should remember something that happened long ago at the Evansdale Home for wayward girls--a place steeped in scandal. It nags at her until she's certain that she needs to remember before someone else dies.

In Nowhere to Hide, the suspense builds and builds, until you'll be acutely aware that something explosive is about to happen--and author Joan Hall Hovey doesn't disappoint. Not even the chocolate cake sitting on my kitchen counter could tempt me away from this gripping novel. I spent most of the night reading it because I couldn't put it down, and then I spent the next day yawning because I didn't get much sleep. Oh, but the riveting story was well worth it.

Once again, Ms. Hovey brings readers a plot that's filled with chilling thrills and nail-biting trepidation. Many moments in the story are especially creepy--like when Ellen rents the apartment where her sister was murdered. On one hand, you'll wonder why on Earth she'd do that, yet it somehow feels right. Whatever the case, Ms. Hovey makes it work.

With believable and memorable characters and an insightful look inside a psychotic killer's mind, Nowhere to Hide is one of the best thrillers I've read since reading Ms. Hovey's last book. You don't want to miss this one.

This review first appeared at NightsandWeekends.com: [...]