Review: "The Hiding Place," by C.J. Tudor

I'm not entirely sure I understand why the book is called The Hiding Place? Perhaps it's because I was rushing to finish it, but I don't recall anyone really hiding anywhere...so if you can explain it to me I'm all ears! The title choice was probably what bothered me most, but there are some other things that did as well. And I'm probably being generous with my 3 stars (it's more like 2.5). This didn't have the same effect as The Chalk Man did, for me. It was a disappointing follow-up. Let's start with the premise. The premise, I like. It's intriguing - certainly captivating enough that I picked up the book and walked all the way over to the register to purchase it (that, and The Chalk Man, which was good enough that I was just waiting for her next book to come out so I could snatch it up). I mean, the catchphrase on the jacket is mysterious enough to make you want to open up the book and start reading - "The worst day of his life wasn't when his sister went missing...it was the day she came back." But, this is where it stops, and becomes very, very...peculiar? First of all, I was expecting a straight up mystery/thriller, and was therefore surprised (and mildly confused) when all of a sudden there is a supernatural element. Sometimes, this approach works, if only it is done well (a great example of it being done well is Behind Her Eyes, by Sarah Pinborough). But the introduction of the supernatural element here felt like a cheap trick to resolve a mystery that the author herself couldn't resolve. Supernatural elements work best when the author is honest with the reader from the beginning. Show me the supernatural early on so that I can believe it when you use it later in the book. But, show me too late and I feel duped, not to mention irritated. There are also the multiple plot lines which seem to be all leading somewhere, and then suddenly...aren't? Or they are? I can't decide, because I was confused. My lasting impression is that I was introduced to a lot of characters for no real reason; if there was a reason, it was for a very convenient purpose late in the book. The reader is also introduced to a lot of history that seems to fulfill the purpose of padding the plot as opposed to providing useful information to the reader. For example, we hear a lot about the school Joe goes to teach to, but I'm not exactly sure why the school seems to be such a focal point of the story. I suppose it's important to Joe's character development. I suppose... So that takes me to Joe. I actually liked his character. I liked his sarcasm, his humour, even though sometimes the humour was a bit of a stretch (that one little line about one's history coming back like bad curry...umm, huh?). I liked his family history, and could understand the unresolved history he has with some of his childhood friends. What I didn't really understand was the whole 'debt being owed to the Fatman' plot point and being constantly pursued by an assassin-type woman and how this in any way was important to include. Wasn't it enough to return to his hometown because he wanted to understand his sister's death? This would have been interesting enough for me. The only purpose of the Fatman is to introduce him later in the story for one of the most disappointing denouements ever. Spoiler alert - the denouement reminds me a lot of The Departed film; sit through hours of story and then everyone just dies in two seconds. Sigh. Lame. And then suddenly, the supernatural explanation! Like, excuse me? After all that wind-up? Insert angry-face emogi here. But enough of my bitching, let's talk about what worked. C.J. Tudor does have the ability to hold a readers attention. Short, pacy chapters - check. Interesting main character - check. Mysterious plot - check. And she is a skilled writer. I particularly enjoyed the flashback scenes to their early years; these scenes were interesting, and I found myself rushing through the present-day stuff to get to the past-day stuff. There were also some really creepy and frightening scenes, mostly when Joe is at home and there are some bizarre things going on around him. But unfortunately this brings me round to one last bit of disappointment - the use of Annie's doll. I mean, who doesn't love a scary doll? But this could have been used more effectively as a way to introduce the supernatural element to us. Tudor tries, by placing the doll in places it shouldn't be, but I always got the impression this was because a human being moved it. And I can't decide if we were supposed to be thinking that the doll was moving on it's own? Anyways, I give this book a confused 2.5 stars. Interesting premise, poor execution. This is the type of book that needs another 200 pages to really hash out and develop, which would serve to getting the reader more invested in the characters and plot devises. Will I read Tudor again? Most likely. But next time, with far more caution. Onward.