Audiobook
Published May 9, 2022 by Macmillan Audio.
Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.
Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell’s pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
As the days pass, Teddy’s artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed …
Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.
Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell’s pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
As the days pass, Teddy’s artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force lingering in the forest behind the Maxwell’s house.
With help from a handsome landscaper and an eccentric neighbor, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy—while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past—before it’s too late.
Very good story in my opinion and I really liked the main character. The ending was kinda surprising for me (positively). I hope that author is gonna write some new #horror #novel.
While certainly making use of some of the standard tropes of the genre it does so well, making Hidden Pictures a compelling paranormal thriller/mystery with horror elements that had me enthralled fully to the extent that I read it over 2 sessions. I found the story to be unique and inventful that had me just wanting to continue reading to find out what happens next. There are a few occasions where if you were really questioning the plot you might consider a couple of things pretty convenient and suspension of disbelief to a degree is necessary, but that goes with the genre's territory and doesn't detract from the story. The illustrations within the hard copy of the book enhance the experience significantly and is another unique aspect of the book that it pulls off well. All in all a fantastic page-turner that I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to any …
While certainly making use of some of the standard tropes of the genre it does so well, making Hidden Pictures a compelling paranormal thriller/mystery with horror elements that had me enthralled fully to the extent that I read it over 2 sessions. I found the story to be unique and inventful that had me just wanting to continue reading to find out what happens next. There are a few occasions where if you were really questioning the plot you might consider a couple of things pretty convenient and suspension of disbelief to a degree is necessary, but that goes with the genre's territory and doesn't detract from the story. The illustrations within the hard copy of the book enhance the experience significantly and is another unique aspect of the book that it pulls off well. All in all a fantastic page-turner that I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to any readers who don't mind supernatural elements to an ultimately well-told thriller/mystery/suspense story, although if you're expecting a heavy focus on horror you may find it lacking.
Hidden Pictures tells the story of a young adult girl, Mallory, recently rehabilitated, who becomes a live-in babysitter to young Teddy, whose pictures begin to tell a story, and Mallory finds herself struggling to solve their purpose. I absolutely loved this book and found it hard to put down from the get-go.
