Hidden Pictures Book Review
Jason Rekulak takes us on a supernatural mystery with ex-drug addict Mallory Quinn, who lands a too-good-to-be-true babysitting position. A few days into the job, and she notices that something isn't quite right about Ted and Caroline's five-year-old son, Teddy. He's drawing pictures of murder. Although, her past isn't clean, Mallory teaches us to follow our instinct and never give up. This is a brief book review of Hidden Pictures.
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Summary:
Mallory Quinn is fresh out of a rehab facility and lands a job as a babysitter for an affluent family in Spring Book, New Jersey. While she tries to put the past behind her, Mallory spends her time with five-year-old Teddy coloring or playing outside during the day, and running long distances around the neighborhood at night. Everything is normal until Teddy starts drawing disturbing pictures of a woman being dragged through a forest.
Mallory explains this to his parents, but they respond that he has an imaginary friend. Deflated by their lack of concern, Mallory feels there's a larger presence lurking around. When she finds out the neighborhood gossips about a woman killed behind the pool house she’s living in, she thinks that spirit is communicating through the drawings.
With the help of a handsome landscaper and the outcast medium next door, they decipher the drawings to save Teddy. Despite the dead ends, Mallory doesn't give up and must relive the tragedy of her past to work through this mystery.
“We don’t know how much our bodies can endure until we make cruel demands of them.”
Hidden Pictures, Jason REkluak
Brief Book Review:
Let me start by mentioning that this is a book you must read as a physical copy because of the pictures. An audiobook describes the images that mirror the descriptions in the physical copy but to grasp the experience, you need to read this with your eyes. Grab it from your local library. I get it - I'm hesitant to buy unless I want to see it on my bookshelf, too.
Mysteries aren’t ever my go-to, but I read this story with my book club in January. And outside of the few cliché moments, random political statements, and unrealistic characters, the story had me hooked - that counts for something!
Apart from writing and stories, my occupation is a nanny, and maybe that’s what made the story more appealing. But there were things about the plot that I couldn’t buy. For starters, I have an issue with the main character being a caregiver. It isn't realistic, no matter who the parents are - they wouldn't leave their child with an ex-drug addict fresh out of rehab. (The reason is explained later in the book... but it still doesn't sit well with me.) Secondly, the activities and food choices are poor. But... those are my own biases.
Personally, I would have loved to see her battle the drug addiction more because she hasn’t been sober long enough. Sobriety takes years - a lifetime, and I feel that the author doesn't quite understand how to write the reality of that. So, the characterization is weak and there are loose plot points.
Otherwise, this was a suspenseful book; as I said, it was hard to put down because I just NEEDED TO KNOW! There are crazy twists; I predicted one but was blindsided by another. I won't spoil anything!
Rating: ★★.7
I’m giving this book a 2.7-star rating because it had me gripped from the beginning, but I didn’t love the main character or find a lot of what she did believable enough for 3 stars.
Hidden Pictures Book Review
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