The Hiding Place by C. J. Tudor Review

This was my first read by C. J. Tudor and I thought she excelled in writing a terrifying story that will have the reader frightened without knowing exactly why. She excels in creating a terror and frightening atmosphere where there is no oversight and every detail is wrapped into the story, one way or the other. The characters are well developed, the setting could easily be seen in real life. The reader will be fully invested in the story and dying to find out how it will all unfold.

At first glance, Arnhill seems like the typical small town: slightly faded with nothing to do and everyone knows your business. Arnhill is a place that seems to drive people away and that's exactly what Joe Throne did. 

There are two timelines that alternate between the present and what happened in 1992. As the story unfolds, the reader gets acquainted with the ghosts that drove Joe away from Arnhill. So what made him apply for a job at his old High School some twenty years later? Turns out he has a few good reasons and he soon realizes you can't outrun ghosts when they live in your head. He also wants to learn what really happened to his little sister Annie. 

In my opinion, The Hiding Place is a slow burner simply because of the back story that needs to be established to understand where the plot is going. It did pick up at the end as the story only gets creepier as we learn what happened to Annie and the other kids that were "not themselves". Finally, I found myself unable to stop reading the last few chapters but the ending left me with more questions than answers. Perhaps that was the point? Needless to say, I look forward to reading other books by the author. 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for my gifted copy. As always, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions. 

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Here's a quick synopsis:

Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang--the betrayal, the suicide, the murder--and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn't have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe's sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town--while avoiding the enemies he's made in the years since--is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn't the day his sister went missing. It was the day she came back. (Reference : Goodreads)

Happy reading,

Mommy Reads

The story started out a bit slow but definitely picked up near the end! I absolutely love C.J. Tudor writing style, it’s amazingly described and she makes you feel like you are right there in the story. Some parts of the story are really creepy and I just couldn’t get over how well described the whole environment was.

The story goes back and forth from the present to 1992, when Joe’s sister Annie went missing. There are many stories from Joe’s past that we must entangle to understand what happened to his sister, his friends, and all the other kids that have gone “missing”. I did enjoy that aspect, it left me wanting more and most chapters ended in a cliff-hanger. However, I wasn’t very fond of most of the characters, and didn’t really root or have sympathy for any of them which left me less invested in the story.

There were some twists in the story which I greatly appreciated and made my rating a bit higher. If it hadn’t been for those twists I honestly would have rated this a 3.5 stars. Unfortunately, the ending left me questioning the whole book and was a bit too far fetched for my preference.

Thank you to Crown Publishing for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book via NetGalley. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions

Synopsis

Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang--the betrayal, the suicide, the murder--and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn't have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe's sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town--while avoiding the enemies he's made in the years since--is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn't the day his sister went missing.

It was the day she came back.

@anintrovertreads