Hidden

I loved this book and was hooked from page one and stayed engaged until the very last page. It follows a woman, Nicole, who has hidden from her prior life for the past 15 years. Suddenly, it seems that she has been found. But who has found her? She struggles with trying to determine if she is in danger while also trying to figure out how to get off the island. While she realizes she should leave, she doesn't want to shed this life and give up her friends and the home she established. I loved the characters, especially Nicole. The author made me care about her and want her to be able to have what she wants. Additionally, the island played such an integral role, it was almost as though it was a character in its own right.

This is a must read book and I loved it so much that I have added the author to my must read authors' list.

In a world where everything we do is seen on social media, or Uncle Sam is hanging around, it is a secret wish of everyone to go undercover. Just to leave the world behind, and not worry about what the Kardashians are doing today...... In this book the main character got her wish. She is hidden from the world, not interacting with friends on facebook, and not even on any social media. She doesn't have a license, she doesn't exist. The perfect life. Or is it? Nicole - the name she chose for her perfect life was a black hat in her past life. A hacker. Someone that LIVED for technology. She gave it all up as she is scared of her own powers. Until a person from her past comes back, and destroys her piece. The book was wonderfully written and I could not put it down. You have sympathy with a person who wants to leave the ratrace, and I sincerely recommend it to anyone that would like some excitement!

Her name is Nicole now. She had liked that name and when she needed to choose a new one fifteen years ago for her new life she became Nicole with Jones added because it was so basic nobody would think twice about it. For all that time she has not set foot off Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island. She watches the ferries move back and forth all day, she has discovered a talent for landscape painting, and she leads tourists on bike trips around Block Island during the summer tourist months. Other than that, she is a blank slate accepted by the permanent residents of the island because she keeps to herself and doesn't give them a reason to dislike her. All of that changed one night when someone from her past stepped out of the shadows.

If this is the first novel in a new series by Karen Olson, I wish her luck in maintaining the level of suspense and tension I found in this book when she adds to the series. I wanted Nicole to stay resolute against the mistakes from her past, but the addictions were too strong. Nicole's past is not revealed completely until the latter pages of the novel so I kept reading page after page to see if I would get answers to what had happened and what was going to happen. Nicole was deeply hidden for very good reasons. It was intriguing to watch the man from her past use her weaknesses to get her to repeat her past mistakes. I am certainly looking forward to reading the second book in this series. I just don't see how it can get more exciting and have more plot twists than this one does.

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley.

"I look around the room and think about where I was last week, having my weekly Friday dinner with Steve at Club Soda."

I loved this book from the very first page. It drew me in and kept my attention to the very satisfying last page.

Nicole Jones (as she's been known for the last 15 years) lives on Block Island just off the coast of Rhode Island. She gives bicycle tours during tourist season and sells some of her paintings. She has a few fairly close friends but none of them know her real name or about her life as a computer hacker before she ended up on the island. She's 40 years old and she's satisfied with her life.

Then the past starts to rudely intrude and Nicole has to resurrect certain aspects of her prior life - including her hacking skills.

I like the character of Nicole and I was glad to read that this is the first book in a series featuring her.

This is a character driven thriller with fully developed (mostly) likeable characters. I want to join them on this little out-of-the-way island. I want to join Nicole and Steve for tuna sandwiches and clam chowder. Or burgers with onion rings.

If you like fast paced thrillers, give author Olson a try. I was sure pleasantly surprised by the strength of her story and just how much fun I had reading it.

NOTE: I received this book from Severn House through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Hidden is the riveting tale of a former hacker who is forced to put her long ignored skills to use when the life she has built comes crumbling down.

Nicole Jackson lives a quiet life on Block Island, earning money by giving bicycle tours and painting landscapes. Quiet meals with a few friends rounds out her activities. For 15 years, she hasn't touched a computer. When the lover who betrayed her shows up on the island using a name meant to get her attention, she realizes her time is limited. He wants what he believes she owes him, and he is not the only one searching for her. In order to survive, Nicole has to use her old skills and rely on the loyalty of her friends.

Hidden is a beautifully written piece of suspense. Nicole is a credible lead, and the actions she takes to obscure her identity and live off the grid are believable. As a reader, you feel how heart wrenching it is for Nicole to see her peaceful and happy life come apart.

Hidden is a great choice for anyone who likes suspense.

5/5

Hidden is available for preorder and will be released November 1, 2015.

I received a copy of Hidden from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Sometimes a haven becomes a prison

http://muttcafe.com/2015/10/hidden/

10/19/15

Nicole is living on an idyllic island (but maybe not that idyllic because she is constantly locking up her bike wherever she goes!) with an assumed name. She's lived here quietly, under the radar for 15 years until the day someone from her previous life turns up, insisting she does "one more job". Trouble is he is not the only one looking for her. So it's back into the murky world of hacking, trying to be several steps ahead of her pursuers. You would think that someone with her know how wouldn't have given herself away by doing something so stupid in the first place! I enjoyed the story, the suspense, liked the way it was written, descriptions of island life and hope there will be a follow on to see what "Nicole" does next.

Nicole has made a life for herself on Block Island. She has made friends. She has a business. She is selling her pictures and she is content. Suddenly her past catches up with her and she has to decide how she is going yo handle this.

This book starts off quite slowly although it captures the interest and makes you start to wonder where things are leading. It build up well until you are thinking, "Just another chapter..." and it's way past bedtime.

This book would seem to be the first in series. I will be interested to read more.

Thanks to Netgallery for the chance to read and review this

This fast-paced, action packed and riveting drama kept me in suspense from beginning to end, quickly becoming a page turner. The author presented this tale in a way that put me smack dab in the middle of all the action that had my adrenaline pumping as I had to know what happens next. In a twisty sought of way, the narrative became my haven as I watch from afar as the characters' role played out in this engrossing tale of a past life infringing on the present. I enjoyed this book which is a new direction by the author and I applaud what she has accomplished in the telling of this grippingly engaging story.

Hidden (Nicole Jones, #1) by Karen E. Olson Severn House, 2015 Crime Fiction; 224 pgs

Nicole Jones has spent the last fifteen years establishing a life for herself on Block Island in the Long Island Sound. She has a small group of close friends and a job she likes. She has never quite been able to shake that outsider status, but the locals have come to think of her as one of their own, even despite her keeping mostly to herself. Nicole avoids getting too close to anyone--at least in terms of sharing information about her own past. She has secrets she would rather leave buried, including that she was once a hacker. That's why she changed her name. And why she doesn't have a driver's license or bank account. When someone from her past re-enters her life, Nicole's carefully crafted lies and world begin to unravel. Not only is her own life at risk, but so are the lives of her friends. The home she once felt so secure in, is no longer a safe haven.

To be honest, I would have picked up this book to read based on the author alone, having read and enjoyed her previous books. Karen E. Olson is one of my favorite crime fiction authors. Even without that though, I was drawn to this book based on the description. It isn't often you come across a female hacker as a protagonist, and I do love a mystery involving secrets.

I really liked everything about this novel, from the island setting to the small close-knit community and the people who live there. I ended up reading the book in a day; not because it was one of those fast-paced-every-second-is-a-thrill type novels, but because I just couldn't stay away. The writing drew me in immediately, and I could not help but connect with the characters. The reader gets a good feel for the life Nicole had been leading all those years in hiding and just what is at stake when all of that is threatened. The intensity increases as the story unfolds, each new twist raising the stakes.

The more I learned about Nicole, the more my heart went out for her. She hadn't always made the best choices in her younger years, and she openly admits that. While she likes the new life she's established, she had to sacrifice a big part of who she is. There is one scene in the novel in which Nicole uses a computer again after fifteen years, and Olson captured so well the excitement and trepidation someone in Nicole's shoes might feel. I like to see that kind of depth go into a character. It paints a more realistic picture.

I admit to being a little concerned about the fifteen year gap in Nicole's computer knowledge--a lot has changed technology-wise in that amount of time. I liked the way the author handled that though. She didn't gloss over it, nor did her character, who had the same concerns.

The author did not skimp on the backstories and development of the minor characters. I came to really care about them as well. Especially Nicole's closest friend, Steve. He would do anything for Nicole.

I gobbled up the tattoo artist Brett Kavanaugh series and just loved Karen E. Olson's investigative reporter series featuring Annie Seymour. Both series are quite different from one another, but carry the author's trademark humor. Hidden is a more serious novel, more reflective really. Hidden is both complex in story and character. It is also highly entertaining, as all Olson's novels have been. I am excited that there are two more books slated to come out in this series. I have no idea what will happen in the next book, Shadowed, but I can only hope it will be as good as Hidden.

Hidden is a great start to a new suspense series. Karen Olson offers readers a heroine that is mysterious and flawed, but nonetheless compelling. I appreciated the many layers of the character unveiled by Ms. Olson at various stages in the story. The pacing of this novel is even and fast, there were enough twists, turns and revelations to keep me reading. The story is well crafted and interesting. The subject matter is timely and the possibilities seem myriad for other stories. I will definitely place the series on my to be read list.
*I received my copy through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Summary from Goodreads:

"Nicole Jones – if that is her real name - lives off the grid. She doesn’t have a license, passport or bank account. She definitely doesn’t own a computer. She hasn’t left her refuge, Block Island, in fifteen years. She’s hidden from the world and she likes it that way. Nicole doesn’t use a computer, not because she’s afraid of it, but because she’s afraid of what she – a badass hacker in her past life – would do with it.

When the last person Nicole wants to see suddenly reappears, using a name he knows will draw her out, Nicole realizes that her time hidden is now ending. Her past secrets tumbling into the open and her carefully-constructed new life set to fall apart, Nicole must re-hone her long-suppressed computer skills in order to escape from an island that is no longer a haven, but suddenly a prison."

My Thoughts:

I really loved this book and cannot believe that I waited until now to share my thoughts on it! It was such a unique thriller and was one of those books that swept me away. I was completely caught off guard by it and found myself just immersed in it the entire time that I was reading. This is one of those books that will just suck you in and it wouldn't let me go. I can't describe it any other way. I found myself constantly reading (long after I should have been in bed) and the entire time I was guessing. Guessing at what was going to happen next, guessing as I tried to figure out Nicole's past, really I was just guessing and trying to figure out what in the heck was happening the entire time. And I loved every minute of it! This book was such a page turner (or it would have been but I read it on my kindle- what do you call that?) and it was just so good! I'm gushing a bit at this point but that is because I really loved my reading experience with this one. The summary was the reason I requested it from NetGalley but the book itself was so much more than I expected. Nicole was so much more herself and I loved her character! I was so nervous while reading this one as I wanted everything to turn out okay for her. The tension and suspense that this author created was so intense and was why this book was such a great read for me!

Overall, I was left exhausted after reading this one. Literally, as I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish and work came way too early that next morning. It was completely worth it though and I was thrilled to learn that this is a beginning to a new series. Heck yeah! I have no idea what kind of ride that this author is going to take us on next but sign me up! I'm also hoping to go back and check out this author's other books as some of my favorite bloggers recommended them to me as well. Highly recommended!

Bottom Line: A wild ride that left me breathless by the end!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks the publisher courtesy of NetGalley.