Karen’s Pick of the Week: Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Like a favorite recipe with all the right ingredients in proper quantities,  Hidden Pictures has mystery, romance, realism, and horror all combined in perfect proportion and mixed with strategic purpose.  Edgar Award winning author Jason Rekulak, has created with his sophomore novel another intriguing page turner that is hard to put down.

Narrator Mallory Quinn has been attending NA and clean for 18 months when she applies for a Nanny position in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook.  Caroline and Ted are taking a chance when they hire her for the summer to care for their 5 year old son, Teddy.  What if she relapses or starts hallucinating again?  When strange drawings start appearing in odd places, Mallory starts to believe that Teddy’s imaginary friend Anya may actually be the ghost of a girl who disappeared 70 years ago from the very cottage where Mallory now resides.

Mallory’s story of OxyContin and heroin addiction starting at the age of 19 is a sad reminder of the narcotic crisis our nation is experiencing.  Yet there is hope for Mallory.  She has a fantastic, supportive sponsor, a job, and maybe even a new boyfriend on the horizon.  Unfortunately, there is also the mystery of those pictures that she can’t seem to ignore, which could cause her to lose her job, especially when she visits the eccentric neighbor next door who contacts spirits using her Ouija board.

After several twists and a powerful climax the author wraps everything up smoothly leaving no loose ends.    Recommended for readers who enjoyed Survive the Night by Riley Sager or The Hiding Place by CJ Tudor.  Young Adults might also enjoy this novel. This reader listened to the audiobook at Libro.fm.