This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book offers an original take on the aftermath of the heist of a famous artwork. It was a compelling read that took me further into the art world, and as an artist this was so neat to delve into!
The Hidden Things drew me in right from the start, and I eagerly kept reading to see where things would go! It is a fascinating story inspired by an actual 17th-century art heist. I loved how the author wove her story in with the premise so well. I really enjoyed this book!

Gallery Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Hidden Things. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

14 year old Carly Liddell fends off a vicious attack in her own home, which quickly goes viral. The video changes her life and that of her family, but not for the reason that one might expect. Is her stepfather's carefully hidden past about to be revealed? Will it put them all in danger?

If you had a secret that had indications for the safety and security of yourself and your family would you display it in plain view? From the beginning, the main premise was flawed and there was nothing that the author could do from that point to help the story. Although I did like Carly, the plot and the other characters were mainly flat and lifeless. I did not feel any connection to the story and, as a result, The Hidden Things lost my interest almost from the start. For these reasons, I would not recommend The Hidden Things to other readers.

I feel like this genre is very hit-or-miss and I think this was a hit! I read it in one sitting which is always a good thing. It felt like a good length, too. Overall I was pleased with it!

The Hidden Things by Jamie Mason has a super interesting premise that immediately hooked me. A young girl, Carly, is attacked at her home. The entire attack is caught and recorded on security cameras. Within hours, the footage has gone viral. The security cameras just happened to catch the corner of a painting hung in the home's entryway -- a multi-million-dollar painting that had been stolen four years before.

I thought this was going to be "just another stalker book." However, it completely takes a turn and is a very unique and engaging novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. A full review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads

The Hidden Things reminded me of a Coen Brothers movie. A lot of characters. A lot of chaos. A lot of mistakes. Likable unlikable characters. Completely unlikable characters. Surprising characters.

We start with a heist. A real one! So, of course, I had to do a little research on the great art theft.Read up on the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum theft. Fascinating. Nothing ever recovered and empty frames still hang in their places. Once filled with Rembrandt, Vermeer, and the Flinck that is the subject of this tale. Well, four year ago Landscape with Obelisk is one of the lessor known works in the stolen collection and Jonathan happens to find it in his dad's garage. How it got there we don't know. Jonathan decides to sell it with the help of an art dealer. The rich family buying the painting send their henchman, Owen, with two backup to make the deal. Jonathan decides to get fancy and two are left dead, one assumed dead but just injured, scarred, and pissed.

Flash forward four years to Carly being attacked entering her own home. Her stepfather has cameras that capture her fighting off her attacker and escaping. She becomes an internet sensation, the police quickly capture her attacker, and the people the survivors spot the corner of the painting that changed their lives.

Madness ensues.

Weirdly, I would get really into this book and then I'd find my mind wandering and having to reread parts that just seemed a little repetitive and drawn out. It was unnecessary because the characters are so well written. Carly is the key. Carly and Emma. Carly and John. Carly and Owen. I think that last one may be my favorite. The action, dialogue, and characters drive the story when it isn't bogged down in a little too much background and exposition. Just a little.

Thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this one.

Average plot driven fast paced thriller with some art history thrown in. Nothing amazing but nothing terrible either.

3.5 stars. Here's a crime drama revolving around what might have happened to a lesser known work of art that had been stolen and those responsible for stealing it, hiding it, and trying to recover it. The plot was good: plenty of action and suspense. The characters were both a strength and a weakness. I liked how basically decent people could sometimes do things that weren't so decent and how even the bad guys could sometimes be decent. I like those shades of gray. However, some of the characters were just too...too. Roy, for example, was just too hapless, too feckless--can't come up with one just-right word for him. Carly. John. Can't go into details without spoilers, but it pushed the boundaries of what I found plausible. But all in all, an enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free e-ARC of this book.

Absolutely an end of your seat, nail biting of a read!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are completely unbiased.

From the outside looking in, John Cooper looks like any normal stepfather. His wife loves him and he has a growing relationship with his stepdaughter. But John is hiding a dark secret. When his past threatens to ruin his seemingly idyllic life we get to find out who he really is.

Oh - this was fun. There are several different players and I like how the author slowly weaves them all together. The suspense really builds as the story moves along. I thought this was very entertaining and a real page turner.

My thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley.

Not a bad read.  Carly's life looks really normal until a creep follows her into the house and tries to attack.  She runs him off and then things get interesting.  The security video shows a piece of a stolen painting hanging in the foyer.  That is what the news stations show, without realizing it.  But someone recognizes it.  

We find out that Carly's stepfather may not be who he claims.  There is more to him than is apparent.  The family takes a real hit because of all this.  

If you are looking for a few hours to follow an interesting story, this just might work.

With <em>The Hidden Things</em> (Gallery Books, 2019) Jamie Mason has crafted a solid suspense thriller that is firmly rooted in contemporary culture. It all begins when 14-year-old Carly fends off a would-be attacker who follows her home from school. Their encounter in the front hallway of her family’s home is captured by the surveillance cameras that her stepfather, John, had installed. Predictably in the 2010s, the video goes viral on social media after first being posted on the local police website. Soon Carly is fielding questions and attention from friends and strangers alike, who all know her as the plucky teen who defeated the bad guy.

Carly’s a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, but not so much that she doesn’t notice how oddly John is acting in the wake of the incident. And she isn’t immune to the household tension that erupts because neither Carly nor her mom realized John had installed surveillance cameras inside as well as outside the house.

Many cities away, the viral video comes to the attention of a group of people who are particularly interested, not in Carly and her heroics, but in what’s shown in the background: The corner of an old painting that was stolen from a museum and later thought to be lost forever when an underground sale went awry. How did it end up in Carly’s house? And to what lengths will people go to get it back?

The story is told from a variety of viewpoints, giving the reader insight into what all the main players are thinking and feeling. There’s Carly, of course, who is the heroine in more ways than one. But there’s also her stepfather, who finds himself trapped in a situation that could cause him to lose the comfortable home life he had finally found. And the other people who were involved in the caper-gone-wrong along with John are also given their turn in the spotlight: hapless loser Roy, ruthless bad guy Owen, and the enigmatic Marcelline, left for dead but very much alive. As they all converge on Carly’s home, no one’s sparing a thought for who might get caught in the crossfire. And it’s up to Carly to try to save herself, her family, and her “normal” teenage life.

Mason does a great job of juggling the rotating viewpoints without losing the reader’s attention. She managed to make me sympathize with each of them in turn, even when I knew the unspeakable things some of them had done. And she doesn’t try to wrap things up with a neat bow and unbelievable feats of strength from a young teenager. Carly is indeed her own savior (with a little help) but she is changed irrevocably by what she learns and what she is forced to do, and Mason doesn’t shy away from exploring the consequences of those actions. It kept me turning pages to the very end, and feeling satisfied when I closed the cover.

<em>Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.</em>

This story totally hooked me.

The writing has a literary flair, with beautifully crafted sentences and poignant observations throughout.

Pacing is the kind of slow burn that invites us into the characters' minds so we feel the emotions, then gradually builds in urgency and intensity as the truth unravels.

The plot is complex without ever becoming convoluted.

Characters are well developed, realistic, and, I thought, fascinating. I loved Carly! When someone is called "fearless," it doesn't really mean they have no fear, only that they have the strength needed to move beyond the fear. That's Carly, and she's a badass teen!

The Hidden Things isn't a throwaway thriller. This is a character study, a look at the lies we tell others and ourselves, and a glimpse at what people are capable of when pushed to the edge.

couldn’t get into this one either. maybe it was the topic, i don’t know 😢 i tried!!! never really understood the painting / daughter and social media. first paragraphs were hard to get into. book simply just wasn’t for me. i recommend others to try it out. interested in reading the reviews. might try out again someday, sometime.

The first half of this book was fairly intriguing but then (for me) it just sort of fizzled out. I guess the fact that I didn't like any of the characters may have had something to do with that. It was an ok read - - just not as much of a thriller as I expected.

Suspenseful heist thriller where Hidden Things don’t stay hidden forever.

When fourteen-year-old Carly is attacked in her house, the police post video from her home’s security system hoping someone will recognize her attacker. While it only takes 44 views to find her assailant, the video has now spread far and wide on the internet generating millions of views. While happy that Carly’s attacker is behind bars, her stepfather is in trouble in two areas. First, his family didn’t know the security cameras were in the house. Worse, the attack video shows a small fragment of a famous stolen multi-million dollar painting on the wall.

Engrossing look into high-end art theft and its aftermath. Hidden Things keeps its reader at a high level of suspense while propelling them forward to the excellent conclusion. This book is recommended to anyone looking for a thrilling ride through the illegal art trade. 4 stars!

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

A home security video camera has captured how Carly Liddell, age 14, fought off an attacker just inside her front door. The man had followed her up to her front door and just as she put the key in the lock, he pushed her inside and knocked her down. But Carly is determined and she ends up kicking him several times and runs over to her neighbor. By then, the attacker has left. This video has gone online and become viral. However, the video shows the edge of a painting that hangs in the Liddell foyer. It is a priceless work of art that had been stolen many years ago.

Now, Carly’s stepfather, John Cooper, is nervous that someone may recognize the painting. His wife, Donna, wants to know why he finds it necessary to have such an elaborate security system and cameras in the house. John’s real name is Jonathan Spera. He knows a man named Roy who has spent his life just making do. He’s somewhat simple and has taken care of things for Jonathan in the past.

Now, John needs to hide the painting in case someone recognizes it in the video. Then, he needs to try and sell it. But, the past has caught up with him and the people he cheated and harmed years ago are ready for revenge.

This book builds with background history coming together and we see how all of the characters interact with one another. The tension really builds and we know that people will stop at nothing to get their hands on this painting. How will it all end?

Carly is a tough cookie, and poor simple Roy broke my heart. Well constructed characters, all with great descriptions. Donna just comes across as an after thought.

Good plot and satisfying read. I’m sure others will like it too.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Hidden Things, by Jamie Mason (just released) is about old secrets, lies, crimes and conspiracy, involving a missing 17th century painting. The painting in question might not have ever seen the light of day (or museum) again, but for the fact that a tiny piece of it was caught on video and blasted access social media - as crime scene evidence.

Fourteen year old Carly was attacked in her home one day, as a young man, following her while she was walking home from school, forced his way into the entryway of her home. Carly fought off the attacker, who then fled. However, the attack was caught on the home security cameras, installed by Carly’s stepdad, John. While the brief video led to the capture of the attacker, John was not so thrilled about additional fallout resulting from the viral video. The film shows a sliver of a certain priceless painting, hanging in their foyer, which has been missing... •
Told in a number of POVs, the story is suspenseful as it exposes the ugly underbelly of the art theft scene. It’s not pretty, but makes for a suspenseful and enjoyable read!!


Thank You @netgalley For the ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion

A fun thriller for the social media age. Carly's story is well told and grabs interest, in particular around the idea of social media and viral videos. An interesting take on the thriller genre. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.