YES! Another outstanding thriller for the win. Excellent writing and the storyline was amazing. The main character really make you feel as if you were apart of the novel! Excellent!

Sheriff Jax Turner is at the end of his rope--depressed and moments (literally) away from suicide. Then the call comes in. A missing teen. Once the girl's backpack is found in a known sex offender's car, Jax is snapped out of his suicidal ideation and into action. What follws is a fast-moving tale of suspense that will keep you flipping the pages.

Hidden Pieces by Mary Keliikoa has a fairly good pace. I thought the author did a good job linking the current case being investigated by Sheriff Jax Turner to a case 20 years prior.

The characters were developed well, and I liked the setting. The ending was a bit implausible to me, the plot twists and a bit predictable, and the reason for knocking my rating down to a 4.

Overall, an okay read. I would check out other books by this author.

#HiddenPieces #NetGalley @ibpa

The over-simplification of the character’s struggles at first almost made me stop reading but the pace picked up about a third of the way in and the twists at the end were satisfyingly believable yet unexpected.

"Hidden Pieces" by Mary Keliikoa
Level Best Books
October 25, 2022
10-16851256X

The loss of a child is heartbreaking; it can either make or break a marriage and tear a parent apart to the point of no longer wanting to go on. This is the case with Sheriff Jax Turner. His precious daughter Lulu passed away five years ago from cancer, and since her death, his life is nothing but a living hell. Unable to share his grief with his beloved wife Abby, he is now alone and a shell of a man. His job as the head of law enforcement for the tiny town of Misty Pines, WA, is suffering too, and he depends on his deputies, many of whom are rookies.

Despondency weighs on Jax, so he goes to a deserted beach with the intention of ending his life. What is his reason to live with both Abby and Lulu gone? Life does not hold meaning for him any longer. He remembers the happiness he felt as a dad and husband, and the dollhouse and furniture he is still carving for the daughter—a toy which will never be used. With "good-bye" letters secreted in his glove box, he pushes the cold, metallic gun barrel into his mouth.

"His throat closed, and he forced a swallow. Quit stalling. Eyes squeezed shut, sadness flooded his chest. Regret shoved him. Don't think. He drew in the cool air through his nostrils one more time. Held it. Waited. Was this what he really wanted?"

When his radio comes to life with his assistant Trudy calling him, he wonders if he is imagining her voice. But, no, she continues trying to reach him, and the panic in her tone makes him respond. She reports local teen, Allison Krueger, did not get on the school bus and is missing. He suggests she contact his top deputy, Chapman, to handle this, but remembers Chapman is on a fishing trip in Alaska. Reluctantly, he returns to the office, planning to finish what he started after he locates the child.

Jax heads to Allison's farm outside of town he finds her mother Emily in a panic. A single mom after her husband left, Emily insists Allison is not one to disappear without a word, especially regarding her best friend Kylie, who hasn't heard from her.

Now, four hours since Allison's disappearance, Emily contacts everyone she can think of who may know where the 14-year-old could be, and with nothing to report, she needs Jax's help. She admits she and Allison quarreled but states it was not something to make the teen run away.

Kylie discloses problems Allison between her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Dylan, and she adds he almost didn't make it to the bus that morning. Knowing he must talk to the young man, Jax also understands the kid's dad, Commissioner Troy Marks is going to give him a tough time. They are adversaries, so he is prepared for a battle when talking to Dylan.

The school bus driver informs Jax of seeing a black SUV on the deserted road where Allison lives. Soon after an all-points bulletin is posted, a deputy locates the empty vehicle near Osbourn Park. Inside he sees Allison's backpack. With heart pounding, Jax races to the site, remembering another abduction from years ago, culminating in the murder of a teen. A repeat crime?

Digging through the backpack, Jax finds the expected belongings of a teenage girl but is surprised to see a container of chew, a very unlikely item. As he and the deputy comb through the area, they spot Richard Johnson who is fishing. Jackson runs upon seeing the sheriff, but Jax catches him and grills him about Allison's whereabouts. He admits he knows nothing, so Jax has Trudy run information on him. In the interim Jackson complains his uncle will "go ballistic if I don't bring back his car." Jackson's uncle is Vince Wallace, superintendent at the orchard next door to Emily's home. Jax is determined to find out how the backpack ended up in his back seat.

A search commences at the farm with Jax realizing Wallace is acting shady. He refuses them access to the farm stating the owners would not allow it without a warrant. Jax soon learns his nephew Richard, also known as Rick, has a record for raping an underage girl, though the kid states she was his girlfriend, and the sex was consensual. His background and Wallace's shiftiness raise red flags, and Jax believes something is amiss. His gut tells him Allison is there, so he desperately needs to search the property.

Meanwhile, psychologist Elena Massey, marries Allison's father after he left her and Emily. But their marriage soon collapses after Elena tries to care for her older brother, Steven who suffers from mental illness. She neglected Allison's dad, causing the divorce.

The plot thickens as Jax learns about the abduction of Elena and her sister Maddy 25 years ago. Elena escaped but Maddy was murdered. With the cases so similar, the sheriff wonders if they are tired, especially finding out Elena still considers Allison her stepdaughter.

Elena tries to reach Steven, knowing he vowed revenge after her attack and Maddy's death. She wants to find out if he abducted Allison. She becomes terrified when he does not answer her phone calls. When Jax interviews her, she does not want to mention Steven, hoping he is innocent in all this. But is he? Especially with the knowledge of Elena's closeness to the girl.

With thoughts of ending his life now gone, Jax is determined to save Allison and try to mend his own life. When he discovers shady dealings at the farm Wallace is overseeing, he notifies the FBI—and Abby, the head agent, his ex, and one he loves more than life. Will Jax be able to pull himself together, get over his grief, and find meaning in his life?

"Hidden Pieces" is an intense novel offering hair-raising twists and turns and differing plots making it difficult for the reader to discern the culprit. Surprises arise to give the story more power and excitement. A page-turner up to the conclusion this is an exhilarating and spine-tingling read.

Thank you to NetGal”ey and the publisher for providing me an early copy to read in exchange for my honest review.

This book had me hooked from Chapter 1. I was just complaining to friends how I am so tired of the same old mystery and looking for something with more excitement - well this was it! The book has a great pace, some bits are a little slower and some chapters you can’t help but tear through. I love a mystery that’s tied to cold cases and that keeps you guessing for a while. I did end up guessing ‘whodunit’ before it was revealed but it was later in the book I’d usually be able to guess so I don’t mind!

I am excited for more books in this series and will definitely be picking them up!

I loved seeing Jax heal and find his purpose again through his search for missing teen Alison. I do wish we could see some character development in some of the other characters.

3.5 stars rounded up. I did see the shocking ‘twist’ from a mile away but for those who don’t I think I’d be gasping at the page.
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I read this book very quickly, trying to solve the mystery of the missing child. There were many twists and turns that seemed quite chaotic for the reader…but in the end the epilogue tied it all together. I enjoyed the book and would definitely read another by the author!

The story was good but it didn't grip me the way that i thought it would. Well written but lacked the extra kick to keep me drawn in. A cops hunt for a missing girl, the loss of his daughter and the dynamics of family torn apart.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

This is a real page turner with plenty of twists throughout the story.

The characters have real depth and the story line keeps you guessing to the end.

Well worth a read.

My thanks to Level Best Books, as well as NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Hidden Pieces.

Sheriff Jax Turner is staring down the barrel of his gun. He's about to end it all due to the cancer death of his young daughter, which led to the end of his marriage. Then he receives a call that a teenage schoolgirl has disappeared. He puts his gun down and vows to solve this one last case before he carries out his suicide plan.

I think my favorite part of Hidden Pieces was how this case was seemingly tied into a fascinating case from 20 years prior. And I absolutely loved the woman who worked in the Sheriff's Department answering the phone!! However, I wish there had been a few more well-adjusted characters and maybe a few fewer red herrings. It felt a bit like Jax was living in a pinball machine and bouncing off of bumpers for the entire book. The resolution to one of the storylines made me roll my eyes. Too implausible for me.

I seem to be an outlier with my review so please take the glowing reviews into consideration, as well. I suspect I just wasn't the right audience for Hidden Pieces.

Tense, edgy, and compelling, Hidden Pieces grabbed me from the very first page and then kept me guessing until the end. I thought and talked about the characters and the story when I wasn't able to read. This is a book that I will share with both friends and family.

The writing is good and the characters are great, but the plot is weak, and that makes the book rather boring. Then there's the unbelievable twist at the end.

I went into this book blind not knowing much about it and it did not disappoint. I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC. Thank you so much.

I received an advanced copy in return for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

In a small town in the Pacific Northwest a 14 year old girl has gone missing. It's up to the town sheriff to find her and bring her home but it's eerily similar to a case from the past.

I found the book interesting but unrealistic. The connections between all the characters were too many to be believed and it pulled me from the story. Something about the world being created struck me as false but that is my opinion. The characters are well fleshed out and I was rooting for them. A good read overall but be prepared to have to really force yourself to dive in.

Hidden Pieces is following Sheriff Jax as he is ready to give up on everything. Life just did not go to plan, especially after the passing of his daughter and the divorce that followed. However, when a young girl goes missing and her personal belongings are found in the backseat of a registered sex offenders car, he races into action.

I really enjoyed this book, I thought that it was a fun time and would definitely recommend it. But be sure to look up the trigger warnings, because we are following the case of someone who repeatedly harms young girls. I am eager to see the other books that Mary Keliikoa will put out in the series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my early arc!

I liked this book overall. The characters were well drawn out, the writing was good, and the plot was detailed and suspenseful. I have a few picky points that I did not like, mainly the police procedures. The main character is the head of the police department, and is constantly commenting that his new deputies need to learn how to do things properly, but he never shows them. It just makes the story line feel incomplete. Another example, a suspect physically assaults' the sheriff, he takes them to the police car, puts them in it, and tells the young deputy to watch them. The suspect should have been cuffed, placed in the secure back seat of the patrol car, and the sheriff should have explained to the deputy why he was watching them, and that they were violent. Just these tiny details interfered with my enjoyment of an good storyline. which had several surprise plot twists, and intriguing characters.

14-year-old Allison Krueger is missing. Everyone in Misty Pines seems to know something about it, but no one wants to talk. Did she leave or was she taken? And could this case be related to another one from years before, a case that ended with one girl dead and another deeply traumatized, a case that Sheriff Jax Turner still blames himself for?

I really enjoyed this first book in the new Misty Pines series from Mary Keliikoa. Jax Turner is a flawed, but sympathetic hero I can root for, with a worthy sidekick in his secretary/dispatcher Trudy. Although there wasn’t a lot of character development in the supporting players, I appreciated that the author avoided making them two-dimensional “good guys” or “bad guys”. Everyone had nuance and I’m hoping to see this continued as these characters are fleshed out in future books.

The usual mystery/suspense tropes were covered here (missing teenaged girl, damaged cop, etc), but I didn’t find any of it stale. The chapters were short and propulsive; I finished the book in an evening because I kept saying, “Well, just one more chapter…”. And there was a twist at the end that I definitely did not see coming.

There were only three things I disliked about the book. First, I found the resolution a bit too busy. There were too many people involved, too many things going on, too many ‘shocking revelations’. (One simple fix for this would’ve been cutting out the appearance of a certain character that served no purpose in the situation.)

Second, the name of the book, Hidden Pieces, doesn’t have any real correlation to the story and is very... forgettable. This isn’t a huge deal, but you’d think the publisher and author would want to start out a new series more memorably. I want good things for this series and such a pedestrian name isn’t cutting it.

Finally, Misty Pines? It looks like the publisher and author are trying to draft off the prestige of Louise Penny’s Three Pines series. That's likely not the intent, but that's the result and it’s a bad look.

Aside from these three problems, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more installments in the new series. A solid four stars and an enthusiastic recommendation.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Level Best Books and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Well written with thought out characters, nice development.

I enjoyed reading Hidden Pieces through Netgalley. Sheriff Jax Turner has lost his wife to divorce after losing his daughter to cancer. He feels he has lost his purpose when he receives a call regarding a missing teenager. Turner gives this case his all while realizing he still has so much more to live for. The plot caught my attention from the beginning and I enjoyed the unexpected ending!

This story caught my attention. I'm not usually a fan of the missing child story. The sheriff reveals his inner struggles, which give the story a certain urgency. Especially when a time limit is presented. I have to say I'm not sure if the culprit presented the time limit but it worked to motivate the sheriff. All the different people, good and not so good, kept the sheriff looking for "the clue." Interesting misdirection. This story contains suspenseful events. I think finding the cabin with a distinctive roof has been used by a lot of story tellers, but in the environment of this story it works. I have restrained from giving away too much information because I do not want to spoil anyone's enjoyment of this story. I am glad the writer included an Epilogue. It gave me a chance to breathe.