The physical and kindle versions of The Hidden are already out and the publisher was wonderful in granting me an alc (advanced listening copy) to listen to and review.

This one has a freaky premise that I did overall enjoy. It wasn’t the worst but also not the best I’ve read, but K. Mod can always do it with her shorter novels that just keep you reading, or listening in my case. There are some LGBTQ+ themes in the novel, but I did not have any issues with that. There was also an intensity and urgency in this one along with some fears and truths being faced that Sophie never expected to face. Sophie and her companion in terror go through some things that most people would never want to deal with. The ending did seem a bit rushed, but I did like the final chapter than put everything together afterwards.

The narrator did do a good job except for one of the characters: When she was narrating the ‘bad guy’ it was like she was trying to muffle her voice and sound like a man, but it did not work for me. She was extremely hard for me to understand him when she narrated his voice.

Overall, The Hidden was not the best I’ve listen to from K.Mod, but I am still a fan of hers!

Many thanks to the publisher Dreamscape Media for the alc!

I really love this author! This book was good, my only criticism is the end seemed to wrap up too fast. But interesting premise.

This one was almost a home run for me...until the end. I was hoping the end was another twist with a certain someone being in on it. Oh well.
Other than that, this book had everything you could want in a thriller. It was super fast-paced and full of action from the moment it began. It was a quick, easy read - and I definitely enjoyed it. The narrator was also fantastic!

I give this around 3.5⭐ I listed to an audiobook version of this story and over all I did enjoy it and wanted to keep listening to see what would happen. I felt like he narrator did a great job of adding suspense and emotion to the story. I liked the plot and even the characters. It was suspenseful and I wanted to know what was going to happen as well as what did happen to get her to the place she was in. The ending was good, I am not sure it was what I was expecting but it was still good but I do think I struggled with it a little bit. Without giving anything away I just think that it kind of quickly came to an end and some parts of it seemed kind of unrealistic. I did however like what what the author did with the last chapter, this was a section to take place after the main story. I think I might have liked some more twist and turns towards the ending better.

Imagine waking up in a strange place with no memory of how you got there. THE HIDDEN follows Sophie from the moment she wakes up as she tries to put the pieces together. THE HIDDEN was filled with M. NIGHT. SHYAMALAN vibes. The narrators for the audiobook did a phenomenal job. You could actually feel their fear. High recommend the audio if you can.

4⭐️ 3🎧

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! It was fast paced and never really let up, except when it was most effective to further add to the suspense.

This didn’t feel like a typical KMod book. There was no crazy twist at the end but that didn’t make this book any less enjoyable.

This audiobook sure has tons of suspense and thrills and creepiness! It would be so horrible to wake up in a place you don't recognize and masked and armored men deliver food once a day and you can't remember what happened the night before. That certainly drew me and hooked me into listening to the rest of the story. Ranging from past (the before) and the present with a countdown timer counting down to who knows what. Answers do not come quickly or easily and it just keeps ramping up the tension with failed escapes and never a moment of rest.

So while I got frustrated at some of what Sophie and Elliot tried and the mounting pile of unanswered questions even as certain facts were revealed, I had a very hard time pausing this book because I just had to find out! I kinda guessed the situation after a bit but it still made for a tense story and you cannot trust anybody!

The narrator did a great job of making this thriller come alive and voicing all the different characters.

Thank you Dreamscape for the ARC!

While I did not enjoy this, it was a quick semi-entertaining popcorn thriller.

Most of Kiersten’s books are absolutely ridiculous and if you read them mindlessly they are fine. I found this one to be particularly ridiculous, especially the ending and finding out that she was drugged with lube???? I’m sorry, what? I feel like 2 stars is generous for this. Also weird that this is labeled as an LGBT thriller.

4⭐
Genre ~ psychological thriller
Setting ~ not sure
Publication date ~ book ~ October 1, 2024, audio ~ November 5, 2024
Publisher ~ Dreamscape Media
Est Page Count ~ 200 (31 chapters)
Audio length ~ 5 hours 7 minutes
Narrator ~ Gail Shalan
POV ~ single 1st, present tense
Featuring ~ abduction, locked room

Sophie wakes up after a night of drinking not knowing where she is or who she was with. Oof, not a great start to the day and it’s not going to get any better once she realizes she’s locked in with no way out.

I am hit or miss with this author, but this one was a hit for me. It was super suspenseful, but not in a slow moving way. I was really invested in what was going on and very curious how it would all play out. Was the reasoning for the abduction a little lackluster for me? Yes, but I still enjoyed it overall.

Narration notes:
She did a really great job. She made me feel like I was right there with how emotional she sounded.

Sophie wakes up confused, disoriented, and in a strange place. She's so mad at herself. She has to stop drinking. She can't keep doing this! As she prepares for her walk of shame, she realizes she can't walk out of this place at all. There's no sign of anyone and the place doesn't look lived in. Where is she??

Sophie is in her own personal Hell. She can't remember what happened the days leading up to this or how she arrived at this point. She doesn't even know if that matters anymore because she's trapped, BUT WAIT, there's more: her ex has suddenly appeared. Just what we all want when we're hungover, crusty, and scared, right? Well, at least she isn't alone.

Why is he there and who is responsible for this? I was suspicious of everyone at some point and I made a few little guesses coincidentally about general things but I truly had no idea what was going to happen next. It had me on the edge of my seat. The audio narrator was amazing. She really brought the story to life.

Never change, K.Mod! I can't get enough of these quick reads. I devour them as quickly as they come.

* This book grabbed my interest from the first chapter Sophie wakes up in an unknown place and is trying to figure out how she got there and why she is there. The story is intense and I love the back story to give us insights into Sophie.

The narration by Gail Shakan was phenomenal. There was a voice she did for the captors that felt so scary.

I wasn't a fan of the ending but still enjoyed the story.

Thank you @dreamscape_media for a copy of this audiobook.

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬—𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 “𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞…?!” 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒦𝒾𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝑀𝑜𝒹𝑔𝓁𝒾𝓃, 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓅𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒶, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

This book was a disappointment. While it was suspenseful and got my interest, the overall plot and how the story ended was not worth the hours it took to read. I am a psychological thriller enthusiast, so I have a refined taste. This was good for a reader just beginner in this genre, but I have higher expectations for a quality book. Unfortunately, I can’t give details without giving spoilers. This is my least favorite Modglin book, and I have read 14. I will continue to read, because she sometimes writes some great books!

I was excited for another Kiersten Modglin book, as I've enjoyed almost everything I've read by her.

Unfortunately this one was a big miss for me. It felt a lot like Saw, but not in a good way. It had the same "why is everyone here?" discomfort mixed with flashbacks for potential answers. But it also felt off, somehow, and I can't put my finger on it. The character development was weirdly basic, and things were unfolding in such a frantic and rushed way. As the reader, I kept thinking, slow down and let me understand, but it never did.

Please don't come at me for saying this, but it felt an awful lot like an AI wrote it, having all the prompts for pieces and twists to make a good story, but not quite sticking the landing.

Well, Kiersten Modglin has done it again. She has managed to completely wow me in such a short thriller once again. This was so so so good. It was so suspenseful from the very beginning and I never stopped sitting on the edge of my seat. Waiting to see what would come. I absolutely loved how the POV bounced back and forth between the past and present because it helped develop the characters and their relationships a lot. The ending was really just perfect and wrapping it up so nicely. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

From the book’s inception through to the end, I was hooked (as evidenced by finishing this book in less than 24 hours). The story begins with Sophie waking up sick in an unknown place, without being able to remember anything. Soon she realizes she is trapped here…a prisoner of sorts. Shortly she is joined by someone from her past with whom to endure this hell with.

There are many twists and turns in this story that keep you thrilled throughout! It was a fast-paced audiobook with excellent narration. The emotion and character changes by the narrator were spot on! I was truly on the edge of my seat while listening to this audiobook. Without giving too much away, all I can say is that this is an exquisite thriller with a modern day theme that truly relates to society nowadays. There is truly no way to guess the ending on this one!

Kudos to Kiersten Modglin on this suspenseful and exciting book. Shoutout to Gail Shakan for the flawless storytelling.

Thank you to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for this free ARC audiobook in exchange for my candid review.

I received this audiobook via NetGalley. At less than 6 hours, this was a quick listen that I started and finished within a day. This book has be engaged from the get go, and kept me interested the entire time due to its fast paced nature. One specific thing did throw me off. However, this IS a dark book, so I guess it kind of fit with what else was going on as more was revealed about the scenario. The narrator did a good job with several characters’ voices and was easy to understand. Definitely interested to read more by this author! Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review.

REVIEW

Sophie wakes up trapped in a strange apartment, with no memory of how she got there

I absolutely loved the fast, panicked pace of the book and couldn’t get through it fast enough (only took me a few hours). This is what I love about Kiersten Modglin’s thrillers. They’re short, fast paced, and full of action and drama

Because Sophie wakes up with amnesia, the ‘past’ chapters helped fill in the gaps for the reader

I appreciated the LGBTQ representation and loved how kickass the women were. On the flip side, I’m not sure how I feel about the representation of men!

I loved the audiobook narrator, her male voices are so good. The Captors voices are muffled which may be something to consider for the hearing impaired

This thrilling story was easily heading toward a 5⭐️ but sadly, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. I’ve read a few books with similar endings and it’s just too ‘easy’…. I was also a bit skeptical about the resolution. I definitely had to suspend my disbelief and ideally, I’d rather not

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for access to this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review

3.5 stars!

I will be the first to say I absolutely love Kiersten Modglin. I will always always always pick up her books without question.

This book was full of suspense. Lots of twists and turns. Lots of guessing involved. definitely a keep you on the edge of your seat kind of book. But the ending fell a little flat for me. I would still suggest reading this book, especially if you've liked her other books in the past.

I did really enjoy this audiobook, I though Gail Shalan did an excellent job with the narration and really giving the characters a little life, more than other narrators. The only complaint I have was the narration of the masked man. It was a little hard to understand occasionally. Overall, highly recommend this audiobook!

Thanks to Dreamscape audio, NetGalley and Kiersten for this advanced listeners copy!

This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I listened to the audiobook in one sitting because I needed to know what was going on.

We follow Sophie after she wakes up in an unfamiliar room after a date. However, her date is nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, the doors to the house are locked from the outside and there is an ominous countdown clock in the living room. With no memory of what lead to her being trapped and a clock counting down to an unknown deadline, Sophie starts planning her escape. However, she is soon joined by someone from her past leading her to wonder why they are both there.

The Hidden was extremely fast paced. I had absolutely no idea what was happening until the final reveal. This book was a quick and entertaining read. Also, the audiobook narrator did a great job! Definitely recommend if you want a suspenseful, exciting read.