THE HIDING PLACE

Author: Karen Harper ISBN: 9780778325888 11/2008 SUSPENSE Publisher: MIRA

She awakened from a coma—and found herself trapped in a nightmare After spending nine months in a coma, Tara Kinsale awakes to devastating news. Her best friend, Alexis, has been murdered, leaving Tara as guardian to her daughter, Claire. And Tara's husband has divorced her for another woman. Forced to start over, Tara focuses on reopening her P.I. firm and caring for Claire. But soon her world is shattered again when Nick MacMahon, Claire's uncle, returns from military service in Afghanistan to take guardianship of his niece. The bad dream turns unbearable when Tara learns that something precious was taken from her while she was in a coma. Working with Nick, a man haunted by his own past, Tara begins to investigate the missing months of her life. Together they will find that secrets don't stay buried forever... even when they are kept in the darkest of hiding places.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Karen Harper not only has a vivid storytelling gift, she has the unique ability of snagging a reader's undivided attention faster than most any author I've read. However, while I was absolutely fascinated with her previous BELOW THE SURFACE, I could not work up much enthusiasm for THE HIDING PLACE.

Oh, THE HIDING PLACE has the makings of a great mystery—a woman wakes from coma to discover some stunning surprises occurred while she was sleeping—but this novel fast sinks to predictable, overly dramatic and, at times, almost ridiculous.

THE HIDING PLACE becomes predictable because readers can or should guess what the heroine, Tara Kinsale, will uncover before she does. So the 'surprises' Ms. Harper sprinkles throughout this story really are not the bombshells the author intended. At least to me.

Some characters, particularly Veronica Lahon (Tara's ex-mother-in-law), are so melodramatic I almost rolled my eyes. To the over-the-top list add Jordan Lahon (ex-father-in-law) and even poor hero Nick MacMahon (who is given little life except as having a tracking dog and being Tara's romantic interest). In fact, most of the characters are either none-too-likeable or of the cookie cutter variety. Or both. The only character in THE HIDING PLACE with any fleshed-out merit is Tara.

The suspense wobbles in many places because THE HIDING PLACE has more holes than Swiss cheese. Tara, for instance, discovers something miraculous happened while she was in a coma. Obviously, the bad guy (guys) did not count on a doctor telling Tara (who is a private investigator) something vital the first time she went for a check-up. Uh huh... The same baddies obviously did not think Tara would start to investigate once she discovered something huge. Uh huh... Once this big revelation is revealed, Tara begins to question several other incidents and those holes in the plot just keep expanding... and becoming more ridiculous. And unbelievable.

Okay, so I lied earlier. I did not almost roll my eyes on a number of incredible issues in this story. I did, in fact, roll my eyes several times while reading THE HIDING PLACE. Sorry, but my imagination just could not stretch to embrace some of the more totally wild aspects of this story.

Debbie Jett