Hide by Nell Pattison

 

💥💥💥 Published 09-December-2021 💥💥💥

Description from Goodreads:

"Seven friends. One killer.

You can run, but you can’t hide…

The winter hike is meant to bring their nature group together.

Emily, the sister who never lets her hearing loss hold her back.

Lauren, the sister who always feels a step behind.

Morna, who doesn’t get on with Lauren.

Ben, whose feelings for Emily border on obsession.

Dan, the quiet newcomer to the group.

Kai, who isn’t just on the hike to enjoy the wildlife.

And Alec, the one who knows all their secrets.

As the sun sets, a gunshot rings out on the nature reserve.

One of the seven is dead.  And one of their number killed them…"

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This is what I would call a slow burn - it never really ignites fully and sometimes fizzles to the point it almost goes out but, generally, it just stays at a solid gas mark 3 for the most part.

Seven members of a nature group come together for a Boxing Day gathering to watch a murmuration within a nature reserve.  Seems like a fairly innocuous and harmless way to spend a day and evening usually spent eating leftovers and vegging in front of the television and it is, until a shot rings out and one of their party is dead.

Each of the remaining six have secrets they don't want made common knowledge and therefore each have a motive for murder.  None of the characters have many redeeming features if I'm honest and it wouldn't have made any difference to me who was the victim as I didn't particularly like any of them. 

What follows is infighting which results in the group splitting up (never a good idea - have they never watched a horror film!) and suspicions falling on one person, then another, then another ... well, you get the idea.  More shots are heard, people are separated further, injuries happen, more separation and more infighting and, all the while, the secrets they want to stay hidden gradually come to light.

What I enjoyed about this book was the sense of claustrophobia and isolation that was well captured and, as seems to be the norm with Nell's books, the inclusion of a character who is deaf added something a bit different.

What I didn't like about it was there was too much time spent describing stuff that didn't really seem to add to the story and this resulted in it dragging - hence the slow burn.

I have read a few of Nell's other books and this does seem to be a pattern with her stories but there have been plenty of people who have absolutely raved about this book so please, please don't judge it from my review alone.

Remember, if we all liked the same things, it would be a very, very boring world indeed!

Thanks go to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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Other books by Nell Pattison I have read and reviewed:

The Silent House (Paige Northwood #1)

Silent Night (Paige Northwood #2)

The Silent Suspect (Paige Northwood #3)

The Silent Suspect (Paige Northwood #3) by Nell Pattison

 

Description from Goodreads:

"A FIRE. A MURDER. A SILENT SUSPECT…

On a quiet street, one house is burning to the ground…

By the time sign language interpreter Paige Northwood arrives, flames have engulfed her client’s home. Though Lukas is safe, his wife is still inside. But she was dead before the fire started…

Lukas signs to Paige that he knows who killed his wife. But then he goes silent – even when the police charge him with murder.

Is he guilty, or afraid? Only Paige can help him now…"

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I have read the two previous books in this series and whilst they were good, I wasn't able to be overly enthusiastic.  Unfortunately, this is the same.

The story starts well but quickly becomes tedious and I found myself skimming large sections which is never a good sign.  The characters are not particularly likeable and I found Paige became increasingly annoying and don't even get me started on the so-called Social Worker who I found to be unprofessional and not like any Social Worker I have ever met.

I couldn't connect with the characters or the story at all, I didn't feel any tension or thrills and the final reveal was disappointing and, for me, predictable.  The only saving grace is the insight into the deaf community and the difficulties and barriers they face every day.

This book wasn't for me and I'm really sorry to say that I won't be reading more in this series but plenty of others have enjoyed it so give it a go if it sounds like your type of book.

I would like to thank Avon Books and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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Other books by this author I have read and reviewed:

The Silent House (Paige Northwood #1)

Silent Night (Paige Northwood #2)

Silent Night by Nell Pattison

 

Description from Goodreads:

"What happened while they were sleeping?

A school for the deaf takes an overnight trip to the snowy woods. Five teenagers go to sleep, but only four wake up. Leon is missing, and a teacher’s body is found in the forest…

Sign language interpreter Paige Northwood is brought in to help with interrogations. Everyone at the school has a motive for murder – but they all have an alibi.  

As Paige becomes increasingly involved, she suspects there’s something sinister going on. With the clock ticking to find Leon, only one thing is certain: the killer is among them, and ready to strike again…"

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This is the second book featuring the British Sign Language interpreter, Paige Northwood, and the second I have read and although you don't particularly have to have read the first (The Silent House), it does help.

Here we have a complex story of the murder of a teacher and the disappearance of one of his pupils; the police employ Paige as the interpreter but she soon becomes embroiled in the investigation whilst she is also having to deal with a lot of angst in her own life and herein lies the problem for me.  The story already covers a lot of themes; the deaf community, bullying, coercion, domestic abuse, relationships and that's before we get to the murder and the missing child!  On top of all this, there is a lot of time taken up about Paige and, I felt, it was just too much and I found it became more and more tedious, repetitive and annoying so by the end, it had an impact on my enjoyment of the book.  I am sure however that there are many out there who will find this focus on the main character and her story appealing as opposed to the crime itself but it just spoiled it a bit for me I'm afraid.

Putting that aside, the twists and red herrings were excellent and I was constantly trying to guess who-done-it.  The characters were well developed and interesting.  The pace was a little slow to begin with but picked up in the second half/final third. The look into the frustrations experienced by the police when witnesses/suspects don't cooperate and withhold vital information was infuriating and probably pretty accurate!

Overall, a pretty solid book but just a bit too much focus on the main character for me.

Thank you to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

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The Silent House by Nell Pattison

Description from Goodreads:


"If someone was in your house, you’d know … Wouldn’t you?

But the Hunter family are deaf, and don’t hear a thing when a shocking crime takes place in the middle of the night. Instead, they wake up to their worst nightmare: the murder of their daughter.

The police call Paige Northwood to the scene to interpret for the witnesses. They’re in shock, but Paige senses the Hunters are hiding something.

One by one, people from Paige’s community start to fall under suspicion. But who would kill a little girl?

Was it an intruder?

Or was the murderer closer to home?"

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This is a pretty good debut thriller from this author and one which is fairly unique given that it focuses on the deaf community.  I say pretty good and not excellent because I found it a little tedious in parts.

The story starts well with the gruesome discovery of the body of little Lexi ... she has been brutally murdered in her own bed but in a house inhabited by a family of deaf people, no one heard a thing.  Paige is called as an interpreter for the Police but on finding out she has a connection to the family, rather than distance herself, she becomes embroiled in the investigation leading to her receiving threats herself. Sounds good right?  Well yes, overall it is but it just takes a while to get there.

The characters are ok but a little one-dimensional.  The pace was good in part but there were quite large sections of dialogue where nothing much happened when I found myself skim-reading, which is never a good sign.  The real winner here is the glimpse into the life of the deaf community which, not being deaf myself, was a real eye opener and clearly the author knows what she's talking about.

Not the best book I've ever read but certainly not the worst either and I would recommend it to others if only to get a little insight into the challenges faced by the deaf on a daily basis.

My thanks go to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

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