THE HIDING GIRL by Dorian Box

 

"One of the year's best thrillers." — BestThrillers.com

"Dark and gritty … without peer in contemporary mysteries/thrillers." — Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize

"[A] great, suspenseful read." — Readers' Favorite Award in Suspense Fiction

This was a hard book to read. Not because it had violence in it, it did. Not because it had rape and child molestation in it, it did. But because of the language. The violence, both the rape and child molestations were not at all explicit which was good. It just let you know it happened. Not any details. But the use of the f-word was uncalled for. Also making Lucas sound so ignorant was uncalled for. I believe the author had good intentions with his part but I'm sorry she fell short. This guy was smart. Not just street smart

but smart with a computer. He had a huge heart. He had a very smart girlfriend who would not have been with someone as backwards talking as this guy was written to sound like. While this book was very good that took away from it in a big way for me. 

A child, Emily, saw her mom and sister murdered. It was a horrific thing for a twelve year old child to endure. She was not by any means a smart kid. I don't mean she was ignorant or stupid, but she was not world smart. She could sense bad in people though and she had a heart. She knew the men were bad. She knew they were up to no good. When she went on the run she really had to learn as she went. There was so much going on that was basically new to her. But she was very resilient and learned how to get things done. When she met Lucas things seemed to start looking up for her. 

Lucas was an ex gangbanger who went straight and started doing great for himself. While some of the things he did were questionable, he did what he had to to make it. When he met Emily she was a dirty kid who needed lots of help. The bond between the two grew. He would do almost anything for this child. I hated the language he used. Especially the use of the f-word. I think that was overdone so bad. 

Kiona, Lucas's girlfriend, was a strong woman. She worked as a trainer. Lucas got her to train Emily so she could learn to defend herself. But Kiona didn't like Emily. She acted like she was jealous of this twelve year old child. I didn't like that part and would have liked it much better if it would have been a case of them getting close. Kiona had a heart after all. She would or could have helped Emily in ways that Lucas couldn't. Emotionally she could have been there for her. She did finally come around a bit but good grief it took her long enough. 

I did like this book even with the things that drove me crazy about it. It was one that tugged at my heart for Emily. For her mother and little sister. It was not an overly emotional story even with all that happened. At least not for me. It was what it was. Emily needed help. She wanted to survive and wanted justice. Did she get that? I like to think she did. There is going to be a sequel to this about her after it all ended. I think I would like to read it. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #DorianBox, #FictionPress

3.5/5 stars. I recommend this one but be warned it's full of bad language.