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Joanna thinks she may be remembering what happened to Lily, and her childhood self may have been involved. This is the story of Maggie Bradford, thrice married, singing super star and mother of two. We join the story as Maggie sits in her prison cell awaiting her trial for the murder of her third husband. For the police the death of Maggies latest husband is just a step too step far. Three husbands and three deaths. Can coincidence be stretched that far? The police think not. When Johanna and her family move into her new home, she's sure they've found her forever home. Until she learns about it's dark past: thirty years ago, it was home to three year old Lily Murph, who disappeared during a game of hide-and-seek, and never seen again. Joanna is determined to find out all she can about the little girls disappearance and the inhabitants of the close-knit neighbourhood are all eager to speculate. But the more she learns, the closer she's drawn towards her own dark family secrets - secrets she's spent years trying to hide. Terribly flat dialogue and unrealistic situations. Characters were cardboard. Heroine was unlikable and stupid. Welcome home parties are supposed to be joyful affairs, particularly when the guest of honor went missing for a year. But nothing’s how it’s supposed to be at Zee’s party. Justin, Lyric, and Nia were always Zee’s closest friends but something horrible must have happened while he was away. He doesn’t talk about it, but he acts like he’s haunted. To pass the time at his party, the kids play a game of hide and seek . . . and that’s when the trouble starts. Any rules established at the beginning get broken, and that causes the evil Seeker to pull those rule breakers into its nightmare realm where fears become reality. It’s up to Justin to think on his feet, help his friends, and find a way to beat the Seeker at its own game. The only trouble is, he has fears of his own. And now they’re seeking him out.
In all honesty, when I got to the end this is more of a supernatural horror book than the adventure I thought I was getting. The only clue is a little bold sentence at the end of the blurb, I should have paid closer attention. I’ve loved her previous books so I was delighted to get an advanced copy of Hide and Seek, prior to its release in August. The atmosphere in the abandoned theme park was creepy as hell, and I thought the slow reveal of the baddie was well done for ultimate tension. The character to set this story off is the creepy as hell Ice Cream Man; Hyde (yes, is this a 'hint' to Hide as in the title?) who delivers Ice cream to the celebratory 'Welcome Home Zee' party that is to be held for Zee after being home awhile now, and is to be 'reintroduced' to his best friends. The 6 kids wait and wait for the appearance of Zee, and while they wait they decide to play a game of hide and seek.....never knowing that this is what and how made Zee disappear in the first place!!!I was really looking forward to this book coming out, but it ended up being a big letdown. I first read the blurb and was hoping for something like Fantasticland. Instead, I got something more like Clown in a Cornfield, that took itself too seriously and got rid of the fun . The Olly Olly Oxen Free Hide and Seek Tournament rules are specific: 14 competitors, seven days. It’s basically children’s game. The award is: 50K! Could I have cared more for the characters? Perhaps. But it wasn’t a chore for me to get to the end, and this end had a good twist. The short chapters may put off others but this actually made me want to read on. Maybe I am biased on this point because short chapters are a trait of mine as writer. Hey, if it’s good enough for the multi-million selling Patterson...
The adult(s) overseeing us would sit on the porch chatting, napping, drinking, telling us to stop hitting one another Taken into a shelter they are given the rules, from dawn until dusk the game is on, hide or be eliminated if found. They are told that two of them will be eliminated each day and after that return to the base until the next day when the hunt begins again. To win simply survive the seven days without being found. The game of hide and seek is over, everyone has gone home, but little Lily Murphy hasn't been found. Her parents search the woods and tell themselves that the worst hasn't happened - but deep down they know this peaceful Dublin suburb will never be the same again. I knew when I saw this cover and read the synopsis that I had to read this book! And I am pleased to say that this book does not disappoint in the slightest! It's full of coming-of-age, friendships, mystery/suspense, nightmares, and more. This book is a cautionary tale for abiding by the rules of any game played. Breaking the rules can have serious consequences. And in this case, the game they are playing is Hide and Seek. I can't even count how many hours and hours I spent playing this game with my friends and family as a child... but now I will never look at it the same again!the emotionally resonant ending is beautifully done. i love that justin uses his puzzle piece to self-soothe throughout the book, but he has to give it up to save his friends. his friends ultimately provide more comfort than this symbol of his mom. and letting go of his mom is painful, but he knows it's what he has to do. I love a dual timeline; the 80’s irish suburb along with the attitudes of the time felt very familiar to me, but equally the modern day setting felt realistic too. I don’t want to say too much; it’s killing me not to comment on some of my favourite parts of the story but it would give it away. This book is chef's kiss and I loved reading it. The atmosphere was fab and I was genuinely worried for the kids. It's the right amount of scary I think for children who read, and just a fun ride for the adults who still love their middle grade. Developments happened that really enriched the world and it went beyond what I was expecting.
Too impatient, unwilling to really flesh Rebus out, Rankin offers another practise run with Hide and Seek, as he tries to figure the character out.Hide and Seeker doesn’t seem as though it’s a stand alone book and from the ending I don’t believe it is and I’m happy about that. I’m greatly looking forward to reading more from the author and if there is to be a series I’m looking forward to being further traumatized by my childhood. It's a fairly clever resolution, though the show-down scene looks at first to be something of a Keystone Cops routine before then turning into the overly-dramatic confrontation scene that Rankin so often insists upon (and so rarely does really convincingly). This was a very creepy and disturbing horror story taking place in a spooky old, broken down and desolate amusement park located far from any nearby towns or help if needed. I found all the characters wonderfully developed whether they were likeable or despicable. The dark storytelling and writing was great as it had myself feeling many emotions throughout the book. This was a horror story blended with the supernatural yet it touched upon many current social issues that all of society is dealing with today as in violence, domestic abuse, murder, racism, physical appearance, bigotry, PTSD, economic class etc which were wonderful assets brought into a horror story. The reader may think as they're reading that there will be a predictable outcome but they couldn't be more wrong. Kirsten White has written an entertaining and terrific book that encompasses all sorts of dark, nightmarish settings and I highly recommend it to all avid horror readers. Joanna is horrified by this and starts to look into it; her in laws knew Lily’s parents and a lot of the neighbours remember the Murphy family also, so Joanna is not short of people to chat to about it, but what really spurs her on to uncover the decades-old mystery is her realisation that the photos of three year old Lily look very familiar to her indeed.
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