Hide and Seek
by Mary Burton
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Release Date: April 23, 2019
Reviewed by PJ
She’s hunting. He’s watching.
Special Agent Macy Crow is a survivor. After a vicious hit-and-run nearly kills her, she gets right back to work, and now she’s gunning for a spot on the FBI’s elite profiling team. As an audition, she offers to investigate the recently discovered bones of Tobi Turner, a high school girl who disappeared fifteen years ago.
While investigating with local sheriff Mike Nevada, a former colleague and onetime lover, Macy discovers a link between Tobi’s case and several others that occurred around the same time as her disappearance. As Macy interviews victims and examines old cases, she uncovers a sinister picture of a stalker who graduated to sexual assault—and then murder.
Macy and Nevada race to put this monster behind bars before he can come out of hiding. But the murderer’s had years to hone his skills, and soon Macy herself becomes a target. She’s no stranger to pain and terror, but will Macy’s first profiling case be her last?
My thoughts:
How good are Mary Burton's books? Let me put it this way. When I finished reading Hide and Seek (in one sitting) at 10:00 PM, I was so deeply invested in Macy that I had to know what had happened to her before Hide and Seek began. I immediately bought, downloaded, and began reading Cut and Run, the 2019 RITA® finalist in which Macy's story begins. I was unable to put it down. I finished it at 3:00 AM. That's how good Burton is.
One of Mary Burton's many talents is creating intriguing, relatable characters. I was drawn to Macy from the first pages of this book and the more I learned about her the more invested I became in her success and happiness. But Macy wasn't the only character for whom I was cheering. There's Nevada, the man with whom she shares a past and, possibly, a future. He's one of the good guys and I adored him. They have sizzling chemistry in the bedroom but are equally well matched in the office, working together as a team, with trust and respect. I love when a couple has each other's backs.
It isn't only the main characters where Burton focuses her character-building strength. There are several secondary characters who are fully developed, engaging my emotions in both positive and negative directions. As good as the author is at creating protagonists who win me over, she's equally adept at creating villains who are pure evil. But, even more fun for this reader, she weaves characters in and out of her stories in such a way that rarely do I figure out who the real villain is until she chooses to reveal them. I'm pretty good at solving mysteries so when an author can keep me guessing until she chooses to tell me who it is, you can bet I'll return again and again each time she releases a new book.
Hide and Seek is a terrific book on its own, however, I do believe you'll have a greater appreciation for Macy's character with the understanding that comes from reading her twin sister Faith's book, Cut and Run, first. Both novels earned an enthusiastic 5 stars from me.
One of Mary Burton's many talents is creating intriguing, relatable characters. I was drawn to Macy from the first pages of this book and the more I learned about her the more invested I became in her success and happiness. But Macy wasn't the only character for whom I was cheering. There's Nevada, the man with whom she shares a past and, possibly, a future. He's one of the good guys and I adored him. They have sizzling chemistry in the bedroom but are equally well matched in the office, working together as a team, with trust and respect. I love when a couple has each other's backs.
It isn't only the main characters where Burton focuses her character-building strength. There are several secondary characters who are fully developed, engaging my emotions in both positive and negative directions. As good as the author is at creating protagonists who win me over, she's equally adept at creating villains who are pure evil. But, even more fun for this reader, she weaves characters in and out of her stories in such a way that rarely do I figure out who the real villain is until she chooses to reveal them. I'm pretty good at solving mysteries so when an author can keep me guessing until she chooses to tell me who it is, you can bet I'll return again and again each time she releases a new book.
Hide and Seek is a terrific book on its own, however, I do believe you'll have a greater appreciation for Macy's character with the understanding that comes from reading her twin sister Faith's book, Cut and Run, first. Both novels earned an enthusiastic 5 stars from me.
