![]() She reminded me, in little ways, of Jade, the main character in Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and that’s high praise coming from me. She’s damaged, but has hidden reserves of strength and bravery even she doesn’t know she has. Still, it’s Mack that I fell in love with and found myself rooting for. There’s not a single cardboard cutout here. White excels at creating memorable characters. The other competitors are a varied lot, and we get to know them all. ![]() She blames herself for pretty much everything. She blames herself for her sister’s death. Our main character, Mack, is a victim of violent trauma-her father slaughtered her mother and younger sister while she hid. The amusement park is in ruins, overgrown with trees and vines, laid out in a maze meant to confuse and disorient. The winner, the one who can spend a week without getting caught, wins $50,000. ![]() The premise of Hide is deceptively simple: A group of 14 people from all walks of life, all of them young, are invited to participate in a competition, a game of hide and seek set in an abandoned amusement park. My friends and family members, and possibly total strangers, are going to get tired of me talking about this remarkable novel. Now it’s happened again, with Kiersten White and her novel Hide. It happened to me last year with Catriona Ward (to be fair, with her it was two novels, The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial). You know what I love as a reader? When I discover an author new to me, and on the basis of just one novel I’m hooked. ![]()
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