This is exactly the type of "whodunit" and police procedural I enjoy reading. With compelling plots, motives are explored, as the suspense builds. Disappointing when the book is finished, I want more!

I'm not a huge fan of horror, but I do love a good thriller. This was a tad too gruesome at the beginning, but I'mm glad I pushed through. The characters (especially Joe) were well developed if not all that like-able. While it does have a ghost story element to it (and I'm not a fan of paranormal stories most of the time), it was a thriller and I could not stop turning pages to find out what was happening!

Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read this! It was a treat!

Joe is a character I did not really like. He lies and is not very above board. But, there is just something about him which is endearing. Maybe it’s because deep down he wants to do what’s right but he just can’t always make it happen.
I swear…this book is bipolar. I didn’t know if it was horror, murder mystery, ghost story or psychological thriller. And there were places that were very intense and I was on the edge of my seat. Then there were places I was a bit lost. So, this moved from 3 star to 5 star back to 3 star pretty quickly. I settled on 4 star.
Need a book which will have you guessing…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today

The Hiding Place is a tense thriller with twists and turns that lead the reader deep into the story, searching for answers. C.J. Tudor never disappoints!

Riveting, engrossing and hard to put down!

The Hiding Place is a psychological thriller about a man who returns home to settle old scores—and uncovers a secret darker than he could have imagined.

The last thing Joe wanted to do was return to his hometown especially with the way things ended with his old gang and what happened when his sister went missing. However, he does return and things don't go as planned.

Great thriller and one I highly recommend.

A little weird, but by no means a bad book. The supernatural element was creepy, though I think the book may have been stronger without it. A good thriller to cozy up with and read in a day. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The protagonist of this book is a liar. To get himself hired at the high school he attended at a teen, he invents references and an explanation for the holes in his work history. There are similar holes in the story he's telling the reader and the first half of the book drags on. It's not clear why Joe has returned to his old hometown until what started out as a thriller becomes a horror novel. That sudden switch in genre is jarring, especially since the horror elements of the plot are so similar to what was already done in a well known novel with two movie adaptations.

4+ stars! Eerie and atmospheric!

Joe returns to the small town he grew up in to take a teaching position. He hasn’t been back in over twenty years as his childhood memories harbour plenty of painful secrets that he has tried hard to forget and move on from. A cryptic email is what inspires Joe to return to his past with the hopes of uncovering long buried lies and deceit.

This novel was pulsing with atmosphere and eeriness! From the Prologue to the very last sentence, I was gripped and nervous for what I would find out next. There was a spine-tingling sense of unease throughout this entire book. I am a big chicken and worried this might be too much for me to handle, but yet I couldn’t put this down and am so happy I continued on. This was a very well written, highly suspenseful, twisty and extremely engrossing story that I will not soon forget.

I have read all of this authors work now and I am amazed at how powerful her writing is. Each and every novel pulls me into the strange and suspenseful storylines and has me completely consumed by the characters and mystery. This novel, along with her following one The Other People, have some unrealistic elements which is usually a huge turn-off for me. However, her writing is so strong that I am able to overlook those elements without hesitation and simply allow myself to get wrapped up in the characters circumstances. That shows how strongly I connect to her writing! I highly recommend and can’t wait for her upcoming release!

Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy! Thank you to my lovely local library for the loan of the physical copy!

This story is about a village in Great Britain and depicts the problems with growing up outside . This author was able to graphically describe events, people and places that impacts lives until their deaths. Trauma is not trauma until it is recognized and understood. This is not recommended for the young or those sensitive to confined spaces. The main character lives in confined spaces

I didn't like this one nearly as much as I had hoped I would but I did like it. I absolutely loved C.J. Tudor's first book, The Chalk Man, so I was really eager to read her newest book. This was not a bad book by any means but for me, it was missing that essential spark that I had hoped to find.

This is really Joe's story. Joe goes back to teach at his hometown high school. This town doesn't hold the best memories for him but he needs a job and there is one available at his old high school so he does what he needs to do. It is obvious right from the start that Joe knows how to work a situation and can fake it when needed. Joe has a few, okay more than a few, gambling debts so he is in desperate need of a job.

As a reader, you know that Joe has some history in this town, including whatever happened to his sister, Annie, but it takes a long time to find out exactly what happened. This book is told both in the present day and the past. I felt like a lot more of the book was set in the present day but I liked the story from the past a lot more. As the story came together and things were revealed, I just never felt all that surprised. I wanted something in this story to really shake things up but it seemed somewhat predictable for me.

I had a hard time connecting to Joe and really all of the characters in this book. I never felt like Joe could be trusted and he really just felt like a mess to me. I really have no problem liking flawed characters and often feel that they feel more realistic but Joe just seemed to be missing that redeeming quality that I needed to see. All of the characters in this book felt rather flat to me.

I think that a lot of readers will like this one a lot more than I did. I was looking forward to a dark story which I got but unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the characters and felt that the story was somewhat predictable. I did like the book and plan to read more from C.J. Tudor just as soon as it is available.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Crown Publishing Group via NetGalley.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I can dig it.

This just made me think, if Pet Semetary and The Exorcist got together this would be the spawn. This was very dark, atmospheric, and mysterious. The whole time I was reading, I just kept thinking... what is going on? But you know... in that good way that makes you want to keep reading.

Joe Thorne returns to Arnhill, a small mining town with not much to offer other than it's secrets, and those don't come without a price. Joe takes a teaching job at the local high school where he has just replaced a teacher who murdered her son, then killed herself. Coincidentally, he's now living in the house where it all took place. As the story unfolds, we start to realize that Joe's return to Arnhill was not just for a new career opportunity. Sometimes the past just doesn't stay buried.

I truly loved the character development with this one. Joe's character was so full of witty banter that I couldn't help chuckle, even at the most unorthodox of times. I feel that without this, the novel may have been too dark. Having a jaded character with nothing much left to lose just seemed to fit. His desperation at times wasn't so much for survival as it was simply in setting things straight, correcting the past, and looking for the truth.

I can't say I'm a fan of how things concluded. The last several chapters were just that attempt to "wrap it up" as I like to say. To just tie up those loose threads in the storyline. It felt too forced and maybe even abrupt. The one big mystery that I don't feel was explained with enough detail was the story behind the pit. I don't know that it's truly clear to the reader how it chooses it's victims, or who's worthy of discovering it. How and why exactly are these chosen few being lured? I guess it's a mystery we'll never know the answer too. Maybe that's the intent?

I want to thank NetGalley, Crown Publishing, and C. J. Tudor for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review.

Title: The Hiding Place
Author: C.J.Tudor
Genre:Thriller
Rating: 4

From the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man comes an unputdownable psychological thriller about a man who returns home to settle old scores—and uncovers a secret darker than he could have imagined.

Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang—the betrayal, the suicide—and what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn’t have a choice, not after a chilling email surfaces in his inbox: I know what happened to your sister. It’s happening again . . .

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with onetime friends who aren’t too happy to have him back in town—while avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since—is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to the abandoned mine where his life changed forever, and finally confronting the horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t the day his sister went missing.

It was the day she came back.

My thoughts
This is the second book I've read from this author and just like the first one which was The Chalk Man,it was just as dark and twisted, and suspenseful, which had me setting on the edge of my bed. It kept me pulled into the story from start to finish. And other thing I loved about it was the supernatural aspect. And just like there was somethings I liked about the book there was also some things that I wanted more of which was : an explanation for the creepy happenings in Arnhill and more backstory on the town . But nonetheless I did enjoy it. With that said I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read and review it .

I had to think what to rate this book for a while after finishing it.

I gave it 3 stars and here’s why - it was a slow mystery. And usually, I like slow mysteries, but at around the half way mark I really started to wonder whether to continue because I just wanted a little more plot action.

And thankfully! It picked up around the 80% mark. I really enjoyed the ending and thought it wrapped up the story quite well - BUT, it still felt rushed! Some of the ending could’ve definitely started a bit earlier in the novel, if that makes sense? The ending was creepy, and not how I thought would end at all!

I love Tudor’s writing - she’s able to depict such a creepy, eerie atmosphere for her characters that it feels like you’re in the story, and honestly that’s what truly drew me in at the beginning. It’s just that middle part that really got to me, there could’ve been more done with it!

Overall, it’s not a bad read. Definitely different than my usual, thriller reads since it had a bit of a paranormal aspect to it (but not much). I’m still iffy on my thoughts though!

This is the second by C.J. Tudor I have read and I have to say, she is one of my favorite up and coming authors. To me she is like a little bit Stephen King and a little bit Jennifer McMahon and I think that is a HUGE compliment. This book was creepy and suspenseful. I highly recommend this book, The Chalk Man and any other book she does in the future!!

3.5 stars for story. 4 stars for narration

Even though I had to finish the book in the paper format (too many audiobooks flooded in from the library), I still highly, highly recommend listening to the audiobook. Richard Armitage's narration is complete perfection for this story. He has the perfect voice that lent itself so well to the fairly unreliable narrator of the story and his voice just had this edgy creepy quality to it that elevated this one for sure.

Full text of review can be found in the link on the Literary Hoarders site. It is linked below.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley. Below is my honest review of the book.

I read The Chalk man and loved it. I was thrilled to have received a copy of another C.J. Tudor book.

The book was a slow starter and took me a bit to get into it. There are some great twists in this book but they come more from the characters than the plot, but that’s a good thing. It seems easier to turn a plot one way or another than to help us understand how people can hide their inner selves.

I do have some questions with the ending as I'm sure most will when they read it. However I do recommend this book and enjoyed the chance to read it.

I love an psychological thriller and this one was a great one. Joe returns to his hometown to seek revenge for old scores but discovers that confronting his own experiences are much more difficult. Returning to the site where his sister went missing makes Joe finally confront the truth about his sister and he discovers that the worst moment of his life is the day she returned.

RATING:2 STARS
2019; Crown Publishing
(Review Not on Blog)

I really enjoyed Tudor's first novel, The Chalk Man so I was excited when I started reading The Hiding Place. Like many other review have stated, Tudor channels a few Stephen King novels. Instead of being a homage, it feels more like recycled plots sewn together. I also found it hard to like Joe, or feel invested in seeing what happened. I did finish this novel so I did give it two stars. Reviews are definitely mixed on this novel. I am still on for Tudor's third novel.

***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***

An absolutely geat follow up to another favorite, The Chalk Man! CJ Tudor is definitely becoming a favorite author for thrillers that will keep me up at night.