Tom Archer was not afraid of going against powerful people in order to make sure that the truth was being told, however, this position in life was costing him everything. His son was dying, he rarely saw his wife and he was being followed by very bad men. Lu, a long-standing reporter also pursues the truth with all her might, but she is faced with a harsh reality when divorced, with no financial help from her ex-husband, and a son in the university, she is dumped from her 30-year job. Both of their lives intersect with those of the mayor, John O'Toole, who wants to become a governor, his right-hand man, Conroy, who just left prison, and Knak a man who wants to fight and go against the system. All characters are deeply in angst for their loss, whichever it is, and this angst is easily seen in the way Flanagan writes and describes situations and feelings. A great plot, with very interesting characters who are relatable to many in their pursuit of the meaning of life.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

As a first-time fiction author, Ted Flanagan’s Every Hidden Thing is based on his own experience as a paramedic and Massachusetts newspaper reporter. An ambulance is called to a flat, only for the paramedics to discover a botched home birth and the mother still bleeding. Also present is a former crooked policeman who is out of jail and working for the mayor’s team and planned Governor’s campaign. So begins the saga, with all the hallmarks of a good suspense thriller, crooked cop, city politician, revenge and a killer out to seek justice. With three great protagonists, changing loyalties and action aplenty leading to a confrontational finale this novel makes for a good read. The final chapter was somewhat glib, so only a three-and-a-half-star rating. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author, for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and are made without fear or favour.

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in Worcester, Mass., many of which come rocketing to the surface after the birth of a baby attended by Eamon Conroy, a fixer for John O'Toole, the ambitious mayor. Unfortunately, the first EMT on the scene is Thomas Archer who was partially responsible for Conroy's arrest and imprisonment, And the mom has a connection to .....Then there's a reporter who is fishing around because O'Toole plans to run for governor, There's a possible assassin out there. Archer's son has a brain tumor; he spends time with a woman whose daughter is in a persistent vegetative state. There's a lot going on- it's hard to explain- but Flanagan pulls it all together. It's a hard portrait of corruption,. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Worster, Mass EMT Thomas Archer and his partner have a problem. It isn't the woman who has just delivered a baby who is respiratory distress, it isn't even he woman's boyfriend. The real problem is Eamon Conroy, a corrupt and sadistic cop Archer helped send to prison years ago.

Conroy is the fixer for John O'Toole, mayor of Worster from a prominent political family, who has his sites set on the Governor's mansion. His issue is greasing the right palms, and getting Conroy to take care of other problems in a more violent way. That includes Archer now, given he and his partner's witness of the baby scene.

Archer's young son has a brain tumor, and one of the places they stop on their rounds is at a church where a young woman lies in a persistent vegetative state, while her mother stands by her, convinced that the power of god flows through her daughter. Many people come to pray in front of the woman in her be, seeing her through a window on the opposite wall, where a bench sits, ready for them to kneel. Archer and the mom have a number of conversations through the book, and at the end there's a gigantic gathering where people can come to ask for miracles/to be blessed/and whatever other stuff religion does for people who believe. I'm not a fan off fraudsters and hucksters, so these parts had me rolling my eyes.

Luckily, the majority of the book is taken up by Archer trying to avoid crossing paths with Conroy.

We then switch gears to the POV of a reporter, who is going to be laid off not terribly far down the road. Her editor tells her it's the best he could get for her, and she decides to go out with a bang, by investigating the new gubernatorial candidate, his shady deals, and his employ on Conroy. She faces some real danger, as an old white woman going to a rather rough part of town to talk to the woman who gave birth. She makes it out of there, but not before her car is set on fire by the crowd.

There's a separate subplot about a man who is obviously a QAnon kind of nutjob, ascribing all sorts of ills in the world on Democrats, liberals, activists, and of course the LGBTQI+ category. He's further indoctrinated by his father in law, and his father in law and what seems to be a council of sorts for the local militia have a job for him: go to Worster and assassinate someone. I found this the least compelling o the various storylines, not because it's unrealistic, but because crazy seems to be his only character trait.

As we return to the main story, things stat getting out of hand and O'Toole is becoming impatient with Conroy. Conroy gets harder into his work, offering Archer's partner enough money to put toward a new house for his family. Archer continues to be pressed by his life seemingly spinning out of control.

The end is....the end is good, and matches nicely with the events of the book. There is a loose string here and there, but nothing to make the ending less believable, and I kind of welcome that from time to time, since most writers seem to think everything has to be 100% in typing up everything that has happened in a book. In books like this, there's too much ambiguity to do that, so like a lot of life, people wring what they can from it.

A very solid four out of five stars.

Thanks to Crooked Land Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.

This title has a nice blend of characters, all part of a larger web Eamon Conroy, a brutal former cop, has woven all to help Worcester mayor John O'Toole's aspirations.

Unfortunately for both Conroy and O'Toole, paramedic Thomas Archer isn't going to go quietly into the night.

Plenty of twists and turns for a decent read.

The way he portrayed politicians grabbing for power and the way the media can be convinced to help them resonated true to me. The inclusion of subplots also added to the authentic feel.

I received an advance review copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley used for this review. All opinions are my own.

Every Hidden Thing by Ted Flanagan—A dark, gritty thriller filled with suspense, double-crosses, and buried secrets.



When Worcester (Massachusetts) EMT Thomas Archer and his partner respond to a childbirth emergency call, they find the child already delivered and in severe respiratory distress. Archer is then shocked to learn the person who delivered the baby, still at the scene and is none other than Eamon Conroy, a sociopathic former crooked cop Archer once helped send to prison. Things go downhill fast from there for Archer, who already has more than enough problems in his life, including a young son suffering from life-threatening brain cancer. He’s also a recovering alcoholic in a marriage that has grown shaky due to his son’s serious medical problems. But when Archer learns the child’s mother is a low-level city employee and the father a crooked and powerful local city politician who hired Conroy to keep the affair and baby out of the press, he is determined to do the right thing. He reports Conroy’s unethical conduct. In response, Conroy goes about doing everything in his power to destroy Archer’s credibility and silence him by blaming him for the botched delivery that left the child brain-damaged.

A lot is going on in this book. Every major character, of which there are many, has backstories and character flaws that bear on the primary plot. Besides the former bent cop, plenty of buried secrets get unearthed, and lots of dirty big city politics are involved. It’s a deep dive into the gritty underbelly of the urban jungle. There are multiple points of view and several subplots that the author weaves into this dark, gritty tale.

With multiple forces of evil arrayed against him, it doesn’t seem as if Archer stands a chance of surviving the salvos of personal attacks even if he manages to escape with his life.

I really liked this book because Flanagan touches so realistically on the very sort of political sleaze and media dishonesty that is so much in evidence today at almost every level in the country. Some of it reads almost as if it were ripped from recent headlines and serves as a sad reminder of how modern society and culture today seems to be coming apart at the seams because of shady, power-grabbing politicians and a corrupt media that readily distort the truth to make a fast buck and to promote its own social agenda.

Despite the multiple story lines and numerous major characters, Flanagan’s plotting chops keep the reader on track and free of confusion. I found it an intriguing read with plenty of suspense and surprising twists that kept me turning the pages until the very end. I recommend Every Hidden Thing to those who enjoy suspenseful thrillers, especially when such novels offer something more than the usual thriller story lines and plots.

I received an advance review copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley used for this review, representing my own unbiased opinion.

What a good quick book! But this book was actually pretty good! Characters were great and easy to follow along with! The writing flowed beautifully. I enjoyed the suspense that was added in this novel. It really up'd this book