Hidden Bodies

I haven't read the first book to which this is a follow-up but I don't think you need to - it stands well on its own.

Joe Goldberg has a distinctive voice and it took me a little while to get used to it. Joe is a serial killer but not in a demented way. Joe is actually quite a sensitive fellow. It's just that he doesn't know any other way of dealing with people who piss him off other than by killing them! He keeps falling in love with the wrong women like Amy who seems so perfect but robs him and disappears. So Joe leaves New York to go to California to pursue and kill her.

But along the way, Joe meets Love, the person, and falls in love with her. She has a twin brother Forty whose life is typically chaotic due to his drug addiction. Joe has insight and empathy as well as a dark sense of humour. His views on Hollywood are astute. Gradually the reader comes to like Joe despite his killing tendencies. It's testament to Kepnes' writing that the reader wants Joe to escape punishment for his crimes. Although we might not agree with Joe's justifications for his crimes, his character is multi-dimensional enough for us to not only feel sympathy for him but to actually like the guy because not all of Joe's thinking is twisted. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the first book about Joe Golberg, called 'You'. Thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to this talented author.

3.5 stars I debated with myself long and hard about whether I wanted to read Caroline Kepnes new novel 'Hidden Bodies'. I read 'You' and had mixed feelings about it, compelled to read the story but hated the narration. But it made an impact enough for me to recommend it to my book club (reading next month)
Suffice to say my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to read this new instalment in Joe's life.
I'm glad to say that I'm happy I did. For a start, from the 1st word I could tell I liked the narration much better.
We meet Joe again, hooked up with Amy, who works for him in the book store, but to his disgust he finds that she has been using him and run off with his limited editions books. Vowing to find her and kill her he follows her trail to LA, where he finds LOVE (as in someone named Love).
I can't really say too much about this book, excessive drugs, narcissistic people and of course the ones that get on the wrong side of Joe. I quite enjoyed Joe's time in LA and I thought there was a lot of dark humour, although the story did get a little slow at times.
I think the first book 'You' should be read before 'Hidden Bodies' to fully appreciate this one.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review.

Caroline Kepnes is literary gold. Joe is a character who is dark and funny, and even though it feels completely wrong to want him to succeed, you just can't help it #ilovejoe

"You", until the end, had me undecided if I wanted to invest more time into the sequel- then Joe met Amy and the book took a turn and I decided to go along.

I am glad I did. I enjoyed "Hidden Bodies" far more than I did "You". The writing style is unusual, and I came to truly want well for Joe and Love even though he is a sociopath. I bought into his paranoia, and his feelings of self doubt around his worth.

I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this book, found myself thinking of it while driving and at work, hankering to get back into it, to see what would happen, how it would end.

‘You can’t go back and alter the past, but you can go forward, become a person who remembers.’

For those who have read ‘You’, ‘Hidden Bodies’ is the sequel, read on. For those who haven’t read ‘You’, stop. Read ‘You’ first.

Still here? You remember Joe Goldberg, who manages Mooney’s Rare and Used Bookstore in New York, the serial killer whose last relationship – with Guinevere Beck – ended so badly? Well, Joe has a new girlfriend: Amy Kendell Adam. Joe has learned a lot from his relationship with Beck, he knows exactly how to make his relationship with Amy succeed. They are even collecting copies of one of their favourite books – ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’ – together. What could possibly go wrong?

‘In this bar, lying to these strangers, there has never been more honesty between us.’

Joe is devastated when Amy disappears, and he vows to find her. His search takes him to Hollywood. And while he’s there to track down Amy, Joe has to fill in his time somehow. Joe’s life in Hollywood becomes complicated. He’s still searching for Amy, but he’s found Love (and her brother Forty) and his life becomes even more interesting.

Will Joe find Amy? Has he escaped the consequences of his murderous past, or will some evidence he left behind be his downfall?

This novel moves at a cracking pace, and while every moral fibre of my being wants to see Joe brought to justice, I’m worried that I find him generally likeable. Immature and impulsive, but likeable. How does that work? Ms Kepnes has created a character who fits perfectly within the pop culture he inhabits. How much easier is it to be a serial killer in an internet-enabled world?

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Hold on, because this is a great ride. If you like Dexter, you’ll love murderous Joe Goldberg who in his quest to find perfect love, will use anyone on his journey with no remorse or side effects. Scarily, you almost hope he’ll succeed. C’mon, who hasn’t wanted to get rid of a few ex-lovers along the way?

It’s a fast read and moves along, as you hold your breath waiting for him to come unstuck. And, I suspect this will sound weird, but I was surprised that it was a female author… her male voice and journey inside Joe’s head just seemed so very, well male.
This novel was a ‘follow-up’ to her debut novel “You” but I read it as a stand-alone and it read very well on its own.

A quirky, fun and addictive read. You go, Joe!

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes is the second in the series to feature stalker and charming murderer Joe, who we met in You. He's a serial killer and anti-hero but you can't help but root for him, especially when he's in love.

In Hidden Bodies, Joe moves to LA to chase the girl who broke his heart, took advantage of him and 'did a runner' to exact his revenge. Joe quickly starts hating on the people, the culture and sub-culture of LA and the Hollywood scene in a very amusing way that makes the pages turn quickly.

Joe's need for revenge and his loathing of try-hard actors and their false little worlds soon begins to fade though as he hones in on a new project.

You was one of my top 5 books for 2015, and the only reason I didn't give the sequel Hidden Bodies a full 5 stars was because of the ending. It was just too much of a cliff hanger for me, and I desperately want to know, will he or won't he? That said, Joe is an unforgettable narrator and I'm hoping to find out what happens to him next in a third instalment.

It's no secret that Stephen King is a fan of Kepnes' work and has called her writing hypnotic and scary, so if my recommendation isn't enough, then take the word of the King.

You, a debut novel by Caroline Kepnes made my top eight books of 2014, but I didn’t love it as much as some. I certainly enjoyed it and a book written from the viewpoint of an almost-sympathetic psychopath really offered something very different.

Kepnes reintroduces us to Joe – the psychopathic bookseller – in her second novel, Hidden Bodies.

Nearly six months have passed since the concluding events of You and when we meet Joe he is smitten with his new love. Amy Adam. However… Amy’s not quite the person Joe thinks and even HIS (somewhat screwy) sensibilities are offended by some of her antics.

Joe obviously has a type. He would say quirky; we would say seriously-fucked-up. Whether he’s drawn to them or them to him, I’m no longer sure.

We (along with Joe) are alerted to Amy’s duplicity quite early in novel and it almost seems as if Joe’s torn between being kinda impressed someone could 'play' the ultimate 'player'; and needing revenge on the woman who toyed with his affections.

He tosses in his job and tracks Amy to Hollywood where he comes across an interesting array of locals.

We didn’t see Joe socialise much with anyone outside of his beloved Beck, in You, so it’s enlightening to see how he interacts with those around him.

We’ve all seen neighbours on the news comment on their surprise that they’ve lived next to a serial killer… ‘They seemed so normal," they say. Joe’s a bit off but I’m not sure customers and friends would suspect he’s responsible for the deaths of several women, and random other peeps who’ve gotten in his way.

Again it’s hard not to identify with Joe – despite his proclivities. We’re in his head and the book’s told in first person from his point of view. He’s again witty and intelligent, so... frustratingly engaging.

After his arrival in LA, Joe's sidetracked by the wealthy and eccentric 'Love' and her brother 'Forty'; and suddenly he's hanging with celebrities and traveling by private jet. Every so often, between partying and the occasional 'compulsory' kill, he stops to ponder on his good fortune - concerned his past will catch up with him.

I eked this book out for WAY longer than I thought possible. And in retrospect I realise it's because I was disappointed and struggled to get into it as much as I expected I would.

Joe's great and (again) well-written. Indeed, I (again) found the prose compelling and clever - though it's fairly explicit at times. The support cast are sufficiently fucked-up, that we don't worry too much when Joe feels compelled to assist them into their next life.

However... the plot felt a little 'all over the place'. It wasn't evenly paced and it's almost as if Kepnes couldn't decide (herself) where the book (and Joe) were heading. The ending felt very rushed and came (a little) from left field.

So, I was ultimately a tad disappointed. It won't keep me from reading more however - if there are future instalments - because I have a soft spot for Joe.

Thank you to Negalley and publisher Simon & Schuster (Australia) for an ebook copy to read and write an honest review.

While I haven’t read the first in the series ‘You’, I didn’t feel that is was a problem. Often you need to read the first in a series to fully understand and follow on but this wasn’t the case. I enjoyed Caroline Kepnes’ writing style and she has developed a wonderful character in Joe - he is so bad that he is good! Well done!! Great read and great to find a new author. Looking forward to more….