I'll start by saying crime and thrillers aren't my usual genre, so I was stepping into fairly new territory with this book. Having said that, I enjoyed reading Hiding in Plain Sight, the suspense was right, and I liked how we saw different perspectives. I think that had the story stayed in the serial killer's perspective, it may have gotten too much, but it did not, and I liked the change of pace between the different characters.
Throughout this story, we follow a serial killer, an art scammer, a cheating wife and a laid-off manager navigating life in a small Irish town. Immediately you’re dropped into the drama from the serial killer’s perspective, which is unnerving, to say the least. At first, switching points of view was jarring, and it was hard to really understand who was who. However, once I learned the different characters and their dynamics, the narrative and storylines started to make sense and became enjoyable. I think the jarring aspect was that it's not always clear when or who the perspective is jumping to. It doesn't have the typical indicator of ' so so's POV,' but once the characters are established, you can easily tell who is who as the story unfolds.
I liked how the writer kept the serial killer's identity away from us for most of the book. Through his point of view, we witnessed the attacks he made and how he prayed on his victims. We got to see how he did things so closely whilst most of the time not knowing his name. It added a great deal of mystery to his story. The crimes were gruesome, and the descriptions were sometimes too much. But that is what you'd expect from a serial killer's perspective.
I enjoyed reading Hugh’s point of view the most, he’s made redundant from a managerial role, and we follow him as he navigates through life trying to pick himself up. We see him come to terms with his dear mother’s Alzheimers and watch him become heartbroken as his wife leaves him, and we then witness him fall back in love with an old classmate. His story is endearing and, quite frankly, my favourite part of the book.
When I first started reading, I couldn’t understand how these people’s lives were linked. And as the story unfolded, it was really clever of Egan how he put it together. The art scammer Jana works for the serial killer trying to make enough money to fund her art gallery to support her and her son moving and living their dreams. Her story of almost getting away with it was really interesting to follow. She ends up being caught and arrested. She almost becomes a victim of the serial killer as he tells us in much detail how much he despises her. It’s through her faked paintings we meet Sharon Winters. She helps uncover the truth about the forged paintings and becomes the serial killer's next victim. Sharon and our good guy Hugh go way back, and he saves the day. It’s all brilliantly linked.
Overall, Hiding in Plain Sight was really entertaining and dramatic. It is fast-paced, and despite the very long chapters, I didn’t find it too difficult to read. At times I found myself (especially in the second half) putting it down and wanting to pick it right back up immediately. This isn’t my usual genre to read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless! So, if you're looking for something with plenty of action, I'd recommend grabbing yourself a copy when it's released on February 23rd. You can buy it on Kindle or paperback here on publication day.
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