Books I've read: Hide

 

I've enjoyed a lot of Kiersten White's YA books in the past, so when I saw this, her first book for adults, I decided to give it a shot.  Especially when I read that it was about a high-stakes game of hide and seek set in an abandoned amusement park.  I mean, how creepy is that?

Well, pretty creepy...

The book starts strongly with our main protagonist, Mack, a homeless woman living night to night in a shelter being offered the chance to take part in a life-changing game.  Needing something to kickstart the change in her life she needs, Mack accepts.  She's great at hiding.  In fact, her skill in this area is the reason she's alive while the rest of her family are not.

The competitors are bussed to the site and introduced to one another.  Before going into the park for the first time, they're pampered and preened and made to feel very special.  The rules are explained - two people per day will be "caught" and out of the game.  The last man standing will win the substantial prize.  The game ends each day when the sun goes down and only then will it be safe for competitors to come out of their hiding places and head back to the sleeping quarters set up for them.

So far, so simple.

But when people start disappearing, Mack realizes there is something more sinister going on than a simple game.  While she's always been a loner, she finds herself banding together with a small group of others, determined to figure out what's going on and how they can make it out of the park alive.

This book didn't quite hit the mark for me.  There were too many characters, most of whom we got very little information about so it was difficult to care too much when they started being killed off.  And having two characters with the same name seemed silly within such a large cast.  It's hard enough to remember everyone in such a huge ensemble without giving two of your main characters the same name.  Especially since there didn't seem to be any real reason for it.

And the reason for the competition and the backstory to it were a little silly and not really developed properly.  I won't go into any detail because that would be a spoiler, but I didn't really buy the whole premise.

And then the ending seemed very rushed.

It was a shame because I liked the idea.  I just didn't like the execution as much as I had hoped I would.

So I probably wouldn't recommend this one too highly.  It starts strong, but doesn't really follow through.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts--Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that.

It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.