HIDING LIES
STEPHANIE ROSE
*****
I still remember standing outside the blazing house. I wasn't sorry.
Lydia Walker is a forensic photographer, trudging through life in the shadow of her traumatic past, when she is assigned a case centered around the gruesome murder of a camping couple. Her personal life begins to improve after a chance encounter that makes her feel like she's finally connected with someone, a fellow tortured soul named Adam.
As more victims are unearthed she discovers she has a personal connection to the case, her commitment to the case grows deeper, but her motives remain opaque to her colleagues. Will she sacrifice her reputation and her morality to explore her darker urges? Or will she uphold the justice system that failed her, and never held space for her.
MY REVIEW
*****
I try to keep my October releases to the horror genre, as I love to take full advantage of spooky season. When I saw Hiding Lies, I initially thought I was breaking my rules by introducing a thriller - but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although technically a crime thriller – Hiding Lies tiptoes the balance between horror and thriller in a delightful, if dark way.
Lydia is a crime scene photographer with a bit of a dark past – but when she is tasked with photographing a gruesome case where the killer leaves photographs that exposes their victims lies, she starts to become obsessed…
Hiding Lies alternates perspectives between crime scene photographer Lydia and serial killer Adam. Don’t worry – this isn’t a spoiler, it’s revealed very early on in the book. Although this is an unusual narrative technique, it means you really get inside the killer’s head and even start to perhaps empathise with him to a certain extent. Please look at the trigger warnings at the beginning of this book before starting it – it is incredibly dark throughout and there’s lots of difficult themes – it is not a light read!
As you know who the killer is, the book starts off as a bit of a cat-and-mouse thriller where you are waiting for the police to catch up with Adam. However, when Lydia and Adam’s paths cross it becomes something all together different! I would say that although I loved most of the book and was gripped throughout, the ending had me a little disappointed. Although I enjoyed the idea of the twist, it felt very abrupt and ruined the stakes that we felt we had been building up to throughout the novel. It was an unusual ending for sure though and I do commend author Stephanie Rose for that!
Overall, Hiding Lies is the perfect bridge between thriller and horror – it’s very dark but a gripping read. Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Axe Media for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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