The Hiding Place: A Novel

Joe Thorne has returned to Arnhill, a town he never wanted to see again, after receiving an anonymous email saying the terrible thing that had happened to his sister was happening again. Not much has changed in Arnhill, a dingy little town born on a coal mining slag heap. When Joe interviews at the local high school, he is immediately hired. His predecessor had killed her son and herself. Joe gets her job and even moves into the cottage where the murder-suicide happened. He soon finds the school bully is the son of the guy who had been the school bully when Joe was a kid. Some things never change. There is a clear danger here, and Joe isn’t sure who his allies might be.

C. J. Tudor has written a truly creepy story that will keep readers guessing all the way through. Few things, or people, are as they seem in this story. This book requires some extra suspension of disbelief and proved to be an overly long story. While the writing is very good, this could have had another round of good editing to make it a really excellent book.