I read Jason Rekulak's debut novel, The Impossible Fortress, and I really enjoyed it. Not as much as everyone else, it seems, but I found the book to be sweet and funny, and a real pleasure. I even did the audio edition a year or so later.
The Impossible Fortress didn't make my favorites list, as it did for so many others. I suppose the general theme of video games took it down a few notches for me. I like electronic gaming like I enjoy a root canal.
Still and all, I was ready to read anything else by Rekulak. It took a while, but his sophomore novel is here. I see that Hidden Pictures doesn't measure up for a lot of Fortress fans.
I think part of the problem is how Jason Rekulak had the unmitigated audacity to do a complete about face. Hidden Pictures is as different from The Impossible Fortress as night is from day.
Hidden Pictures is a pop thriller with supernatural overtones. It's a breezy story that goes down smooth and easy. I glided through the pages swiftly and was done in a day or so.
A young woman with serious drug problems in her past takes a job as a live-in nanny for a wealthy young couple and their toddler son. At first all is bliss, and it seems as though Mallory's luck has taken an upswing. But strange and disturbing things begin to occur. The boy likes to draw, and his illustrations progress from simple and innocent to highly disturbing. The work becomes too sophisticated for a boy of his age, and they appear to relate to an unsolved crime from the history of the property. The parents are dismissive of her concerns as Mallory's life spirals back into chaos.
Hidden Pictures is as much about class division as it is about ghosts. The couple are the typical Millennial hipsters. Shopping at Wholefoods, science worship, and every modern convenience at their fingertips. Or so it seems. Mallory, on the other hand, is younger and has had zero advantages.
There's a love interest in the book that is really well done. Rekulak understands character, and that's the main reason people enjoy his work.
Quirk Books are known for imaginative book design, as with Grady Hendrix's publications. Hidden Pictures is filled with the drawings that serve as clues to the mystery at the heart of the novel. They add a lot to the story.
Hidden Pictures won't be the best book I read in 2022. I had to swallow my disbelief quite a bit, but it will be one of the most purely enjoyable novels I read this year. Give it a chance and try to temporarily forget The Impossible Fortress. You're liable to have a good time with it.
Written by Mark Sieber
The Impossible Fortress didn't make my favorites list, as it did for so many others. I suppose the general theme of video games took it down a few notches for me. I like electronic gaming like I enjoy a root canal.
Still and all, I was ready to read anything else by Rekulak. It took a while, but his sophomore novel is here. I see that Hidden Pictures doesn't measure up for a lot of Fortress fans.
I think part of the problem is how Jason Rekulak had the unmitigated audacity to do a complete about face. Hidden Pictures is as different from The Impossible Fortress as night is from day.
Hidden Pictures is a pop thriller with supernatural overtones. It's a breezy story that goes down smooth and easy. I glided through the pages swiftly and was done in a day or so.
A young woman with serious drug problems in her past takes a job as a live-in nanny for a wealthy young couple and their toddler son. At first all is bliss, and it seems as though Mallory's luck has taken an upswing. But strange and disturbing things begin to occur. The boy likes to draw, and his illustrations progress from simple and innocent to highly disturbing. The work becomes too sophisticated for a boy of his age, and they appear to relate to an unsolved crime from the history of the property. The parents are dismissive of her concerns as Mallory's life spirals back into chaos.
Hidden Pictures is as much about class division as it is about ghosts. The couple are the typical Millennial hipsters. Shopping at Wholefoods, science worship, and every modern convenience at their fingertips. Or so it seems. Mallory, on the other hand, is younger and has had zero advantages.
There's a love interest in the book that is really well done. Rekulak understands character, and that's the main reason people enjoy his work.
Quirk Books are known for imaginative book design, as with Grady Hendrix's publications. Hidden Pictures is filled with the drawings that serve as clues to the mystery at the heart of the novel. They add a lot to the story.
Hidden Pictures won't be the best book I read in 2022. I had to swallow my disbelief quite a bit, but it will be one of the most purely enjoyable novels I read this year. Give it a chance and try to temporarily forget The Impossible Fortress. You're liable to have a good time with it.
Written by Mark Sieber
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