Hidden is a page turning gripping and unnerving psychological thriller by a former police psychologist. I read Falling which I thoroughly enjoyed reading and couldn't wait for Emma Kavanagh to publish another novel. I do highly recommend both of Emma's novels. The nerve-racking story of Hidden starts of Sunday 31 August, 10.33 with a shooting at Mount Pleasant Hospital. The story flips back to six days before the hospital with workers at the hospital and the police each having their own chapter to what they were doing six days before the shooting took place. A young woman who works at the hospital is found dead on the M4. Time is ticking away for Charlotte as she is writing for the Swansea Times about the young woman's death on the M4 and trying to find out who the man was holding a gun walking through the hospital. Emma Kavanagh tells this story with great verve, weaving the strands of her story expertly. I hope many readers enjoy reading Hidden as much as I have. Review by ireadnovels.wordpress.com

This is a thriller with several narrators – there seems to be a fashion of this as the last three thrillers that I read also had multiple narrators. It takes place in Swansea and deals with a shooting in a hospital which results in several dead bodies. The story deals with the shooting of a youth, the death of a girl on the M4 and the consequences of both these events The main character is a local journalist called Charlie and a bunch of characters who all know each other for various reasons, either through work or family. The story is told in flashback form and it is important to keep an eye on the dates at the beginning of each chapter. Quite engaging, this novel is well worth a look.

The story starts with a mass shooting in the lobby of a hospital - this is chilling stuff especially given tragic events in past months. The story then goes back some days before and provides a background and insight into the leading characters including the killer whose identity is not divulged until almost the end. I think this was brave - setting out the ending at the beginning but then, isn’t that what happens in real life? A horrific event occurs and we then go backwards and try to develop a timeline of events leading up to it? I am aware that other readers have found the time-switching a little confusing but I loved the format and found it really helped to build the tension, introduce the characters and create the sub plots within the main story which were as absorbing as the main story itself. I admit that if you don’t keep your wits about you, it’s easy to get a little lost but, bear with it and just go with the flow. The characters are interesting and believable with each having to carry their own baggage of problems whilst trying to carry on with their “normal” lives. This, I feel, is the major plus side to this novel - the complex characterisation and delving into the psyche of each person. One negative - I didn’t really get a sense of the location and although I’m aware the book is set in Swansea, there was nothing in the story that set it apart from any other city or town in the UK which I think was a little disappointing as I like to be transported to new, interesting or intriguing places when I read and this just didn’t do it for me. Overall though, I found this a riveting read and would recommend it to people who enjoy a great psychological thriller with great characters, sub-plots and red herrings which keep you not only enthralled with the story but guessing who the perpetrator is to the end. I haven’t read anything by Emma before but I was drawn by the blurb so requested a copy via NetGalley and was provided one by the publisher Random House UK, Cornerstone Digital in return for an unbiased review and I am thankful for that as I really enjoyed it.

A shooter is on the prowl in a Swansea hospital. Why does he keep lurking outside Ward 12. Is he linked to one of the patients, a boy involved in a shooting a year previously. Does his presence have anything to do with the tragic death of a nurse from the same ward? The book opens with the immediate bloody outcome of a shooting in the hospital. Amongst the dead and injured we are introduced to Charlie, a reporter at the local paper, and Aden, a police marksman. As the story continues we go through the days leading up to the shooting. Each chapter is told from the view point of a different character; Charlie, Aden, psychologist Imogen and the unidentified shooter. As we progress through the story more details emerge as to how the characters are all linked. Each character gives definition to the story. Not one is out of place. You feel for and have definite feelings for each person. For example I loved Charlie, Imogen and Aden, though all are flawed in their own way. I disliked Mara with as much passion. The characters are so well drawn that even the absent ones add layers to the story. As I read I absorbed clues, sifting through hints and conversations, discarding some, hoarding others so I could beat the reveal to discover who the shooter was. Emma Kavanagh is a trained psychologist, having worked with the police during her career. Her insights into how a person’s past and how little random decisions can have a lasting effect echoes throughout this superb novel. I loved Falling, Emma Kavanagh’s debut novel. With Hidden I feel she has taken it to the next level. Emma Kavanagh is bound to be a leading light in psychological thriller authors. This is gripping, compulsive read. If her next book is half as good as this one it will be a cracking read.