Title: Hidden PicturesAuthor: Doogie Horner, Jason Rekulak
First Published: May 10, 2022
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 384
Genre: Domestic Thriller, Horror, Paranormal, Thriller
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating:
Synopsis:
Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.
Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.
Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.
Review
This book piqued my interest both from the synopsis and because it was last year’s Goodreads Choice Awards winner for horror. I was nervous because I saw a few people complain this book wasn’t scary and was more of a mystery thriller, but I picked it up from the library regardless. After reading this book I was left feeling really conflicted. I wanted very much to like this book, it is compulsively readable and I had a hard time putting it down. It was a shame for such a good book to be completely spoiled by American politics.
The story is told from the point of view of a nanny named Mallory, a recovering drug addict, and good Christian girl. The story starts when she’s hired to take care of a boy named Teddy that’s been drawing pictures of a creepy imaginary friend named Anya. The book includes pages that show Teddy’s drawings, many of them are adorable but the art later on in the book is used to great effect and features some fantastic artwork. I appreciated the attention to detail and the story that is told through both text and images. There were times early in the novel that genuinely spooked me, I enjoy a good ghost story because those are the only ones that tend to actually scare me. The reviews pointing out that this is a mystery thriller with a paranormal twist are spot on. I personally liked that about it, the pacing is fast and it’s easy to fly through the book.
Then the little things started piling up. The book doesn’t come right out and say things and I can see how many people that either don’t follow politics or aren’t American would miss these things. Teddy’s family is an elitist couple that also happens to be atheists and vegetarians. When Teddy asks about body parts, Mom rushes out to bring home notably banned sex education books, which seemed really weird for her character up to that point. The next-door neighbor is full of wild local gossip, a pothead psychic with a gun that watches Fox News and is a little racist. Harry Potter is brought up twice in the book and it feels forced, and there is a strange interaction with a cop. Anyone that follows American Politics will know that these are very common Conservative dog whistles.
The ending is divisive, to say the least. It can be spun in two different ways, one that is extremely transphobic, and another that makes me think of one particularly famous case about a person in Teddy’s situation. This is part of why I think there are a good number of people that don’t see an issue with the ending. But all of the other little nods to politics make me uncomfortable with what the book is suggesting, and it really soiled my enjoyment of what would’ve otherwise been a five-star favorite ghost story with a dash of mystery thriller fun. I can see how a book like this could win a popularity vote, but I can’t in good conscience recommend this book to anyone.
Quote
“She sleeps under my bed so I can hear her singing.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Jason Rekulak
Jason Rekulak was born and raised in New Jersey. He has worked for many years at Quirk Books, where he edits a variety of fiction and nonfiction. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. The Impossible Fortress is his first novel.
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