Sunday, November 1, 2015

Hidden: First in a New Mystery Series by Karen E. Olsen

Hidden: First in a New Mystery Series.  Karen E. Olsen. Severn House Publishers. November 2015. 224 pp.  ISBN#: 9780727885326.

Nicole Jones has been hiding on Block Island, off the New England Coast.  She runs a bike touring business during the tourist season and has only two good friends, a slightly older man, Steve McQueen, and friends who run a spa and sponsor Nicole’s paintings in a local gallery.  Life is good and Nicole’s no longer always looking over her shoulder.  Perhaps she was too comfortable but that’s all about to end!

Zeke Chapman and Nicole crash into each other.  At first the reader thinks it’s pure coincidence but it’s really not that simple.  Zeke first of all has assumed the name of an FBI agent.  His presence is as exciting to Nicole as it was when they were lovers in Paris, France.  For both of them are professional hackers.  Years ago they did something years ago that involved stealing a huge amount of cash and leaving behind someone who wasn’t supposed to die but did. As the story progresses we learn that Zeke has a job for Nicole to do, but after a while we’re not sure if Zeke is truly friend or foe.  The confusing but terrifying scenes raise the tension level a hundred-fold for sure.

Nicole doesn’t want to tell anybody her secrets but eventually winds up doing so as the friends she has made on the island truly care about her and don’t want to see her in this perilous condition.  Others arrive who were totally unexpected and it turns out that Nicole left a clue for certain persons to find her; whether it was an accident or just plain stupidity doesn’t really matter as she’s now in very serious trouble, with both her enemies and her friends.

Hidden… is the first in a new series that will thrill those who love mysteries, thrillers or adventure novels.  It’s a complex yet simple plot at the same time that is all too credible in this day and age when hacking is developing into an international problem that can shake the financial world of companies, individuals and even the government.  Reading it makes one realize no one’s bank account is really safe and the power behind hackers is more of a near threat than perhaps we previously thought.  Nicely done, Karen E. Olsen!


No comments:

Post a Comment