Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Hello everyone.  I hope your week is going well.

I'm not sure if it's done in Europe but in the US some of us put things on our refrigerators.  Some sleek kitchens would rather turn out Spaghetti Os laced with corn dogs, rather than junk up their perfectly coiffed room.  Then there are those of us with families or just stuff to remember.  In our house, tacked to the fridge with magnets you'll find drawings, take-out menus, coupons, notes and my all-time favorite declarations from my husband.  If my hubby admits I was right about something, I grab the closest piece of paper (usually the back of some envelope) and write "April was right about XXXX and I was wrong." then I draw a line for his signature.  Oh yes, laugh as you want, but I get him to sign and date that baby.  Then up on the fridge it goes, for anyone who comes to our house to admire in all it's "I was right he was wrong" glory.  Before you all jump in, yes, I know, most people put their children's drawings on their fridge.  We don't have kids; husbands can be close at times. 

I recently read Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. This is a new author for me, so I was super curious.  This thriller is about a young woman, Mallory, who takes a job as a live-in babysitter for Teddy.  She is given a private little guest cottage to stay in, beautifully outfitted.  Mallory is happy, her life is stable, enjoyable and she loves little five-year-old Teddy.  Teddy loves to draw pictures and often gives them to his beloved new pal, Mallory.  She, of course, is honored and is happy to be so included until the drawings change.  Suddenly the art becomes more advanced than a five-year-old could create and they are increasingly dark in feel and content.  When Mallory tells a few people in town, she is surprised to hear that there is a local legend of an unsolved murder that took place in the very cabin she is staying in. This becomes even more alarming as Teddy draws a dead woman being dragged through the woods to be buried. 

This thriller does double duty as a ghost story, revealing itself slowly, allowing the creep factor and tension to grow.  The story was a quick read.  I received it Tuesday and had it completed by Friday.  I feel like I hardly spent any time reading it, yet hubby said I constantly had my nose shoved in the book.  It felt effortless, fast and to the point.  No meandering here.  In addition, this is silly but that paper that the book is printed on is thick.  It also has lots of Teddy's drawings.  I think that paper had to be thick to support the ink of the drawings, to prevent warping.  In any case, you read thirty pages and you can see a hunk of the book has passed by, making you feel like you've made real progress.  Now I'm sad it's over and have a bit of book hangover.  I will definitely put Jason Rekulak on my "buy" list for the future.

Next time hubby laughs at my fridge declarations, I'll tell him it could be worse, at least they aren't murderous drawings.