The hidden : a novel of suspense

Title:

Author:

Summary:

Shelby and Jay Macklin, a young but troubled couple, decide to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's at a friend's remote cottage on California's northern coast as a winter storm threatens the area; meanwhile, the media-dubbed "Coastline Killer" is at large, committing seemingly random murders along a fifty-mile stretch of the coastline.

Audience:

Adult Follett Library Resources

General Note:

NPL copy autographed by author.

Edition:

1st U.S. ed.

Physical Description:

210 p. ; 25 cm.

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Horror fiction.

Subject Term:

Serial murders -- Fiction.

Couples -- Fiction.

Winter storms -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

California, Northern -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Walker & Co.,

Publication Date:

2010

ISBN:

9780802718006

Publication Information:

New York : Walker & Co., 2010.

Call Number:

PRONZIN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002540089	Adult Fiction	PRONZIN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

A series of seemingly random murders along a fifty-mile stretch of the rugged northern California coast, committed by an unknown dubbed by the media the Coastline Killer. A young couple with marital problems, Shelby and Jay Macklin, who decide to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's at a friend's remote coastal cottage. Two couples in a neighboring home whose relationships are thick with festering menace. A fierce winter storm that leads to a night of unrelenting terror. These are the main ingredients in Bill Pronzini's chilling and twist-filled tale about the hidden nature of crime and its motives.

Author Notes

Bill Pronzini was born in Petaluma, California on April 13, 1943. His first novel, The Stalker, was published in 1971. He is best known for his creation of the Nameless Detective Mystery series, as well as several westerns and novels of dark suspense. He has been a full time writer since 1969. He is also an active anthologist, having compiled more than 100 collections, most of which focus on mystery, western, and science fiction short stories.

He has won numerous awards including three Shamus Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Mystery Writers of America. His book Snowbound received the Grand Prix de la Litterature Policiere, as the best crime novel published in France in 1988. Pronzini has established himself as a master of the Western novel as well as earning a name for himself in the dark fiction genre.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Routine prose and thin characters mar this stand-alone novel of suspense from MWA Grand Master Pronzini (The Other Side of Silence). Jay Macklin, who six months earlier lost his office manager job, has persuaded his paramedic wife, Shelby Hunter, to spend a few days at a friend's remote Northern California cottage, in a last-ditch effort to save their 12-year-old marriage. At night, in a winter downpour, they have trouble finding the cottage. On a search for matches after a power failure, the couple drive to a neighbor's house, where they encounter Brian and Claire Lomax, whose marriage is obviously in more trouble than their own. Jay and Shelby soon realize Brian physically abuses Claire. When the Coastline Killer, a vigilante who's been targeting random victims because they don't respect the environment, claims another victim, the local police consider Jay a suspect. The denouement will leave many readers feeling cheated. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Jay Macklin is hoping that spending the time between Christmas and New Year's with his wife, Shelby, at a friend's cottage on the Northern California coast will bring them closer together after a hard year. After they lose power during a storm on their first night, they visit their neighbors for some matches. Brian Lomax answers the door with a gun in hand, and even after the Macklins are invited in for a drink, the tension in the house is enough to send them away quickly. Interspersed with the main action are several vignettes featuring a man who is willing to murder those who threaten the coastal wilderness. The bad weather, the marital strife, and the suspicion that almost every character displays lend Pronzini's (Savages; The Crimes of Jordan Wise) latest book a gloomy air. Jay doesn't evoke much sympathy, and the real action, on a dark and stormy night, no less, doesn't occur until the final quarter. Verdict Not Pronzini's strongest work, this is still worth a look for his fans and most mystery collections. [Pronzini is married to Marcia Muller, whose latest Sharon McCone mystery, Coming Back, is reviewed above.-Ed.]-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.