“The sun is out. Your little boy is smiling. The next time you look… he’s gone. 

When Lana and Todd win a trip to Blue Crest Adventure Park, their four-year-old Cooper is ecstatic, but when Lana goes to meet them, Todd is out cold, and Cooper is missing.

No one stopped the man carrying the sleeping boy. The cameras don’t show where he went. Then Lana receives an anonymous message, telling her to visit a local school with a horrifying history… 

This is no random attack. Whoever took Cooper is playing a twisted game, and if Lana wants to find him, she must participate. 

What is the link between the school and her missing son? Can Lana uncover the kidnapper’s identity and save Cooper before it’s too late?

A dark, heart-in-mouth thriller that will keep you reading long into the night. Fans of James Patterson, Karin Slaughter, and Tess Gerritsen will be absolutely hooked.”

I am delighted to welcome you to my stop on the Hide and Seek blog tour.  Hide and Seek is the latest release from author, Richard Parker and was published by Bookouture on 31st August 2017.  Make sure you pop over to Jen Med’s Book Reviews as the lovely Jen is my blog tour buddy today.

Despite not actually reading it, I fell a little bit in love with Richard Parker’s previous Bookouture release, Follow You.  I have been desperate to read it since it’s release but in usual damppebbles style, I haven’t managed to fit it in between my blog tour reads.  So what better way to make sure his latest book was read than to feature on the blog tour (sometimes it’s the only way!).

So having (weirdly) fallen for Parker’s previous release (I promise to read and review it soon!) I was excited and a little apprehensive to make a start on Hide and Seek.  And I can confirm, it is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller.  Parts of it I absolutely loved.  Other parts I enjoyed but I wanted to get to the real ‘nitty gritty’ of the story.

The prologue had me on the edge of my seat.  I find books about bad things happening to children hard going at times and the opening of Hide and Seek reminded me of my very worst nightmare. My heart was pounding, helped by the incredibly well-written prologue.  I was there, in the moment, with Lana the boy’s mother as she fought for her young son.  It was very gripping as an introduction and I don’t doubt that it will pull at every parent’s heart; it was both harrowing and heartbreaking.  I was a little surprised by the outcome of that first initial scenario. My curiosity was well and truly piqued and I wanted to know where Parker would take the story next.

And it was not what I expected.  The main body of the story ticked along nicely.  Lana has an unhealthy obsession with visiting past murder sites and with local serial killers in general.  I absolutely loved this part of her.  It gave a rather, I’m sorry to say dull and wholesome character a darker, more sinister edge. The search for the missing child is interesting and I enjoyed reading about Lana and Todd’s journey but it was the end of this book which made it for me!  It’s never a good thing to admit to liking the bad guy but Richard Parker may have created one of my all time favourite baddies!  And the twist, WOW.  It was so wonderfully, deceptively delicious – I didn’t see it coming at all.

Would I recommend this book?  I would. All in all, this is a great read which I recommend to fans of the family based crime thriller.  Fans of the serial killer thriller may also find something to love within the pages as well.  The start is brilliant, the middle is good, helped by the main character’s fascination with local murder sites and the ending is superb.  I cannot wait to read Follow Me now.  Roll on October when I will have more time to concentrate on non-blog tour books.

Four out of five stars.

I chose to read and review an eARC of Hide and Seek.  The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Hide and Seek by Richard Parker was published in the UK by Bookouture on 31st  August 2017 and is available in paperback and eBook formats | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Goodreads |

Richard Parker was formerly a TV script writer, script editor and producer before turning his hand to penning twisted stand alone thrillers.

HIDE AND SEEK is his fifth book and is published August 2017.

FOLLOW YOU was his fourth psychological thriller. Reviewers are saying it’s Bookouture’s darkest crime novel to date.

STALK ME was his third and rode high in the UK and US charts.

SCARE ME was his second. Hollywood movie rights have been acquired by major US studio, Relativity Media. Star of PRISON BREAK and screenwriter of dark horror thriller STOKER, Wentworth Miller, has written the big screen adaptation.

STOP ME, Richard’s darkly fiendish debut, was shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award.

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