(See all my Book Reviews and Author Interviews) – Dorian Box https://dorianbox.com is the author of four novels. The Hiding Girl was published in 2020 and is the first book in her Emily Calby Series. This was the 93rd book I completed in 2022.
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of delivering a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature language, I categorize this novel as R. The primary character is twelve-year-old Emily Calby.
Calby was growing up in rural Georgia when her life was turned upside down. Out of nowhere comes two men who brutally murder her mother and little sister. If she had not run away, she would be dead too. Without the money her father had hidden, she would have been lost.
Before he died, he had shown her the stash. Enough cash to keep her for weeks if she is careful. Calby looks old for her age but is still too young to be on her own. She manages to manipulate more than one charitable person to help her, but not everyone she meets is so kind. Her journey is as much personal survival as it is a search for the killers.
Young Calby is on a mission. She wants to find and kill those who took her family. Along the way, she makes an unlikely friend in Lucas. He is a former gang member who now has his own business. He gave up gangs on the street for the more profitable realm of the Internet.
Lucas helps Calby track down the men that murdered her family. He also shares what he knows in the art of ‘self-defense’. Will Calby be able to track down the two criminals and bring them to justice? Or will she become just one more of their victims?
I enjoyed the 7 hours I spent reading this 334-page mystery. I enjoyed this action-packed and engaging novel. You will get to like the character of Calby, but she is a dark hero. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.
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John's Notes 