The Hiding Place

This psychological thriller/ mystery--with a hint of the paranormal --rom C.J. Tudor comes on the heels of having listened to One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline, which shares one of the opening moves of this book. Joe Thorne takes a teaching job in his home town of Arnhill, a former coal mining district, under false pretenses. He really is a teacher, but he's come back for another reason altogether. After his younger sister Annie went missing and then returned as a very different person, Joe was traumatized. When she died in a car accident, it was almost a relief. But things went from bad to worse when one of his schoolmates allegedly committed suicide. As an adult, Joe was a reasonably successful teacher, but then became addicted to gambling, tried to steal money from the school where he worked and has not only lost everything, but owes a ridiculous sum to The Fat Man, who has sent someone to break his bones and eventually kill him if he does not pay. People who were involved in his sister's initial disappearance and its cover up are not happy to see Joe back in town, so he is being threatened from all sides. But Joe received an anonymous email, "I know what happened to your sister. It's happening again."  Joe feels he has to stop it. Eventually the back story of Annie's disappearance is revealed as are the roots of Joe's strange behavior and even weirder imaginings. But the circumstances of her reappearance are shrouded in a sort of magical or cursed idea of eternal life for children who have died. Although Joe does eventually resolve his monetary issues and goes back to his "normal" life, it does not feel like a clear resolution. People are portrayed as largely cruel and manipulative with some exceptions. This is a dark book about a dark place. Positive review from Kirkus, and from Publishers Weekly.