But you pretend and I pretend that everything is fine: LITTLE SECRETS.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars


Marin Marchado's whole world changed when she was distracted for a moment at a Seattle market and lost track of her four-year-old son Sebastian. He vanished, without a trace, and there was nothing the police could do to find him. Even the considerable resources of Marin and her husband Derek amounted to nothing. Now a year later, Marin is a haunted woman. The only solace is her support group of other parents who have experienced the same thing, her best friend Sal, and the knowledge that the P.I. she hired is still looking for Sebastian. But then the P.I. turns up something else entirely. Derek is having an affair with a young graduate student named Kenzie. The knowledge of Kenzie's existence finally gives Marin purpose again and a place to channel her anger. Kenzie is a face, an opponent she can see. While Kenzie sees Derek as a rich, married boyfriend, albeit the first she's actually fallen for, Marin sees Kenzie as someone she can remove from her life, a problem she can finally solve. As Marin and Kenzie find themselves on a collision course, each are going to learn some startling truths about themselves--and their pasts.


"Four minutes. That's all it took to steal a child. A lollipop, a Santa suit, and two hundred forty seconds."


Don't get me wrong. This is a really good book. It takes any parent's worst fear and turns it into a raw, dark page-turner. I think what made me a little sad about this thriller is that is was so hyped, so loved that I felt a little let down when I read it. Was it good? Yes, it was. Jennifer Hillier is an amazing writer, and I will always love her books. But did it blow me away like I was hoping? No. And I was a bit disappointed by that. Maybe I'm just becoming jaded in my old age.

Again, this not me saying not to read this book. It's good. It's emotional and sad, twisty and deep. But I also found a lot of it far more predictable than I thought I would. I had an inkling who had taken Sebastian from the beginning and while I still wanted to read the story, I felt a little let down by that. I guessed several of the other big "aha" moments too. Sigh. Maybe I've just read too many thrillers.

Still, this is quite a page-turner, and I read it over the span of two days. You're pulled quickly into Marin's horrible world, where she's completely broken by the aftermath of losing--literally losing--Sebastian. She feels hopeless and when she realizes Derek has cheated on her, it gives her a purpose, even if it is a misguided one. Kenzie works well as an enemy--appearing young and vapid. Derek comes across as a heartless man ignoring his depressed wife. As things build up, you know that an inevitable confrontation will not go well. I just wish I hadn't guessed how said confrontation would go.

However, just about everyone on the planet loved this book unconditionally, so you can't go wrong picking it up. 3.75 stars from me.

A huge thanks to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

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