Book Review - Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

Title: Little Secrets
Series: -
Author: Jennifer Hillier
 
Description: Marin had the perfect life. Married to he college sweetheart, she owns a chain up upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They’re admired in their community and are a loving family, until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken.
A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding Sebastian, Marin learns that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman. This discovery sparks Marin back to life. She lost her son, she’s not about to lose her husband too.
 
Review: Marin lives a life most people will be jealous of. She runs a successful chain of hair salons, is married to a loving husband who has his own company and together they have a sweet son Sebastian. When their son is taken, their fairy tale life collapses. A year after the kidnapping, Marin regularly wakes up contemplating suicide, her husband Derek is distant and the FBI search has gone cold. Marin hires a private investigator to continue the search for their son, but instead finds out that Derek is having an affair with a much younger woman.
 
“Little Secrets” has a strong start. Jennifer Hillier is a masterful storyteller and the way she leads the readers through Sebastian’s kidnapping and the emotional aftermath, only confirms that. But what makes this novel shine is the turn it takes at the point when you are comfortable with Marin’s devastation. Switching to a new problem reinforces everything that came before it, and Marin’s new reality takes on a different, infinitely darker proportion.
 
The biggest surprise in “Little Secrets” is the change of POV at one point in the book, making another character become a crucial one with its own voice. This helps us to understand the story from different perspectives. The final reveal isn’t as surprising though.
 
Ultimately, the way Hillier presents all of her characters and situations makes this a very human novel in which there are enough actions that readers will want to judge characters, but also enough pain and despair to make them withhold judgment. The book is suspenseful and brutal at the same time. It’s a wonderful thriller and I can’t wait to read more Jennifer Hillier books.
 
Rating: 4/ 5