National Bestseller! “Unflinching and unforgettable. Little Secrets has everything you want in a thriller” –Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Lock Every Door Overwhelmed by tragedy, a woman desperately tries to save her marriage in award-winning author Jennifer Hillier’s Little Secrets, a riveting novel of psychological suspense. All it takes to unravel a life is one little … suspense.
All it takes to unravel a life is one little secret…
Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of 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, she learns that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman. This discovery sparks Marin back to life. She’s lost her son; she’s not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix.
Permanently.
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Jennifer Hillier is an absolutely fearless writer who takes on the darkest, sexiest, most difficult topics, and turns them into deliciously wicked fiction. Little Secrets will hold you in its thrall until the last dramatic page. Another masterpiece by the queen of dark suspense.
LITTLE SECRETS by phenomenal thriller author Jennifer Hillier is sure to be one of the most talked about books of 2020. This novel grips from the first gut-wrenching scene, slipping us into Marin Machado’s skin, when her little boy is kidnapped while with her in a busy market. Layer by layer, Hillier amps up the suspense until the reader will be biting off every fingernail and flipping feverishly through the pages. What is most remarkable about Hillier’s talent is her ability to tear our hearts apart with raw, visceral emotion while skillfully placing clues and shocking us with twist after twist. An absolute must-read!
Ok first of all, about all I can say is WOW! Jennifer Hillier has done it again with an incredible thriller you won’t be able to put down.
Marin and Derek’s son has been taken. He’s only 4 years old. Marin blames herself since he was out with her shopping and had let go of his hand for just a split second. Can you even start to imagine what happens to a couple that this happens to? I know I can’t. The story takes twists and turns all the way through. There are so many secrets and though the book is call “Little Secrets”, there are some major secrets that become clear as you near the end.
Jennifer Hillier writes psychological thrillers in a such away that you have to remember to breath once you’re finished with the story. The story will keep you enthralled and captivated until the very last page.
Thank you #netgalley, #JenniferHillier, and #St.Martin/Minotaur for the opportunity to read this breathtaking thriller.
A good read but unrealistic.
It was so great because it didn’t focus much on event but the effect of that event on characters. So much more happening aside from premise.
Little Secrets by Jeniffer Hillier
Secrets..
Twists…
Turns….
And more secrets…
Four minutes, a lollipop, a Santa suit, and a busy shopping mall, Sebastián was gone.
That is all it took to turn Marin and Derek Machado’s life completely upside down.
The twists and turns this book takes are great! Just when you think you figured out what happened, something else will happen and have you second guessing yourself! Reading these kinds of books is one reason I enjoy mystery thrillers! The cast of characters in this book are likeable and easy to relate to. Once you get into the juicy parts (it doesn’t take long) you won’t be able to put it down! I started this Saturday morning and finished at 11:17pm on Saturday! Oh, and the ending…. What I’m not going to tell you what happened, lol but man, that was great! Happy reading everyone
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Marin Machado has it all. She’s the owner of a chain of high-end hair salons, her husband, Derek, is wildly successful and their four-year-old son, Sebastian, is the light of their lives. Until it is all snatched away. The family is at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and Marin and Sebastian are on their way to the food trucks to meet Derek. Derek sends Marin a text asking for their ETA, and in the time it takes her to respond, Sebastian is gone.
Over a year later, Marin is barely holding on to her sanity. Sebastian is still missing and the trail has gone cold. His disappearance and the aftermath have taken a toll on Marin and Derek’s marriage, and that is confirmed when Marin learns Derek is having an affair with Kenzie Li. Kenzie is young, beautiful and deeply in debt. What will she do for money?
As for Marin, the thought of losing her husband too fills her with another kind of anger. What will she do to keep what’s left of her family together?
The story is gripping, and there are a few plot twists you just won’t see coming. Even though the premise is child abduction, it’s a page turner you can’t put down. Marin bares her soul to the reader in such a way that you almost feel like you are conversing with Marin. Stories with such a heavy subject are sometimes overwhelming and need to be taken in small doses. I couldn’t put this one down!
The characters are petty, pretentious, jealous and self-serving, yet they are indeed well-developed. Much as you might not like them, you keep reading to make sure they get their comeuppance. And it just keeps getting better and better.
That being said, let talk about the time it took for Sebastian to disappear. The book blurb indicates 480 seconds, or 8 minutes, which is an awfully long time to have your eyes off a four-year-old child. The book indicates 240 seconds, or 4 minutes, which I still have a hard time with. Marin is walking through a crowd of people at the Pike Place Market, her son at her side, when she feels his hand slip out of hers. She figures, it’s okay, I need my other hand to text, and continues across the street?! I have to say I started out with an intense dislike for Marin. Anyone else feel the same way?
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I don’t know why it took me so long to start reading this book. I guess you read a book when you’re meant to. Little Secrets was amazing from start to finish!
Dark, twisted, suspenseful, and emotional. That’s how I would describe this story. I’ve never read anything quite like it. This is the first in a long time that I’ve had an actual book hangover. I really have no idea how to transition from these characters and their story to anything else.
Also, I did NOT see things coming. I don’t want to give anything away but things are definitely not what they seem in this book. What a punch to the gut! These were definitely not LITTLE secrets.
I can’t properly articulate my thoughts at this time. I want to say so many things but also don’t want to accidentally spoil anything for anyone so I’m just going to say that if you’re a fan of dark and twisted psychological thrillers, you need to read this book immediately!
What an apt title for Jennifer Hillier’s latest book! This starts with every parent’s worst nightmare – Marin’s young son disappears while she’s Christmas shopping with him in a crowded Seattle shopping district. Months later, there’s been no real progress on the case, and knowing the odds of a positive outcome, the authorities have essentially put it on the back burner. When Marin hires a private detective to continue digging, she the first in a long line of “little secrets” that make her question everything she thinks she knows about her life. It’s hard to say much without revealing too much – I’ll just say it’s fascinating to watch events unravel and see just how many secrets characters are keeping from each other. Overall a very good read.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a copy for an unbiased review.
Wow! That went in a direction I was not expecting. Fabulous and twisted!
Wow! I really loved this one. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get back to it whenever I had to set it down. It was so well-written and twisty. A must-read for psychological thriller fans.
This is my first Jennifer Hillier novel, but it won’t be my last! Absolutely hooked from the first line. So glad to have discovered this amazing author! Highly recommend this book.
This is the 2nd Jennifer Hillier book i read. I LOVED it. Maybe not quiet as much as “Jar of Hearts”, but how she weaves the characters and makes you feel like your part of the story is nothing short of amazing!
Gosh this book was twisty and good! Marin’s 4-year-old son is abducted in a busy Seattle marketplace while they’re out Christmas shopping. We pick up with her just over a year later, when understandably she’s only sort of holding her life together on the surface. When the private investigator she hired to investigate her child’s disappearance calls with surprising news about her husband, Marin Machado finds herself taking actions she would never have thought herself capable of.
I’m going to keep things general from here in the interest of not revealing any spoilers, but this one was sooo good with lots of twists and turns. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the support group for other parents of missing children. Great characters there. Told in dual perspectives, I thought the author did a compelling job examining the emotional angle from all parties involved as well as keeping the surprises coming. Definitely want to see what she writes next!
Marin is out doing some Christmas shopping, and of course it seems that everyone else is also out too. Sebastian is getting antsy as all kids do, he is done shopping. He is tired, his little legs are probably sore, he is hot and wants the colored lollipop mom promised. That is his focus, but they are almost done. He just has to wait a few more moments and he can get his lollipop.
Marin’s cell phone goes off, shoot – she doesn’t really want to answer, but she kind of has to. She makes it quick and lets the caller know she will call them back shortly. She turns to get Bash and he’s gone. A mother’s worse nightmare has come true. Strangers jump right in and start looking for him according to Marin’s description, someone runs to get a security person, and she calls her husband. Bash has to be right here, maybe he went to get his lollipop by himself.
It’s discovered that he was taken out of the shopping area. Gone. Taken by Santa… SANTA of all people! Santa Clause… what sick person would do that? It’s been more than twelve months, and still no sign of him. The FBI put his case on the back burner months ago with no new leads and the investigator that Marin hires is redoing all the work the FBI did, as well as thinking outside the box. But her investigator upon her digging stumbles upon something else and Marin is glad she was told, but also wonders if it was better if she had not know.
Someone else connected the Marin’s husband also then goes missing. Her investigator is now really looking into everyone connected to her husband, he is the common denominator after all, but Marin also has secret of her own. Maybe she is a common denominator as well. Did she put things in motion that started all of this.
As the investigator digs, and Marin starts to connect dots a picture forms and Marin can’t believe she didn’t figure it out sooner. They are quickly learning everyone has secrets, and people are not who they appear, and friends can be enemies in disguise.
This was a good twisted thriller! You just never know which way Jennifer is going to jerk you in the storyline. However, she is also not afraid to write about dark stuff so her books are not for those who are sensitive. But I think that is part of why I like her, she is not afraid to write about things or create characters who act out, as often this stuff is not talked about or kept secret.
Another great Canadian thriller writer to be reading.
I loved this twisty and deeply psychological novel. To be honest, as a mother, I am usually nervous about reading books on child abductions. But this author is extremely thoughtful and goes to great lengths to get in the mind of her characters. As such, it was fascinating and endearing to read not only a fast, page-turning plot, but a novel with depth that still has me thinking about it and about the emotions. Sometimes characters are sacrificed for that “razor sharp plotting” that authors are usually told to strive for. But Hillier achieves both and I highly recommend.
Marin is at Pike Place Market in Seattle when her 4-year-old son disappears, abducted. Fifteen months later, after a suicide attempt and counseling, she learns that her husband is cheating on her. What does she do with her rage? Especially when she learns that things – and people – aren’t what they seem. Highly recommended.
I could not put this book down. It grabs you from the beginning and just when you think you might have it figured out it shows you that you don’t. I can not wait to read another of Jennifer Hillier’s books.
I found the end a nice switch to happily ever after.