Monday, October 22, 2018

Review: Hidden

TitleHidden
Author:  Rebecca Zanetti
Series:  Deep Ops #1
Genre:  Mystery/Thriller, Romance
Publisher:  Kensington Books
Format:  Print ARC
No. of pages:  348
Published:  September 25, 2018
My Rating:  4.5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Hide. That’s all Pippa can do to escape the terror chasing her. But now that she’s off the grid in a safe house, she finds plenty of interesting things to watch through the window. Like her new neighbor, with his startling green eyes, killer smile, and sexy bad-boy tattoo . . .

Run. Malcolm West is fleeing the hell he unleashed in his last assignment as an undercover cop. A backwoods bungalow sounds like the perfect place to start over. Until he discovers he’s been set up . . .

Fight. Someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to bring them together. No matter how much he resents that, and his own driving needs, Malcolm will have to dig deep and let loose the banished killer inside himself, or Pippa’s fears could come true faster than the flip of a bolt in a lock . . . 


MY THOUGHTS:

Both Pippa Smith and Malcolm West are in flight. Pippa is hiding in a safe house after escaping a dangerous cult. She is still in grave danger. Malcolm is a cop and his flight is for a different reason. He experienced quite a difficult time during his last undercover assignment. He thinks that he will have time to regroup. He has no time to do that, however. He is quite incensed when he learns that he is being assigned to infiltrate a cult while getting close to a former cult member at the same time. As close as possible, that is. His assignment is none other than Pippa Smith. 

Malcolm is part of a Special Ops team led by Wolfe. Malcolm learns that the cult is much more than brainwashing people in the name of exclusive worship to a charismatic leader. The cult may be planning a mass attack with bombs. Malcolm takes his assignment quite seriously. He quickly develops an intense intimate relationship with Pippa, and realizes his attraction to her goes beyond the physical. Pippa is torn. She is dealing with her time in the cult, the ever-present danger she is in even now and her growing feelings towards Malcolm. 

Hidden is an incredibly thrilling book! Whether the cult is mentioned, the impending attack, or how things are evolving between Pippa and Malcolm, this story is a true time-stealer. This multi-layered story was quite riveting. It was truly impelling and I could not put it down. Add to all of this were the incredible characters. Most assuredly Malcolm and Pippa were outstanding, but then there was the Deep Ops team, including Wolfe, Angus, Raider and Brigid, to name a few. Of course, I have to at least mention Roscoe the dog and Kat the kitten. Loved them too. 

The romance between Pippa and Malcolm happened in a flash, but the level of intrigue was definitely present throughout. This was an incredibly fast-paced story. As things began to draw to a close, the impelling danger was truly a page-turner. 

This is the first book that I have read by Rebecca Zanetti as it was sent to me by the publisher. Hidden is book #1 in the Deep Ops series. It will be followed by Taken in 2019 and will have Raider Tanaka’s story. 

Many thanks to Kensington Books for the print ARC for review. 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

SHORT BIO:

Rebecca Zanetti is the author of over forty romantic suspense, dark paranormals, and contemporary romances, and her books have appeared multiple times on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists.  She lives in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her own Alpha hero, two kids, a couple of dogs, a crazy cat…and a huge extended family.  She believes strongly in luck, karma, and working her butt off…and she thinks one of the best things about being an author, unlike the lawyer she used to be, is that she can let the crazy out.  Upcoming series are: The Blood Brothers, The Realm Enforcers and The Scorpius Syndrome.  

LONGER BIO:

Rebecca Zanetti wrote her first story when she was six – a romance between a princess and neighboring prince.  The princess fell out of her castle and the prince rescued her. A happily ever after was had by all.

This theme of romance has been carried through Rebecca’s works until present time.  While today’s heroine may have a medical degree, black belt in Karate and her own 401K, she’s still after that happy ending.  And today’s prince may have fangs and wear a black hat, but hey, a modern princess likes a guy who bites.

Rebecca attended Pepperdine University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a Political Science emphasis.  While there she worked as the Editor-in-Chief of The Graphic newspaper, a member of the Pi Phi Sorority and an intern for President Reagan, who still gave 3-5 speeches a week, even though he was no longer president. 

After college, Rebecca worked as an art curator and a Senate aide before heading to law school, where she received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Idaho.  She married Tony Zanetti in the middle of her second year of law school and became pregnant with their first child during the third year.  She graduated law school, gave birth three weeks later, and took the Bar Exam three weeks after that.  All she remembers about the bar exam is that it was so quiet in the testing room, she thought about taking a quick nap.  But she continued on, passed the bar and became a lawyer.   She worked for a large firm, then a small firm, then the county while also teaching legal classes at her local community college.  Now she writes  romances about vampires, cowboys, and soldiers.

Growing up amid the glorious backdrops and winter wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest has given Rebecca fantastic scenery and adventures to weave into her stories.  She resides there with her husband, children and extended family who inspire her every day.  Rebecca has completed several manuscripts, winning award throughout the writing industry for her work.  She is currently writes the Scorpius Syndrome series and the Realm Enforcer series (a Dark Protector spinoff) for Kensington Publishing, and the Sin Brothers series  and the Lost Bastard Series for Grand Central Publishing.

The Coeur d’Alene Press recently published an article about Rebecca called  “A Novel to Sink Your Teeth Into.”

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10 comments:

  1. This sounds like my kind of read! I love suspense and fast paced reads. Great review!

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  2. Sounds like a lovely sweet book. Great review

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  3. Great review, I absolutely love mystery/thriller books with romance in the story and this one looks and sounds absolutely amazingly fantastic. Plus I have a few books by this author as well that I really need to read soon! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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  4. Lovely review. But I don't think this is for me

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