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The Hidden

by Tobias Hill

2.79 · rating details · 99 ratings · 28 reviews

In southern Greece in 2004, a close-knit group of archaeologists searches for the buried traces of a formidable ancient power. A student running from a failed marriage and family, Ben Mercer is a latecomer to their ranks, drawn to the charisma of the group's members--to the double-edged friendship of Jason, the unsettling beauty of Natsuko and Eleschen, and the menace of M

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Paperback, 353 pages

Published by Harper Perennial

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Feb 18, 2010

Marcelo rated it

I liked the Spartan theme of the book. That was the high-point of this novel. Reading about them made you think of all the different things that might happen later on to the main character. The problem is that none of them happen. Up to 3/4 of the story; you have no idea what's going on; and when it's explained; it pales in comparison to what it could've been. The dialog is confusing a lot of the times; and I often found myself going back to read a page just because I lost track of who was talki...more

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May 09, 2011

Ian Mapp rated it

· review of another edition

I hate that feeling of being robbed that you get at the end of a meaty book and you realise that it was utterly pointless investment of time. The early part of this book had enough intrigue to stop me from binning it, even though the story didn't appear to be going anywhere. By the end of the book, it really hadn't gone anywhere.

Ben Mercer has split up from his wife and daughter and goes to Athens, then Sparta to take part in an archaeological dig. Here, he is bonding with a diver...more

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Dec 17, 2010

Susan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, greek-and-latin, mysteries, novels

Benjamin Mercer, the anti-hero of this pretty good novel, a lapsed classics student from Oxford, drifts away from his divorced wife and their little daughter and finds himself in Greece. Ben -- or the secret narrator -- is fascinated with the history of Sparta, the prototype for the modern military-police state. It just so happens that Ben finds himself a grueling job as cook, bottle washer, and waiter in a meat grill in a suburb of Athens called Metamorphosis, and there his own decline from m...more

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Jan 22, 2009

Jenny rated it

· review of another edition

I was really disappointed by this book as I'd been looking forward to reading it. In general, the plot was functional and worked ok but the comparisons reviewers have made with Donna Tartt's the Secret History are very flattering to Hill's book. The plot here is equally mysterious but the plot and characters aren't developed very adeptly with the result that they're unengaging - it's like reading a transcript of what happened in the first series of Big Brother. By the middle of the book I couldn...more

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Nov 06, 2010

Marco rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who are lost, those who are seeking something

Recommended to Marco by: James. The Spartans. Salon dot com.

Shelves: interesting, mystery, thriller, history

This is a book that I sought out because of a certain professional curiosity and, related to that, because it was the answer to me posing the question "What are you reading right now?" to a friend.

At the time, he was half way through the book and severely intrigued by where it was going. Several days later I was half way through the book and knew exactly what he meant.

He told me when he finished it that he was a little bit let down and now that I've finished it, I ...moreThis is a book that I sought out because of a certain professional curiosity and, related to that, because it was the answer to me posing the question "What are you reading right now?" to a friend.

At the time, he was half way through the book and severely intrigued by where it was going. Several days later I was half way through the book and knew exactly what he meant.

He told me when he finished it that he was a little bit let down and now that I've finished it, I know what he means. You can find a synopsis somewhere else, but they're not kidding about the comparisons between this and The Magus and The Secret History. It, of course, falls short of both those books, but is equally it's own thing, but not nearly as memorable though. This is airport fiction done through an author with a very literary and poetic style.

Anyway. Up until the book's big reveal around page 270 or 280 or somewhere in between, I have to say that I was having the time of my life. For a book with not much happening in it, I was riveted. Hill does a brilliant job of setting up a certain tone throughout the book, a certain sense of dread that seems to hiding behind every corner or spying on you from afar in this new world we live in, this "age of terror."

The only SPOILER (albeit minor) I'll add there is that Hill's book falls apart, I believe, when he leaves his own voice behind and the story becomes reminiscent of things that Don Delillo was doing so brilliantly in the 70s and 80s and in the same setting as well.

I complain here about the big reveal being a let down, but then again, this book is primarily all "set up," so once we find out what the secret is, what is so hidden amongst this attractively beguiling group of friends, there's probably no way you could be let down. The book doesn't start to become bad anywhere in the last 75 pages, not at all, but it's fair to say that it doesn't hold your interest in quite the same way in those last parts. Understandably so, to an extent: More fun can always be found in the chase as opposed to the capture, as it were. A thing can have an incredible allure when it's hidden, when you know it's there in front of you and just around that corner, but that shine can fade in the harsh light of day when it's found. The brilliance of this novel, for me, wasn't the whole and complete story, but the parts in the dark, in the searching.(less)

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Jan 07, 2012

Margaret rated it

· review of another edition

"The Hidden" is a book about obsession, and secrets, sombre in tone and full of ominous signs of things not being right, of not being what they seem. I enjoyed it, although at times I got a bit lost in the dialogue trying to follow who was speaking and had to backtrack and with the third person narrative I was unsure sometimes who the he was. That said, it was a gripping tale of what happens to Ben Mercer. Ben, emotionally vulnerable after his divorce, leaves Oxford for Greece whe...more"The Hidden" is a book about obsession, and secrets, sombre in tone and full of ominous signs of things not being right, of not being what they seem. I enjoyed it, although at times I got a bit lost in the dialogue trying to follow who was speaking and had to backtrack and with the third person narrative I was unsure sometimes who the he was. That said, it was a gripping tale of what happens to Ben Mercer. Ben, emotionally vulnerable after his divorce, leaves Oxford for Greece where he joined a group of archaeologists on a dig in Sparta. The group is made up of five people, including a fellow academic from Oxford, and two beautiful young women. Dazzled by their charisma he is desperate to be accepted as part of their group, to be included, to take part in the strange games they play. But it wasn t just a game.[return][return]It s also about the history of Sparta. Interspersed in the narrative are Ben s Notes Towards a Thesis and it was in these notes that I found clues about the nature of the group. In ancient Sparta the Crypteia meant The Secret Matter or The Hidden - young men who were an instrument of subterfuge and terror . [return][return]I liked the contrasts in this book, the vivid descriptions of places. Here is an example where Ben is remembering Oxford:[return][return]"The fog going out through the streets to the rivers, the Thames and the Cherwell, the Evenlode and the Ock. The city always secretive and all the more so at that hour, as it slept, its acres full of unseen courts and cloisters, its lodgings and stairs full of lives, waiting, pending morning."[return][return]And again describing Athens:[return][return]"He recognised the lay of the land, the hills and saddle that ran between them. He knew the history of the ruins on each, the palaces and shrines and graves built one atop the other, like corals, the living on the dead. But the green of the slopes in the sunlight, and the flash of spring flowers; and beyond the ziggurat-steps of the Menelaion, the clear air across the valley, and the city below, and the mountains beyond the city, white capped, momentous & it was spectacular."[return][return]A novel about secrets, hidden things that maybe Ben should have left alone. The characters are all difficult to like, maybe because I couldn t get a clear picture of some of them in my mind. Ben is really rather pathetic and needy and because of that he is easily manipulated. I read the chilling events at the end of this book with increasing unease and a feeling of desolation. It was both gripping and horrific.(less)

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Feb 04, 2010

Adam rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 26, 2010

Ashvin rated it

This book was OK, though one of the comments on the back of the book said that it was a well-paced thriller or something like that. So not true. It plodded slowly. Very very slowly. And it wasn't a thriller at all. Some thriller-like stuff happened in the last 15% or so of the book, but nothing in the first 85% or so suggested that anything thrilling would happen.

I can't decide if this book rubbed me the wrong way because 1) it was "too smart" for me, 2) it was trying to b...moreThis book was OK, though one of the comments on the back of the book said that it was a well-paced thriller or something like that. So not true. It plodded slowly. Very very slowly. And it wasn't a thriller at all. Some thriller-like stuff happened in the last 15% or so of the book, but nothing in the first 85% or so suggested that anything thrilling would happen.

I can't decide if this book rubbed me the wrong way because 1) it was "too smart" for me, 2) it was trying to be "too smart" for me and failed, or 3) I wasn't in the mood for a "smart" book. There were some neat moments here and there, but people who enjoyed this book probably enjoyed it because they liked Greek history and ideas, liked archeology, and/or like books written in a slightly unconventional style.

The writer has written poetry and stuff as well, and you can tell from his style. Or at least I could. It's because I don't "get" poetry. I have to think too much, and I'd rather a book draw me in without much effort on my part. I can understand that one may enjoy that type of reading, where the sentences and punctuation are a little off, and that "off-ness" elicits some feelings and/or imagery that may be harder to achieve by writing in a simpler style. It's not that anything was incomprehensible. Far from it. Just took a little effort. More than I was willing to put in. I definitely started skimming parts.

Oh, it's also a bit depressing. Not too bad, but certainly not a happy book.

That all being said, I clearly didn't hate it. It takes place in present-day Greece, much of it in what was Sparta. It also talks a lot about the Spartans. Interesting people, mostly because they're so fucked up. Most of the book focused on one character, his relationships with a few others, and his take on the history of Sparta. It was neat to get a flavor of small town Greece and an archeological dig.

I think the author had some great ideas, but didn't execute them as well as he liked. This might be the type of book that may actually work better as an indie movie. I think that much of it could have been better communicated by long slow shots of a rainy Greek country side with little music and dialogue.

I would actually recommend this book if people know what they're getting into. Which you do if you read this review. ;)

(less)

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Dec 31, 2009

Leon rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: library

At first I approached Tobias Hill’s The Hidden as a literary piece of fiction, as I was mindful of the fact that he is a poet. So, you can expect him to write like one, meaning some of his sentences are rich in images, just the right formula of ‘Don’t tell, show’.

And show, he does, opening up a historical vista to ancient Sparta. Ben Mercer is an expert on this, and he’s supposed to be working on his thesis. But he never finishes it, and now is having problems with his marriage. H...more

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Dec 18, 2009

Nicole rated it

Having fled his hometown, school and his spectacularly failed marriage, Ben Mercer has retreated to the tiny town of of Metamorphosis, Greece, where he whiles away the hours living simply as a grill worker in a meat shop and working on his thesis on the peculiarities of ancient Sparta and the customs and psychology of ancient Greeks. Metamorphosis is literally in the middle of nowhere, so Ben is surprised one day by the appearance of Eberhardt, an old classmate from university, who tells him tha...moreHaving fled his hometown, school and his spectacularly failed marriage, Ben Mercer has retreated to the tiny town of of Metamorphosis, Greece, where he whiles away the hours living simply as a grill worker in a meat shop and working on his thesis on the peculiarities of ancient Sparta and the customs and psychology of ancient Greeks. Metamorphosis is literally in the middle of nowhere, so Ben is surprised one day by the appearance of Eberhardt, an old classmate from university, who tells him that he is working on an archaeological dig in Sparta. Eberhardt then disappears before Ben can chat with him further and without saying goodbye.

Intrigued, Ben makes a few inquiries and gets himself assigned to the same dig in Sparta, as much to figure out why Eberhardt was so cagey as to further escape the dismal possibilities of his current situation. Ben isn’t welcomed when he gets there. Eberhardt remains aloof and the other archaeologists to whom he seems closely bound show Ben even less interest, which is what make them so interesting to Ben, that and the fact that they seem to have ulterior moves and share a dark secret.

When I initially began reading The Hidden, I enjoyed it very much and was (as I remain) impressed with the beauty and expressiveness of Hill’s prose. I was immediately drawn in to what seemed to me the story of a man who is trying to come to terms with the reprehensible behavior that ruined his marriage, separating him from the wife and child whom he loved deeply. His writing on his thesis, conversations with co-workers on modern Greek culture, and the ruminations which exposed the failings of his marriage were not the gripping mystery that had been promised in the jacket copy, but was a story in which I was deeply interested.

The episode, eventually uncovered, that led to the destruction of Ben’s marriage was unique and one that I would have liked to have seen explored in more detail. If I was reading uneasily it was because the book was supposed to be a thriller, and more than one hundred and fifty pages in I had seen neither hide nor hair of one, and thought that the novel, to its disservice, had been poorly marketed.

Firmly into the second half, though, the novel begins to go astray. Several players are introduced at once and the conversations they have are a jumbled mess of long sentences, where no page breaks or quotation marks make it exceedingly hard to figure out who has said what. The story that had been building throughout the first half of the novel all but completely disappears, and I felt as if I had been dropped into a completely different book, with characters who were alien and a little flat. The mystery, which might have had legs if integrated into the story earlier, was anti-climactic by the time it made it’s way into the last seventy five pages of the novel.

Hill is a talented writer and I loved one of the stories that he was trying to tell. The thesis portion of the novel was interesting but ultimately seemed unconnected to the book, while the last section fragmented what he had been building. There was simply too much going on, but not enough to tie it all together and make it compelling. Contributing to this was the fact the book description totally mismanaged my expectations. I’m definitely curious to see what Hill might write next, but would proceed with extreme caution.(less)

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Apr 06, 2010

Joe rated it

· review of another edition

+1 for teaching me all facts about ancient Sparta. It was especially fortunate for coming right when my sixth grader was learning about Sparta in school, and we could talk knowledgeably about hoplites and helots.

+1 for beautiful prose. I liked the mood.

-1 for a big reveal that came up small.

Overall, this book had some good moments, but it made me recall many times how much more I enjoyed THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt, with which this book shares many them...more

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May 17, 2011

Erik rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature, own, thriller

[Dutch]
Met Het verborgene produceert de onderscheiden schrijver Tobias Hill een literaire thriller in de trend van Nicci French: een inactieve hoofdpersoon rolt van de ene gebeurtenis naar de andere om uiteindelijk welhaast per ongeluk op een mysterie te stuiten.

Lees meer op 8WEEKLY

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Apr 07, 2010

Clare rated it

· review of another edition

Very disappointed. I've read a couple of Hill's books and really enjoyed them. The reference to The Secret History probably also drew me in. Small group of intellectuals with a secret, that's where the similarity ends. I could barely finish this book. Flicked to the end and couldn't find enough in the ending to merit trudging through the rest.

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Dec 11, 2009

Mike Barnett rated it

· review of another edition

Interesting novel: it was claimed to be a murder mystery in some review I read, but that is really stretching it. It has a murder in it, but that is far from being the important thing in the book. Lots of interesting (and maybe true?) information about ancient Sparta.

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Feb 06, 2010

Scott Bottles rated it

· review of another edition

Did not like reading it because the lead character is pathetic. But there is a twist at the end that makes it worth reading. Reminds me of the Alexandria Quartet.

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Sep 15, 2011

Avrilbrown rated it

· review of another edition

A story very similar to "The Secret History". Set around an archeological dig searching for the elusive Sparta mixed with historical details of the spartans which then takes a shocking turn. Right up my street, reading-wise.

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Jan 09, 2010

Dawn rated it

· review of another edition

The only reason I finished this book is that I kept thinking something was going to happen. If you like stories about self-centered people young men, read on...

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Nov 27, 2010

Ed rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novel

Some interesting history of ancient Greece. some interesting current-day Greece local color. Disappointing plot.

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Aug 26, 2010

Mιss •kαthєяίиє• marked it as to-read · review of another edition

[Aug. 2008:] Saw it in a bookstore's self in a Greek copy. The back cover review makes me want to read it

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Jan 20, 2011

Jennifer Withers rated it

· review of another edition

A cross between A Secret History and The Magus. Not a bad read, but a bit predictable.

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Dec 31, 2009

Abby Howell rated it

· review of another edition

First half wonderful. Second half a dud.

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Apr 25, 2011

Betty rated it

Again a book by the Trenton's Book Club that I could not waste my time on. It was about a man struggling with inner conflicts and he went off to an excavation team and ....couldn't get interested so I did not complete it.

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Jun 14, 2010

Lauren rated it

· review of another edition

Meh. Kind of a snooze.

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Apr 01, 2011

Martin Fautley rated it

· review of another edition

Set in Sparta, takes a long time to get anywhere, but when it does the reader is drawn in. Intriguing.

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Jan 10, 2010

Megan Richardson rated it

I admit, I originally picked up this book because I really liked the cover. And when I read the synopsis - it reminded me a lot of "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt. It was nowhere near as good. I didn't feel like I got to know any of the characters and it seemed the the author was trying way too hard to sound intelligent. I strugged to even finish it.

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Nov 16, 2009

Mara rated it

This book was not what I was expecting and while the dark mystery carried me through to the end, I was repelled by the underlying violence throughout and am glad to be done with it. It wasn't poorly written but I didn't connect with any of the characters on an emotional level so it was hard to be more than a casual observer of their morbid situations.

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Mar 26, 2010

Lyndon rated it

Shelves: fiction

The Hidden takes it's sweet time in building into a thriller, only to run out of fuel and stall, and finally stop. Not so much as page turner as a when-will-this-end novel.

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Nov 13, 2009

Staci rated it

Recommended to Staci by: TLC Tour

Shelves: tlc-tour, 2009-reads

will post review November 18 on Life in The Thumb

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Jan 27, 2012

Michelle marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 02, 2012

Ashraf Osman is currently reading it · review of another edition

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About Tobias Hill

Tobias Hill (born London, England, 30 March 1970) is an award-winning British poet, essayist, writer of short stories and novelist.

Tobias Hill was born in Kentish Town, north London, to parents of German Jewish and English extraction: his maternal grandfather was the brother of Gottfried Bermann, confidant of Thomas Mann and, as owner of S. Fischer Verlag, German literature's leading p...more

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