What Hides Within in Genre Specific Review Groups

Sep 24, 2017 Angel Gelique rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: engrossing, suspense, unique-story, creative-and-imaginative, killer-bugs, monstrous-creature

While kayaking, Clive Menard and his friend Morgan paddle to a remote part of the pond they have never ventured to before. They come across an old, dilapidated bridge/overpass where Clive discovers a massive, ominous-looking spider web. It's clear that the area hasn't been disturbed in a very long time. Morgan grows wary about continuing down such an isolated path, but Clive is determined to embark upon unchartered territory.
"It's just a little spider web," he tells Morgan as he desecrates the w ...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Brandy rated it really liked it

Unsolicited review of What Hides Within...

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect and I was kept guessing throughout the whole story. It is creepy, mysterious and does a really good job of playing on fears/phobias. I really like the realistic portrayal of the main character's descent into madness.

For a while I was concerned as to whether I was supposed to like Clive or not--b/c I found it hard to like him. But I don't think the reader is supposed to really like him. He's more of ...more

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Apr 08, 2014 Richard A Peters rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I wasn't expecting a dark psychological thriller to be funny, but this was pretty irreverent. A refreshing twist, having a killer(s) you actually feel a little sympathy for. Whether you like or hate the bad guys, you won't be indifferent to their tale.

If you want a classic horror story, then all the detailed police procedural stuff and comic relief will disappoint. Throw you out of the the suspense. But if you're looking for something different that blends crime, pyschothrillers and mystery into ...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Brandon Collier rated it really liked it

First of all, I have to say, I love the name Clive. Second of all, I love the exploration of darkness which is very intriguing. There is a self discovery in that, which most do not appreciate. This story is a guilty pleasure, a sort of story you don't want to admit you like. I often found myself being able to let wild with my imagination. I do not know what genre to specifically classify it as. There are many subplots throughout the story but they merge toward the end. There were a few structura ...more

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May 15, 2013 J.M. Rankin rated it really liked it

I received a copy of this book free from the author for an honest review.

We first meet Clive Menard as a patient of a neurosurgeon, angry regarding the surgery on his brain. It was a hooking first chapter that had me wondering what was going on/or had gone on to get to this point.

The story then goes back in time to when Clive’s troubles and problems started.
I’m unwilling to give away any of the story itself but really recommend reading it to explore this psychological thriller/horror novel, as I received a copy of this book free from the author for an honest review.

We first meet Clive Menard as a patient of a neurosurgeon, angry regarding the surgery on his brain. It was a hooking first chapter that had me wondering what was going on/or had gone on to get to this point.

The story then goes back in time to when Clive’s troubles and problems started.
I’m unwilling to give away any of the story itself but really recommend reading it to explore this psychological thriller/horror novel, as I was hooked by the plot (even if I am petrified of spiders!)

The pace kept me reading and guessing, and didn’t sag at all. It held my attention right to the end, and at time found myself unable to put it down (sometimes letting other things slide to fit it in...even if I only got through one page!). The plot indeed keeps you guessing and sometimes leading you down the wrong path, surprising me with how wrong my theories on certain aspects were!

Despite the seriousness and disturbing nature of the book, the characters had me laughing at times with their interactions and thoughts, and this brought not just a break from the gloom but brought them to life. I think we can relate to most of the characters in one way or another or know someone who has looked at life in a similar way.

Initially I found Clive irritating and a bit morose, but as the story went on I still found myself wanting to know what happened to him next; the drops of humour from him redeemed him in some ways and I didn’t dislike him, just felt a little indifferent to him as he found everything around him pointless from his job to his apartment.

The one aspect of this book I would critisize (and this may just be me) was the breaks between paragraphs. Admittedly I am an editor by trade, and things like this are usually kept for formal letters etc, not for books, and because of that I’m guessing it probably irritated me more than it would someone else (I kept wanting to hit the review key and remove the breaks!) but unfortunately things like that should not be included in a book being published (again this is my professional opinion, and doesn’t reflect on the book itself; it’s just something I noticed).

Over all this novel drew me in and kept me prisoner right until the end, keeping me guessing (often wrongly) and disturbing me in a way I haven’t been with a novel in a long time (certain aspects of it reminded me of a James Herbert novel with the ability to make my flesh crawl but keep me captivated!), and I thank Jason for that! He is a very talented author, and I will definately keep my eyes open for more of his work in the future.

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Jul 05, 2013 Pinkgreen rated it liked it

Shelves: first-reads, english, male-author, fiction

I won this book through the goodreads giveaway program.
What Hides Within is a great read with an engaging general intrigue, a healthy dose of humor and a touch of creepy.
Writing style is descriptive but to the point. The author provides a lot of clear visuals and atmosphere but doesn't need ten pages to do so.
Dialogue flows easily.
There are lots of characters. And all of them get a personality, even if they're only here for a little while. I like books like these which have a few different la ...more

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Feb 05, 2013 D.G. Speirs rated it really liked it

What Hides Within
By Jason Parent

Reviewed by D. G. Speirs
Feb 5, 2013

There are times when you put down a book and say, “Man, I can’t wait for the next chapter in this story.” This isn’t going to be one of those times. This is a time when I may look carefully around, and wonder, perhaps, what’s in that dark corner of my backyard for awhile, instead.

Jason’s novel, What Hides Within, is an interesting take on the whole concept of a deal with the devil. Being the sort of thriller that it is, there isn What Hides Within
By Jason Parent

Reviewed by D. G. Speirs
Feb 5, 2013

There are times when you put down a book and say, “Man, I can’t wait for the next chapter in this story.” This isn’t going to be one of those times. This is a time when I may look carefully around, and wonder, perhaps, what’s in that dark corner of my backyard for awhile, instead.

Jason’s novel, What Hides Within, is an interesting take on the whole concept of a deal with the devil. Being the sort of thriller that it is, there isn’t much I can describe that wouldn’t be a spoiler. The story’s central spine is the tale of Clive Menard, a low-level nobody making his way through life, who by accident stumbles into something very bad – and then watches (and listens) as it unravels the fabric of his life and weaves it into something more sinister.

With a thriller like this a writer face a number of challenges. You want to keep the story moving briskly, yet you want the surprises – those moments that jump out at you like the ghoulies in a haunted house - spaced not too far apart. And for the most part, Jason delivers quite well. But the novel is so littered with anti-heroes everywhere you turn that I found it at times depressing to read. After the twelfth person whose life is hell-on-earth, it loses its impact. And after all, when you make your deal with the devil, yes, you’re going to get a bait-and-switch. But can you at least let us, the readers, vicariously enjoy the bait for a moment? If this writer has anything to say about it, it's a dark world that never gets any lighter even for a moment.

I read the Kindle version and the structural issues in the construction were disconcerting. It’s a convention as a writer to include some sort of scene change cue for the reader when the book’s point of view changes – extra lines, a set of marks, a timestamp, something. Throughout most of the book, this doesn’t happen, so you’ll be reading a passage and suddenly realize five sentences in “Oh, we’re not in his head, we’re in her head.” I thought it might just be a writing style choice by this author, but then I found one such break in a middle chapter. It, sadly, lives alone in the novel. There are other formatting errors as well (text shifting to centered, a certain character’s dialogue being indicated in different ways in the same conversation, homophones, misspellings), and like a cherry on top, a personal peeve of mine – if you’re going to say someone has a medical condition, you should as an author take the time to learn to spell it correctly. It's “Tourette's syndrome.” All of these serve as speed-bumps to the reader, making it a bit more of a chore to read the novel than it should be.

Still, despite a few plot holes that wander away without good explanation, as a whole the book makes for an entertaining, if somewhat creepy, read. So, if you’re a “bump-in-the-night” sort of reader, you’ll find the book worthwhile. Not my particular cup of tea in the end, but structurally, it’s sound.

I’d give it 3.5 stars, but since we have to do whole numbers, Jason gets the benefit of the round. 4 stars.
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Oct 14, 2012 K.A. Krisko rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror

This book is kind of a genre-bender, a cross between mystery, suspense, and horror, with a little humor thrown in. When I sat down to read a chapter or two, I invariably found myself reading more than I meant to; sometimes I ended up staying up later than I’d intended (yes, I was reading it right before bed. No, that’s not a great idea.).

The characters were well-differentiated and unique. As a frequent reader of mystery and crime, I was partial to the lead female detective, myself. The author d This book is kind of a genre-bender, a cross between mystery, suspense, and horror, with a little humor thrown in. When I sat down to read a chapter or two, I invariably found myself reading more than I meant to; sometimes I ended up staying up later than I’d intended (yes, I was reading it right before bed. No, that’s not a great idea.).

The characters were well-differentiated and unique. As a frequent reader of mystery and crime, I was partial to the lead female detective, myself. The author did a better job with law enforcement technique than many mystery and crime writers I've read! I also appreciated his obvious research on arachnids.

The book has a decidedly “modern” feel – it’s difficult to describe what I mean, but you know you’re in the present day through the expressions used by the characters, the cultural references, and the general tone of the writing. The author didn't hesitate to employ his ample vocabulary. The tone throughout is slightly ironic or sarcastic, particularly when told through the eyes of the male lead. You probably know someone right now who seems to behave, think, and act like him. The use of current events and references adds to the humor, particularly in comparisons. There were a few twists and turns in the plot, with each character carrying a different element. I did make a guess at part of the ending well in advance, but that didn't spoil it for me.

The only gripes I have is that there were some occasional jumps in point-of-view that left me not knowing whose head I was looking out of for a couple paragraphs, although I eventually figured it out, and some occasional misuse of that ample vocabulary; for example, at one point I think he was trying to reference Tourette’s Syndrome, but wrote “Terets” (either that, or it was a cultural reference that was lost on me). There was also a section where part of the solution to the mystery lay in the fact that the perpetrator was left-handed; that’s a really old trope, and while it wasn't a large part of the plot, I found myself wishing he’d come up with something a little more unique – especially given the uniqueness of the book.

Overall, this is a very good read for people who enjoy multiple different genres, for fans of the slightly scary, tongue-in-cheek, almost-believable. I wouldn't be surprised to find in the future that this author develops a comfortable little cult following if he continues to put out stuff like this.

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Sep 25, 2012 Laura Libricz rated it really liked it

What Hides Within is a about an ordinary guy who is possessed by an evil force that invades his brain one day while out kayaking with his girlfriend. He only discovers its true nature after brain-surgery-gone-wrong. This sends him on a whirling adventure through his ordinary life, twisting and turning his personal relationships, uncovering a malicious plot that endangers his life and those around him. Parent’s characters are real-life, his humor is dark and sometimes biting. This book is fast-pa ...more

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Sep 15, 2013 Allison Kohn rated it it was amazing

What Hides within by Jason Parent is a mystery/thriller/fantasy with well developed characters and descriptions so vivid the reader feels sees, smells, and experiences with the people in the story. It is that which gives the story five star quality - and the intensity.

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Jul 26, 2013 H Hunt rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this book very much. It told an interesting story that engaged ur interest & kept u interested through out. I only wish it was longer as this story was well told & can only hope that in the future we'll be reading more of this author Jason Parent's work. I would definitely recommend this book. ...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Brittney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: creature-books, first-reads

Early review book received from goodreads giveaways. After reading this book I am fully prepared to start wearing a pantyhose on my head at all times. Reminiscent of Scott siglers infected series to a point. This book has all the factors of a great horror novel. Recommended to all horror fans. I give out five stars for the creep out factor alone. Can't wait to read more from this author. ...more

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