Twelve-year-old Emily Calby was a good girl from a religious family in rural Georgia. She loved softball, her little sister and looking up words to get her allowance. Then two men came and murdered her family. Only the killers know she survived. On the run, surviving by wits and animal instinct, she makes an unlikely ally in an ex-gang member who lost his own family to violence. He takes her in and trains her in “self-defense” before more tragedy launches her on a terrifying journey for justice. Nothing will stop her—not cops or creeps, not even her own splintering mind. Through it all, Emily fights to hold onto hope and the girl she once knew, kept buried deep inside. Dark and gritty, but filled with heart and hope, The Hiding Girl is a twisty, fast-paced thriller and a testament to the boundless limits of human love, sacrifice, and the will to survive.
Semi Finalist
Assessment:
Plot: This dark and gritty novel is an exceptional, heart-pounding story full of raw emotion, deep-seated fear, and an undercurrent of hope and innocence.
Prose: Deeply atmospheric without extraneous detail, the prose leaves plenty to the imagination. Even though the story featured a young girl placed in very adult situations, she never lost that young freshness of voice.
Originality: The novel is without peer in contemporary mysteries/thrillers. Oddly—it’s neither of those, and both of them, at the same time. That contradiction is what makes it work so well. It calls back to movies like The Professional and Disney’s The Journey of Natty Gann while being wholly and freshly contemporary.
Character Development: Watching the the characters evolve (and devolve, in some cases) was absolutely amazing. Subtle nuances were plentiful and guided the reader into horrified admiration and a desire to protect them all.
Date Submitted: August 17, 2017
“The story that author Dorian Box has created for Emily Calby is nothing short of thrilling, but it’s The Hiding Girl's masterful interplay of character, setting, and theme, along with its fast-pace and high emotional stakes that makes it a real page-turner.”
"Best Psychological Thriller of 2021."
“You root for the lead, Emily, and stick with her throughout. Engaged me from the first page. Excellent story. Dark and grisly, yet a lot of hope comes with this one.”
“Dark and gritty ... an exceptional, heart-pounding story full of raw emotion, deep-seated fear, and an undercurrent of hope and innocence. ... Deeply atmospheric ... without peer in contemporary mysteries/thrillers.”
“[A] unique mix of hope, shattered innocence, pain, fear, and vulnerability … a great, suspenseful read.”
