Hidden Bodies / Caroline Kepnes

3 out of 5 stars

Joe Goldberg is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past ten years, this thirty-something has buried four of them, collateral damage in his quest for love. Now he’s heading west to Los Angeles, the city of second chances, determined to put his past behind him.

In Hollywood, Joe blends in effortlessly with the other young upstarts. He eats guac, works in a bookstore, and flirts with a journalist neighbor. But while others seem fixated on their own reflections, Joe can’t stop looking over his shoulder. The problem with hidden bodies is that they don’t always stay that way. They re-emerge, like dark thoughts, multiplying and threatening to destroy what Joe wants most: true love. And when he finds it in a darkened room in Soho House, he’s more desperate than ever to keep his secrets buried. He doesn’t want to hurt his new girlfriend—he wants to be with her forever. But if she ever finds out what he’s done, he may not have a choice...

This book is every bit as well written & fast paced as the first one—so I have no idea why I had such a hard time to stay focused on it. I didn’t find it quite as enjoyable as You. Maybe because I already knew Joe Goldberg, so there was no “getting to know you” phase. I was just plunged back into his creepy, murderous world. This sounds twisted to say, but I think I liked Joe better as a stalker than as a serial killer.  Stalking provided more emotional tension.

There were some moments for sure. When Joe says things like, “God, I love her brain, all pink and mushy and suspicious.” Or when he recounts his string of murders, but says that since no one else knows, it’s “a when-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest” thing.

I assume from the ending of book 2 that there is a book 3 in the offing. I will most likely read it.