Readers' Comments for THE HIDDEN CHILD
In April, a select group of readers who participated in one of our Suspense Thriller contests won copies of THE HIDDEN CHILD by Camilla Läckberg. Take a look at some of the readers' comments to give you more insight into this book --- and make sure to watch out for SPOILERS!
Betty A., of San Diego, CA
Thank you for the free book I received. I have absolutely loved reading this book. I enjoy suspense and character-driven books. I had never read Camilla Lackberg's books before so I am grateful for being introduced to this wonderful author. I belong to a book forum and have already praised this book. I was never fond of war stories but I found this book to be very interesting with many interesting characters. Thank you so much for choosing me as winner!
Marcia C., of Jeffersonville, PA
I've just finished THE HIDDEN CHILD ---a book I thoroughly enjoyed! Camilla Lackberg did a wonderful job of creating several different strands of a situation and then slowly weaving them into one powerful ending. I read the last 200 pages of this book nonstop. I found her characters believable and very, very human. I liked the way she juxtaposed the story of the murders with the story of Erica's search for answers in her relationship with her mother. And, I also really appreciated the way she could counterbalance the tension with the adventures of Mellberg and Ernst.
For me, her characters' struggle with guilt, responsibility and fear added an additional dimension to the book.
Thank you for the opportunity to meet a new author. I was surprised and happy to see that she has written many other books!
I lead a reading group at a Senior Center. I would definitely recommend this book to them. Even if they choose not to read it as a group, I know that several of them would read this book --- even with all of the Swedish names. I plan to pass my copy on to friends who enjoy Scandinavian authors and great mystery stories.
How would I describe this book? As a mystery about murders that had their roots in the Second World War and about the people both past and present that were caught up in the repercussions of the bravery and hatred that the war created.
Dorothy N., of Millstone Towns, NJ
The story opens with the gruesome scene of a man found dead in a house in Sweden by two teenage boys. What can this murder possibly have to do with author Erica's Falck's search for information about her mother's past? From this point author Camilla Lackberg skillfully weaves a story that connects the dark days of World War 11 with the present.
Lackberg explores human suffering, war and it’s after effects, and why some people can not move beyond their own youthful experiences while others are able to do so. She gives the reader so much to think about while she spins a fabulous tale, with all the twists and turns and hidden secrets that any good mystery story has. The characters are interesting, developed, and flawed.
This book is part of a series featuring Erica's new husband, Patrik Hedstrom, a detective in the small community of Fjallbacka in Sweden. It is not necessary to read those earlier books in order to fully enjoy this wonderful book, but you will want to!
Marjorie C., of Manila, IN
I diagram as I read and this was especially helpful with THE HIDDEN CHILD. There are a lot of characters and movement between present day and the war years, especially 1943-1945 in Sweden.
Crime author Erica Falck is married to Detective Patrik Hedstorm and the mother of one year old Maja. After the death of her Mother, Erica finds a Nazi medal among her mother's possessions. Her curiosity aroused, she takes the medal to a retired history professor who was a part of a group of her mother's friends during the war. This group included her mother, Elsy Molstrom, the professor, Eric Frankel, his brother, Axel Frankel, Britta Johansson, and Frans Ringholm. Erica also finds several of her mother's diary's from that period.
Elsy's father, Elof, was a fisherman during the war and made frequent trips to Norway which had been occupied by the Germans. Alex Frankel went with Elof and functioned as a spy against the Germans. He was caught and imprisoned in Norway.
[SPOILERS]
Sometime after Erica gave the Nazi medal to Eric, he was murdered. The plot thickens quickly after that and Erica and Patrick work to solve Eric's murder, and that of Britta a short time later.
[END SPOILERS]
One will not want to put down the volume THE HIDDEN CHILD. I certainly recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries and history. This is a marvelous combination of both.
Kelly M., of Gainesville, VA
I was so excited to win THE HIDDEN CHILD by Camilla Lackberg. This is the 5th book in her Patrick Hedstrom series. While I have read these books in order, it could also be enjoyed standalone. Anyone who enjoys crime fiction will like this book and I think THE HIDDEN CHILD along with the rest of the series is a great start for someone who wants to try crime fiction.
In this story, detective Patrick Hedstrom is on paternity leave while his wife Erica Falk writes a book. Erica finds and reads her deceased mother's diaries from the WWII era. At the same time, Patrik begins assisting with the investigation of the murder of one of Erica's mother's childhood friends. The story flips back and forth between the current investigation and Erica's mother's life during WWII. This one kept me guessing until the very end. Great novel!
Jane W., of Apache Junction, AZ
This book started with a gruesome description of a dead body and flies. From there it held my attention throughout. The book is about a group of friends whom share a secret and alternates between WWII and current times. Early on Erica, a woman author, descovers some child’s dress and a medal of her dead mothers and sets out to learn more about her mother. We then follow both the search for the killer but also the mystery of what happened to Erica's mother.
The story dealt with a number of relationships, mother and child, father and son, friends, siblings and persons in power with those below them. I liked the way the characters came to life as they went about their work through showing bits of their home lives. While it is set in Sweden, the situations of the characters will be recognizable to any reader: The father on paternity leave, the police chief coming to face his sexist attitudes. While the plot was strong and the story line good, it also was multi-layered in its approach.
I will recommend this to my mystery book group as one that they will enjoy for both the engaging story but also for the depth of the characters. While not all characters were likable, we were told enough so that we understood their actions.
Hallie S., of Aurora, IL
When I first started reading Camilla Läckberg’s THE HIDDEN CHILD, I had no idea of the series of novels containing Patrik, Erica and the town of Fjällbacka. However, despite my lack of previous experience with Läckberg novels, THE HIDDEN CHILD easily drew me into its twisting and turning storyline. From Läckberg’s narrative, I could easily glean sufficient material to feel comfortable and satisfied with each character --- even without knowing all the details from prior stories. At no point did I feel I approached this novel with a disadvantage. Both the past-to-present mystery and the character interactions held me intrigued, and the methodical pace kept me turning page after page just to find the next revealed piece of the daunting puzzle. THE HIDDEN CHILD is worth a read --- I recommend this novel to lovers of thrillers and intrigue, and I certainly plan to read more from Camilla Läckberg in the foreseeable future.
Margaret L., of Neenah, WI
I started this book with much interest and actually finished it quite rapidly, considering its 500+ pages. There was enough suspense to provoke my speculation and to keep the pages turning!
I had difficulty, however, with some of the stereotyped characters and situations: the trying-to-be-uninvolved office chief, the older policeman just marking his time, the couples who seemed to want to spend more time in bed with each other than in minding the children already created, the ineffective fathers, the downtrodden mothers, the lost-in-the-shuffle children. There were too many "aha” moments that changed peoples' lives too quickly: the chief and his dog, the chief and the lesbian couple, the rebel kid and his drunken mother, the fathers who suddenly "got it" about parenting, the sudden insight between mother-in-law and daugher-in-law.
[SPOILERS]
Too many surprise pregnancies: Elsy's, Anna's, Erica's. Certainly some of all those things can happen, but all in a small circle in a small span of time? Unbelievable!
[END SPOILERS]
Then the characters, too many with too-similar names:
Erica, Erik; Anna, Annika, Anna-Greta; Maja, Mia, Magda; Esy Elop Elfrida Egon; Kristina, Karin, Carina; Bertil, Belinda, Britta, Bodil; Martin, Mattias, Malin, Molin, Mostrom, Maria, Mats, Martin #2; Axel, Axelsson; Lundgren, Lerstern, Ludde, Ludwig; Hilma, Herman, Hjalmar; Pernilla, Per, Pia, Paula, Per #2; Frans, Frankel; Leif, Leffe; Johanna, Johansson; Hans, Hansson; Vilgot, Violet;
All those in the first 120 pages; there were more; too confusing to keep track of.
Many of the chapters started off so vaguely as to be completely unclear to what they were relating. If this was an attempt at suspense, it fell short, resulting in more confusion than curiosity. Time of the chapters jumped around a bit too. The historical period was labeled, but the "current" story didn't exactly follow a strict timeline, and it also was confusing.
Finally, I didn't find anything "literary" about the book. Yes, good "summer reading," but my book club would be hard-pressed to find much to discuss, no illusions, obvious foreshadowing, little character development (aside from the rapid turn-arounds). The depressing theme, "if you didn't allow yourself to love, you didn't risk losing everything," is a complete turn-off; it seems like it would have been easy to turn it around to something like "love is worth the risk." But not with these people or this author.
Mabel B., of Yelm, WA
I honestly wasn't the biggest fan of the book, but I know several people in my own family who would probably thoroughly enjoy reading it, except for the language. My Aunt would be at the top of the list because she is a big Holocaust and everything that surrounded it guru. I'm not one to give spoilers so I would tell her that it's a suspense book that shows a completely other side of everything that happened during that time period. Showed the things that some people were willing to do and ways that it could've affected the lives of people for generations afterwards. Secrets that were kept and the way secrets affect different people and not always in a good way. She was definitely the person I thought about when I read it and that she would probably thoroughly enjoy it and if it wasn't for the language would probably suggest it for reading for her class. I only didn't like it because at first there were times the scene would switch to people who didn't even really seem all that relevant to the story. But otherwise the author did a good job of writing it.
Thanks so much for the book I will definitely be giving it to my aunt the next time I see her.
Dorothy S., of Raleigh, NC
This book has so many characters that it was really confusing for me.
Also, there were so many changes of time periods. I enjoyed certain parts of it but would not read another one of her books
I would not recommend this book to anybody. I am sorry but I did not enjoy it.
Robert G., of Shelton, CT
This is the second Lackberg book I have read --- also the Stonecutter.
Ms. Lackberg is a master at intertwining several seeingly unrelated storylines and flashbacks. Unfortunately, I think the way these storylines come together is often unrealistic. In THE HIDDEN CHILD I thought just too many unimaginable things happened within a very small group of people. Also some elements strain credulity. For example, the sixty years of monthly payments from Erik, a key element in solving this puzzle, overlooked by the detectives for quite some time.
The background was well researched and did add to the story.
The subplots involving the personal elements of Patrik's and Erica's families and Bertil Mellberg's antics are a bit too soap-operish for me and also did not seem realistic.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Carol C.
I have ambivalent feelings about this book. Since I didn't realize that it was part of a series, it was unusual for me to read one out of order, and although it can stand alone I think it would be better understood if there was some known context for the reader. Also, it is possible that some of the problems I had with it were the result of the translation. With the best will in the world, some things do not translate well. I am certain that those who read English written works find the same problem when they are translated into their languages!
The story itself was fascinating. World War II, the horrible things that happened, and the ways in which people coped (or didn't cope) are of great interest to me, and the unfolding of a mother's life to her daughter, and the fact that things that happened long ago can have aftereffects in the present were actually brought out quite well.
