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Christian Dittus
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HIDDEN PICTURES

Jason Rekulak

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell's pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman's lifeless body.

As the days pass, Teddy's artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force lingering in the forest behind the Maxwell's house.

With help from a handsome landscaper and an eccentric neighbor, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy - while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past - before it's too late.

Illustrations by Will Staehle and Doogie Horner
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Published 2022-05-01 by Flatiron Books

Comments

I read Hidden Pictures and loved it. The language is straightforward, the surprises really surprise, and it has that hard-to-achieve propulsiveness that won't let you put it down. And the pictures are terrific! -- Stephen King, New York Times bestselling author of Billy Summers and

Visual tour of "Hidden Pictures" with Jason Rekulak. Read more...

Hidden Pictures is one of those rare gems that's aware of the rules of the genre even as it breaks them and invents new ones. It's a gas to read, full of wonderful new ideas, both literary and visual. This is one of those books you leave out long after finishing, just so your friends might see it and give you the chance to share it! Jason Rekulak is going to be telling us all stories for a good long while. -- Scott Frank, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and Emmy-winning director of The Queen's Gambit

A disturbing household secret has far-reaching consequences in this dark, unusual ghost story Rekulak does a great job with character development: Mallory, who narrates in the first person, has an engaging voice; the Maxwells' slightly overbearing parenting style and passive-aggressive quips feel very familiar; and Teddy is so three-dimensional that he sometimes feels like a real child. It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts. -- Kirkus Reviews

Film rights sold to Netflix with the author attached to write screen play.

UK: Sphere; Brazil: Intrinseca: Turkish: Ithaki; Czech Republic: Dobrovsky; France: Bragelonne; Hebrew: Kinneret; Italy: Giunti; Japan: Hayakawa; Korea: Moonhak Soonchup; Poland: Zysk; Russia: Azbooka-Atticus;

Who knew a book about children's drawings could be so spooky? The thing is, it might not be 5-year-old Teddy who is drawing the pictures that his new nanny Mallory keeps finding in his room after quiet time. I loved Hidden Pictures, but if you won't take my word for it, take Stephen King's. -- Buzzfeed, "15 New Thrillers and Mysteries Worth Picking Up This Spring"