The Hidden Things

A home-security video shows 14-year-old Carly Liddell, the heroine of this suspenseful, if workmanlike, thriller from Mason (Monday’s Lie), successfully fighting off an intruder who forced his way into her family’s suburban home. The day after the incident, the video is uploaded to YouTube and becomes a viral hit. The video also shows the corner of a painting hanging in the family foyer—17th-century Dutch master Govaert Flinck’s Landscape with Obelisk, part of the haul from the infamous heist at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The author builds tension by carefully doling out the story of how John Cooper, Carly’s new stepfather, came to possess the stolen painting. Meanwhile, John must contend with two people who recognize the painting in the video and have scores to settle with him. The danger the increasingly unlikable John doesn’t count on, however, is the one represented by the whip-smart, courageous Carly—hands down, the best part of the book. Those with an interest in the real-life museum theft may want to check this one out. [em]Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, AMB Literary Management. (Aug.) [/em]