A free electronic copy of this book was provided for review by publishers BDA Publishing, via Library Thing.

I had a hard time with this book. On the one hand most of the writing was beautifully detailed and really kept my interest. On the other, there were clumsy errors that I would get distracted having to reread to the point of frustration as well as strong author biases and unlikely plots that just left me rolling my eyes.

I'll start with the biases. The author's (main character's) biases are made pretty clear from the 3rd chapter when she mentions "the shooting of yet another young Black man by police" and just goes on from there. You are hammered over and over again how pointing at the mental health crisis in this country rather than gun control laws as the cause of mass shootings is just the rich gun lobby's work. The main character is charged with negligence, and this is also blamed on the gun lobby pulling political strings - I find this extremely unlikely, especially in liberal Chicago of all places... Later she stereotypes all older individuals as not being understanding of mental health needs at all, which was just odd, in my opinion. Several "G**damns" and mentioning how a bad person has a cross necklace multiple times seemed to point to an anti-Christian bias, also, which certainly turned me off.

One of the main plots is a romance after loss. This happens literally within 4 days of the loss. Absolutely unbelievable. It was very hard to reconcile her supposed love for her husband and how quickly she fell for this new person she doesn't even know. It's not that love can't happen after loss, but as a person who has suffered a major loss, it is all consuming in the first weeks. Introducing this plot point as part of the trauma would be believable, but it is presented as real love and connection, which is beyond plausibility for me.

The writing is clumsy at times. I'd have to go back to try to figure out who said something because it wasn't clear often, or sentences would be out of order (the first sentence saying the characters arrived, but then the rest of the paragraph talking about the ride there, for example). Verb tenses would change mid-paragraph a few times. Incorrect words for things were used a few times (postured instead of posited, clamored instead of clambered). It was mostly minor things that could have been caught with one more good edit, but it detracted from enjoyable reading.

Overall, I believe this author has promise - the writing detail did keep me engaged. I just can't recommend this particular book. ( )

An electronic copy of this book was provided for review by publishers BDA Publishing, via Library Thing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hiding Places starts off with an interesting premise, but loses its way as author E.J. Post can’t seem to settle on a theme. Does she want to write about surviving trauma? Media influence on the justice system? Gun control? Abused kids? The shortfalls in the American medical system’s ability to recognize and treat depressive disorders? Mix all that in with what is, frankly, a pretty unlikely romance thread, and the whole thing threatens to come totally unwrapped.

Ellie Paxton is a traveling ER physician, providing backup and short-term services in various hospital emergency departments. She enjoys the travel and the changing locations of her assignments, sandwiching in time with her husband between gigs. They are enjoying just such a weekend in Chicago when a leisurely brunch erupts in violence as a lone gunman enters the restaurant, spraying bullets in a random but fatal sweep. Ellie’s husband is one of the first victims, killed instantly by a bullet to the brain, and Ellie, acting almost on instinct, grabs the first wounded survivor she can reach and hauls him out of the deadly arc of bullets to shelter behind the restaurant’s bar.

That’s a pretty high mark to start with, and it definitely yanks the reader into the action. Ellie’s heroism saves lives, but at what cost? At this point, Post could have concentrated on her character’s struggles to deal with her own grief and loss along with public and professional fallout from her actions that day. She could have traced Ellie’s increasing obsession with understanding the shooter’s background and determining what brought him to that place and time. She could even have gone with a slow-build romance as the trauma-born relationship with the man she saved brings feelings of being unfaithful to the man she couldn’t save.

Rather than choosing one, or even two areas to explore, Post goes off in all directions at once, fast-forwarding the romance angle in a way that strains credibility. Ultimately, she never gets far below the surface, and is all too quick to have “anonymous donors” smoothing out many of the bumps in the road her heroine is traveling. A last-minute plot complication feels less like a plot twist and more like an annoyance that the reader just has to plow through before getting to the end of this ambitious, but ultimately unsatisfying tale. ( )

The story gripped me from the start. It wasn't until I got to the end that I realized how many important subjects the story touches on/explores.

*How life can change in an instant
*Mental Health stigmas and treatment protocols
*What health care professionals go through when accused/How along you can feel at that time
*The importance of friends
*Cracks in the current health system
*The grieving process

It kept me riveted to the end and I would definitely read another book by this author.

This copy was provided free via LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I loved the story throughout the entire book. I do wish there was more on the trial itself and a bit more details when it came to big events like the shooting had but overall I really did enjoy the book!! I look forward to reading more books by E.J Post! ( )