Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

Hidden Bodies
by Caroline Kepnes
Hardcover, 448 pages
Atria, February 23, 2016
4.5 stars

After surviving his last, rather disastrous, relationship, Joe Goldberg thought he had at last found his soulmate in Amy.  However, when Amy turns out not to be the attentive and loving girlfriend Joe had hoped she would be, Joe decides to pick up stakes and relocate across the country NYC to L.A., partly because he desires a fresh start and partly because he's determined to track Amy down and make her pay. Once there he finds a place to stay, gets a job at another bookstore, creates a Facebook page, and begins hunting down the woman who broke his heart. In doing so, he realizes how hard it can be to move forward with your life when your past seems determined to come back to haunt you. 

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"The real horror of my life is not that I've killed some horrible people. The real horror is that the people I've loved didn't love me back." 

New location, same crazy. It's still hard to dislike Joe (despite his being a murderous psychopath) because he really does have some great insights on life and relationships. Sure, he murders people, but the people he murders are insufferable assholes. He even shows tremendous self restraint in not murdering some people despite there being compelling evidence that they might deserve it. His observations about LA life were spot-on, too.  Joe unfortunately doesn't adjust well to LA – people are just too loud, to open, and too casual for Joe's liking. They start to get on his nerves and, like Joe says, "It's the little things that make you want to kill someone." Kepnes did a brilliant job (again) in making me nervous for Joe – not because I wanted to stop him from committing these heinous crimes, but rather because I was worried he'd get caught.

I also appreciated how unpredictable the plot was, despite being a sequel. Every new death (or non-death) was a surprise and the strange circumstances Joe continually found himself in added an element of unpredictability for the reader. The plot dragged a bit in the middle but the development of Joe as a character, with a good side that complimented his bad side, made up for the uneven pacing. Another surprise was the cliff-hanger ending Kepnes chose to close this installment with. You could have ended where it did and been a brilliant stand-alone novel. Hidden Bodies ends in such a way that I'm now eagerly anticipating the next installment. Joe had just begun what could be the start of a redemption arc so it will be interesting to see how that gets carried through to the next novel.

Overall this book wasn't quite as good as the first book but I think part of that is because Joe's personality and behavior aren't new to the reader anymore, which was part of the charm of You.  On the bright side, the new environment, new characters, new revenge angle, and new love interest all worked to create a reading experience that managed to be familiar and fresh all at the same time. I can't wait for the next book! 

Backlist Bump: Again, any book from the Ripley series by Patricia Highsmith is good here. If you want to try something new, though, and are looking for a book with a character you're not sure you're supposed to like, The Good Girl by Mary Kubica is a good option. 

What to Drink: My drink recommendation for this is the Moscow Mule. Joe may be in the land of the Mai Tai but he's an NYC man at heart, and what's more NYC than this? 

Moscow Mule 

2 oz vodka 

1 oz fresh lime juice 

Ginger beer 

Lime wedge for garnish 

Pour the vodka and lime juice into your glass, over ice cubes. To be traditional, this should be a copper mug. Top off with the ginger beer and add your garnish if desired.