Hidden by Benedict Jacka – Review

Published: September 2, 2014

Publisher: Ace

Series: Alex Verus #5

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 304 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:
With his talent for divining the future, Alex Verus should have foreseen his friends’ reactions to the revelations about his previous life. Anne Walker no longer trusts him—and has also cut all ties with the mage community after getting kicked out of the apprentice program. As a favor to Luna, Alex’s own apprentice and Anne’s best friend, he checks in on her only to be told to leave her alone.

Then Anne gets kidnapped. The Council Keepers of the Order of the Star believe Dark mages from her past may be involved. Working with the Keepers, Alex and Luna discover that Anne has been taken into the shadow realm of Sagash, her former Dark mage mentor, and they must find a way to rescue her.

But another shadow from the past has resurfaced—Alex’s former master may be back in London, and Alex has no idea what his agenda is…

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I’ve been terribly inconsistent in reviewing the Alex Verus series, mostly because I don’t have a ton to say about each book. They’re all consistent in tone and entertainment value and I was beginning to feel repetitive in my review content! Fortunately for me (or at least the reviews) the series is feeling less like a case of the week and developing more of an overarching plot.

In the previous book there was the start of a change, or perhaps at last a maturing of Alex’s character and Hidden further solidifies his character growth. In this installment Alex is dealing with the fallout of his choices in the previous book, which he thought were justified due to the kill or be killed nature of the situation. He’s lost a few friends and Hidden follows him as he initially tries to repair a relationship with Anne and then has to save her after she gets kidnapped. 

Alex, though overall a likable guy, definitely has some moments where he’s kind of a stubborn ass. I personally think these moments (though a little jarring) make him feel more real. We ourselves aren’t always likable and even the most mild mannered person can blow up a little or act like kind of an ass sometimes. He really comes through in the friend department though because he goes above and beyond to rescue Anne and deal with some nasty dark mages. This installment also brings home Alex’s fear of his old master, the dark mage Richard, and even deals with some family issues. While this Alex is the true main character, this installment also unravels some of the mystery of Anne’s mage origins and what has been driving her to help others at the expense of her own health and safety.

Overall, I enjoyed this and I feel like the series is heading in a strong direction though I lament the fact I still don’t have that much to say about the individual books! Rest assured, they’re each very entertaining and I’ve been enjoying the audio format.