In which I explain why I hate character decisions in Hidden Pictures

I was reading this book, Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. Overall it’s a well written if rote little story about an ex-addict finding herself in charge of a young rich boy with a ghost as an imaginary friend. Story old as time.

What is also old as time is the stupid thing some writers have their characters do that flies against all logic and basic communication. Which, of course, means they lie to someone important to them. When a problem is introduced that could be solved with a ten minute conversation then maybe decide to use another problem for your characters.

I don’t mean to pick on Hidden Pictures. I mean, I do, but only because it’s a recent example. If you want a slow burn thriller, it’s good. But man do I hate this trope.

Spoiler alert, I guess for the romance part of the book. Our heroine, Addict, meets a local landscaper Mowboy. He’s cute and they are about the same age, so she gives a little lie that she’s a scholoarship runner at a great school. She won’t see him after the summer, so what’s the harm?

Uh oh spahetti-oh, he’s cool and likes her back. Even tells his parents about her! She has to keep up the lie. She will tell him the next time she sees him because truth telling is part of her recovery program. Except that damn ghost keeps popping up distracting her even when they are alone and on a date and the audience has not thought about the ghost in a while.

The scenario feels cheap and done before. Sure, the book is based on lies and looking closer to see Hidden Pictures (at least it was not named “Magic Eye”). We start though really liking Addict and her interactions with everyone. Mowboy seems like a great guy! One flirty lie leads to me doubting her all around, which might be the intention but is also very frustrating to not know if I can trust the narrator or not.

Then it has me using empathy. I don’t want to be around for when the truth comes out. “Oh, instead of being a track star I have track marks!” (If that was a point, I’m rolling my eyes hard to port.) Or Mowboy finds out first and confronts her. “You're not a long distance runner. You only long distance needles in your body. Who are you?” Nobody walks away from that conversation okay, not even me because I’ve been forced to deal with it and I just wanted a damn ghost story.

Now, what could have been done here? He’s a townie! He knows about the area more than her, although is not accepted because he’s not white. Play with that. Have a racist neighbor they need to talk to about ghost shit. Make Mowboy be secretive because he does not want to scare off the white girl. Having your character be lied to is more comforting and interesting for the narrative than having them lie. At least then I trust what the narrator is telling me, even if she’s being gaslit that she’s crazy. I know I’m not reading the story of a crazy person because that’s just nonsense or another genre entirely.

Anyway, a good book, but I almost put it down because of this. If you have a book about lies and hidden secrets, then make the lies and hidden secrets worth uncovering. Otherwise just have it be all a dream and piss me off at the end than in the middle.