Nellie Cavendish needs to know more about her past. If it weren't for the letter from her estranged father and her upcoming 30th birthday, she would never have known to come to Salem, but instead of a cute, little town in the middle of nowhere she finds a bizarre HIDDEN SALEM, that no one needs to find. But Nellie needs answers to questions that she isn't sure she can even ask.

Already in place are members of the F.B.I. Special Crimes Unit. Grayson Sheridan, is used to strange, but the feel of this town is beyond that. There is evidence of Satanic activities, but no evidence of foul play because ... no bodies. Geneva Raynor has been in town long enough to get a feel but finds most of the townspeople are very adept at blocking her out. Also in place and the reason for the SCU team coming in is Finn Deverell, a member of one of the five families who founded Salem and one of the people with a special talent, but even he couldn't fight the evil that is trying to control everyone and everything in the town.

HIDDEN SALEM takes readers and fans back to author Kay Hooper's Bishop/SCU series and finding that it is still as amazing as the first. The four main characters, or perhaps I should say five as Leo, Nellie's dog, is an interesting character who according to a couple of people had his own "talents," are likable, with various strengths and weaknesses but the way everyone (except Nellie) kept quoting Bishop added a lightness that was needed. It was Nellie, who at first was in denial concerning all of her talents, who found the inner strength to do what was needed to destroy the evil and save a little girl, who nobody even recognized as missing. Not even her parents seem to know anything. As you read you will find that there is a lot for her to take in a very short time, to be able to accept and do what had to be done.

I enjoyed the moments that Ms. Hooper allows us to spend with Noah Bishop and his wife and partner, Miranda. They are the heads of SCU, but also the first characters that made me a fan of Ms. Hooper's amazing books.

HIDDEN SALEM is an amazing read that you might not want to read alone or at night. The evil that this author comes up with for her stories continues to bring chills up and down readers' spines. She is very adept at leading you down the path she wants you to go, until she throws you a twist or two, then leads you to a different path. Fantastic, though at the time rather frightening, read that provokes thought as well as gives readers pleasure in knowing the good guys win!

Book Summary