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Hidden in Plain View

Hidden in Plain View

List Price: $12.99
Your Price: $9.74
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A real treat
Review: After solving a case involving Neo-Nazis, Baltimore Herald journalist Daryl Billups is quickly rising to the top of his profession. The paper has given the African-American crime reporter a promotion and a hefty raise, and he has become a local TV star.

Daryl reports on a serial killer whose African-American victims are found with decals of confederate flags all over their face. While most individuals quickly assume these are hate crimes, Daryl wonders if there might be a different motive to the murders. However, as Daryl begins his own inquiries, the killer hones in on the reporter, planning to add him to his rising count of murders.

HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW, the second Daryl Billups mystery (see the delightful UP JUMPED THE DEVIL), is a very entertaining who-done-it. The story line requires some acceptance of the seemingly impossible. For instance, the instant "beaming" of Daryl from Baltimore to an Atlanta crime scene occurs faster than anyone could have even cleared Hartsfield's waiting area. However, those few instances fail to take away from the fast-paced, fast-paced, and enjoyable plot. Daryl remains a fabulous hero. The secondary players, especially the city of Baltimore, imbue the novel with a special warmth and depth. With novels like this one, Blair S. Walker will not remain hidden in plain view of the local bookstore.

Harriet Klausner

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent murder mystery with interesting hero and villan
Review: Blair Walker has done an excellent job creating a believable character and hero, Darryl Billups the reporter, who I could really relate to as an African American professional. The plot of "Hidden in Plain View" is very fascinating and the murder method of the serial killer is completely original! Once into it, I could barely put the book down. I am now ready for the NEXT Darryl Billups mystery! A special thanks goes to Blair Walker for coming out and discussing his novel with our Book Club. It definitely provided us a new perspective on the book and writing in general.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent murder mystery with interesting hero and villan
Review: Blair Walker has done an excellent job creating a believable character and hero, Darryl Billups the reporter, who I could really relate to as an African American professional. The plot of "Hidden in Plain View" is very fascinating and the murder method of the serial killer is completely original! Once into it, I could barely put the book down. I am now ready for the NEXT Darryl Billups mystery! A special thanks goes to Blair Walker for coming out and discussing his novel with our Book Club. It definitely provided us a new perspective on the book and writing in general.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SUSPENSE DELIVERED WITH STYLE
Review: Blair Walker sweeps you along on another incredible case of his nemesis, Daryl Billups, and what a case it is. He allows you to walk in the footsteps of the murderer and see through their eyes without ever once looking in the mirror to tell you exactly who it was. From this vantage point the reader experiences the insanity even though they can't quite grasp the process that makes it tick. Hidden In Plain View provides the reader with enough suspense to keep them in the pages and enough thrills to insure completion. Congratulations Blair on another intelligent, insightful and well written offering to the literary arena.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SUSPENSE DELIVERED WITH STYLE
Review: Blair Walker sweeps you along on another incredible case of his nemesis, Daryl Billups, and what a case it is. He allows you to walk in the footsteps of the murderer and see through their eyes without ever once looking in the mirror to tell you exactly who it was. From this vantage point the reader experiences the insanity even though they can't quite grasp the process that makes it tick. Hidden In Plain View provides the reader with enough suspense to keep them in the pages and enough thrills to insure completion. Congratulations Blair on another intelligent, insightful and well written offering to the literary arena.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Least Suspected
Review: Darryl Billups is back in Baltimore and this time his focus is intra-racial i.e. black-on-black crime with a twist. When black professionals start turning up dead in Baltimore at upscale addresses the usual easy answers--drugs and gangs, for such crimes aren't applicable. The mysterious unseen causes of these deaths aren't made any clearer by the autopsies and suggest that the killer has a very diabolic mind and method. The novel is written in both first and third person. Darryl speaks to us in first person so that we follow him along as he gains new information and works to put the puzzle together. In alternating chapters the killer and the killer's actions are described in third person, allowing the identity to remain a mystery until close to the end, when the reader discovers who it is first. As the novel picks up pace in its concluding chapters, you have a strong desire to warn Daryl of the danger ahead, but you're force to race through the pages, hoping and praying that he'll figure it out in time to save those closest to him. A true spell-binder, equal to and surpassing his previous novel and every bit as good in its own right and for its genre as his autobiography on Reggie Lewis was for its.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Least Suspected
Review: Darryl Billups is back in Baltimore and this time his focus is intra-racial i.e. black-on-black crime with a twist. When black professionals start turning up dead in Baltimore at upscale addresses the usual easy answers--drugs and gangs, for such crimes aren't applicable. The mysterious unseen causes of these deaths aren't made any clearer by the autopsies and suggest that the killer has a very diabolic mind and method. The novel is written in both first and third person. Darryl speaks to us in first person so that we follow him along as he gains new information and works to put the puzzle together. In alternating chapters the killer and the killer's actions are described in third person, allowing the identity to remain a mystery until close to the end, when the reader discovers who it is first. As the novel picks up pace in its concluding chapters, you have a strong desire to warn Daryl of the danger ahead, but you're force to race through the pages, hoping and praying that he'll figure it out in time to save those closest to him. A true spell-binder, equal to and surpassing his previous novel and every bit as good in its own right and for its genre as his autobiography on Reggie Lewis was for its.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Looks can be deceiving
Review: HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW is an engrossing mystery set in Baltimore, Maryland.
Someone is killing a seemingly unrelated set of African-American professionals
in their late thirties. Each victim is found in the bathtub of his/her home
with a decal of the confederate flag attached to the center of his/her
forehead. The police are stumped and seem at a loss when it comes to solving
a case which reveals no clear cause of death. Homicide detective Phillip
Gardner seeks assistance from former reporter turned editor, Darryl Billups,
who worked with him in the past on a case that won them national attention.
Darryl attacks the scene with a reporter's curiosity and intuition which has
him quickly stumbling into the killer's path. It is not long before he
earns himself a place on the killer's hit list.

Blair Walker has written a fast-paced thriller that draws you in from word
one. He gets into the minds of his characters in a way that displays the
strengths and vulnerabilities of each. His style has you empathizing not only
with Darryl and the victims, but the killer as well. Walker switches deftly
between street vernacular and proper English seamlessly throughout scenes and
dialogue. The characters are amusing, endearing and downright frustrating at
times. HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW is a satisfying and encompassing read that is
sure to please mystery lovers.

Reviewed by Diane Marbury
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers



Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Entertaining but not very interesting
Review: Hidden in Plain View was not the book I'd hoped it would be. If you are a fan of mystery books with high drama and intrigue this is not the book for you. There were several scenes that simply did not make sense and added nothing to the plot. The characters - except for Darryl and the killer - were very flat and one dimensional. I agree that it was an easy read - but maybe a bit too easy. I must be honest and add that all of the other members of my book club really enjoyed this book. I also appreciated Mr. Walker's portryal of African Americans as hard working and sensitive and, being from Baltimore, I loved the city references. (Although there is no Ida Wells Hospital here.) I just felt that as a mystery it left a lot to be desired.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Entertaining but not very interesting
Review: Hidden in Plain View was not the book I'd hoped it would be. If you are a fan of mystery books with high drama and intrigue this is not the book for you. There were several scenes that simply did not make sense and added nothing to the plot. The characters - except for Darryl and the killer - were very flat and one dimensional. I agree that it was an easy read - but maybe a bit too easy. I must be honest and add that all of the other members of my book club really enjoyed this book. I also appreciated Mr. Walker's portryal of African Americans as hard working and sensitive and, being from Baltimore, I loved the city references. (Although there is no Ida Wells Hospital here.) I just felt that as a mystery it left a lot to be desired.


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