No Place to Hide by Opa Hysea Wise

No Place to Hide

by Opa Hysea Wise

A riveting page-turner about a woman caught in the crosshairs of an agri-business’ corporate assassin.

Against hope, Smythe Windwalker Daniels’ anonymity is compromised and a creditable threat has been made against her life. As the threats ratchet up, she feels she has no place to hide, and the danger impacts not only her life but the lives of those around her. She reluctantly accepts the FBI’s protection, hoping to testify and bring a promise of justice to her community.

Smythe is a woman with vision in her eyes and fire in her soul. From a young age, Smythe was discriminated against as a mixed-race girl in a predominately white neighborhood. She leaves her current career to escape the corporate rat race, only to get entangled in a pesticide poisoning cover-up attempt by a mega corporation. While on the run, she seeks to find meaning in events that now threaten her life.

Through a series of misadventures, she discovers how all events are all woven together in this tapestry called “life.” As she uses her past experience to find meaning in her present, she begins to see beauty in the midst of chaos. But the harder she tries to hide, the more difficult it is to survive.

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4 of 5 stars

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I received No Place to Hide in exchange for a fair and honest review.

No Place to Hide is Opa Hysea Wise's debut novel, a thriller set in Hawaii. It's worth noting that this is a thriller like no other, instead opting to delve into the more philosophical questions of life, crime, and consequences.

Smythe's life was forever changed the day she witnessed a murder. That should probably go without saying, really. Her stubbornness (and refusal to acknowledge danger) resulted in her turning down the protection offered by the FBI.

Protection that she probably would have been better off accepting. Now she's facing danger, and a litany of unanswerable questions.

I meant it when I said that No Place to Hide is a thriller unlike any others I've read. I dove into this book expecting a fast-paced thriller, and instead got a feast for the mind. This is a novel that comfortably raises questions of all philosophical bends, all while putting the main character through so much.

As such, I think it's worth mentioning this slight deviation from the norm. I can picture many a reader enjoying the change (like myself). Likewise, I can see other readers being a little bit thrown off by the lack of common threads found in thrillers. So keep these key differences in mind before picking it up.

Smythe is a complex character, as one would expect, given all of the moral, ethical, and philosophical debates she couldn't help but begin. She saw something horrible, and it changed her forever. Just perhaps not in the ways that one might expect.

The pacing is interesting, it has high moments of action, followed by introspective moments that fill chapters with ease. It really gave me a chance to understand the character and all of the dilemmas she was facing, that much is certain!

On that note, I would like to mention that No Place to Hide does deal with some pretty intense subjects. On top of the murder itself, there are conversations about childhood abuse, mental illness, and more. It is far from being a light read, though it is an extremely intelligent and informative one!

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

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Reading updates

  • 9 November, 2020: Started reading
  • 9 November, 2020: Finished reading
  • 9 November, 2020: Reviewed