RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE HIVE by Gregg Olsen is a suspense/thriller/police procedural which revolves around the present-day murder of a college journalist investigating a death and cover up in the past. The death in the past leads back to a charismatic beauty and wellness guru and her “Hive” of close followers on a small island in the Pacific Northwest.
Detective Lindsay Jackman is reeling from the suicide of her partner and is immediately thrown into an investigation of a young college journalist found naked at the bottom of a ravine. Lindsay discovers the dead girl was working on an expose of Marnie Spellman.
Marnie Spellman tells the world the tale of her being lifted by a swarm of bees and being given a spiritual connection to nature and God, who is female. Using honey, royal jelly and other natural ingredients, Marnie builds a cosmetics empire. But Marnie is also a guru or charlatan, depending on your view, who makes others believe in her power to elevate women to a higher level as they also obtain holistic health and eternal beauty. Her inner circle of six is called the Hive and they share in Marnie’s success, but also her biggest secret which could destroy them all.
As Lindsay digs into Marnie’s empire and the Hive, the women are determined to keep their secrets at all costs, including silencing any who could reveal the truth.
This story pulled me in from the very first page, but as the story progresses it switches time frames frequently and it can get confusing at times. Lindsay is a dogged investigator and I enjoyed how she was impressed by Marnie, but her investigation was never influenced by her. This book is full of surprising plot twists as Marnie and each individual Hive member’s secrets are revealed. I am always interested in stories, fictional and non, where a person can be so charismatic as to lead the average person to do terrible things. The story’s climax surprised me and all the story threads are tied together in a way that left me satisfied.
I can recommend this suspense/thriller for a compelling and unique police procedural read.
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About the Author
I live in rural Washington State (about a mile as the crow flies from Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s infamous Starvation Heights sanatarium). My thriller, THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID was an Amazon Charts bestseller. LYING NEXT TO ME was a reader favorite, charting at No. 1 in the Kindle store and hitting the bestseller’s list at the Washington Post. My true crime book, IF YOU TELL, found a home on Amazon Charts for more than 60 weeks. In fact, it was the bestselling Kindle ebook of 2020. I’ve been a guest on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Early Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, 20/20, Snapped, Deadly Women, William Shatner’s Aftermath, and A&E’s Biography.
You can find out more about me at www.NotoriousUSA.com.
