Look closely at this cover. Look at the area designated as the Everglades. I live at the edge of the Glades on Babcock Ranch in Punta Gorda, Florida. We are so close….close to the flora and fauna that make up the most incredible landscape. We have much of the same stately reeds, grasses and palms. We have alligators, wild boar and birds of many colors and breeds. We also have snakes of many sorts and great white herons that strut around our lakes as if they own them. And they do. The Everglades is a gorgeous ecosystem that houses all the wonderful species I love and some not so much. But, there is a sinister part of this wonderful area, too. A lot is going on behind the scenes in the hidden parts of this magnificent “river.”
And so, this is my lead-in to “The Hidden River” by Mark Thielman. He’s brought us a mystery worthy of this great part of our unique state of Florida. Anything can happen way out in the midst of what seems like nowhere…. You can only imagine. Drugs, murder and mayhem all hiding nearby. “The Hidden River” is a novel that takes place deep inside Everglades National Park.
“The Hidden River” is a page-turning murder mystery that takes place in two time periods. The story begins in modern day and then reverts back to a time in 1851. We first meet the artist known as Hezekiah Freeman, aka Heka to his friends, in the present day. His life is about to be taken from him shortly after we begin the story. Then we switch back to 1851, where we meet a family of slaves on the run from a plantation in South Carolina. They are going South in hopes of finding a way to get to the free isles of the Bahamas. Samuel and his family are making their way through “Florida’s Saltwater Railroad,” which has them hiding deep in the Everglades…