What do you think?
Rate this book
Hidden Inside: A Gripping Psychological Thriller About Coercion, Trust and Terrifying Secrets.
A TERRIFYING EX PARTNER.
BUT NOBODY KNEW HOW TERRIFYING THAT EX PARTNER WOULD BECOME.
Rachel Shaw is trying to rebuild her life after leaving Daniel. But he refuses to let her go. The calls keep coming. The messages grow darker. And Rachel knows silence has never meant safety.
When a message from her controlling ex distracts her behind the wheel, Rachel crashes into William’s car outside a primary school. The accident should be the worst part of her day. Instead, it introduces her to a kind, patient single father… and his outspoken eight-year-old daughter, Sophie.
For the first time in years, Rachel begins to imagine a life without fear. William offers safety without conditions, while Sophie draws her into the warmth and chaos of their family.
But then objects move inside her locked flat. Private conversations appear in anonymous messages. Unknown calls. Photographs taken outside her home. Missing appointments. Belongings left at her door. Someone seems to know her routines, her fears and the memories she trusts least.
As the truth closes in, she must decide whether her past has made her paranoid, or whether her whole world is about to end.
Because the most dangerous kind of control doesn’t look like cruelty.
Hidden Inside is a gripping psychological thriller and emotional domestic suspense novel about coercive control, stalking, trauma, survival and the courage it takes to rebuild your life. This page-turning story explores the secrets people hide, the damage no one else can see and the dangerous difference between protection and possession.
For fans of Lisa Jewell, Claire Douglas, Teresa Driscoll and emotionally charged psychological thrillers featuring toxic relationships, obsessive ex-partners, domestic abuse, hidden secrets and unexpected romance.
BUT NOBODY KNEW HOW TERRIFYING THAT EX PARTNER WOULD BECOME.
Rachel Shaw is trying to rebuild her life after leaving Daniel. But he refuses to let her go. The calls keep coming. The messages grow darker. And Rachel knows silence has never meant safety.
When a message from her controlling ex distracts her behind the wheel, Rachel crashes into William’s car outside a primary school. The accident should be the worst part of her day. Instead, it introduces her to a kind, patient single father… and his outspoken eight-year-old daughter, Sophie.
For the first time in years, Rachel begins to imagine a life without fear. William offers safety without conditions, while Sophie draws her into the warmth and chaos of their family.
But then objects move inside her locked flat. Private conversations appear in anonymous messages. Unknown calls. Photographs taken outside her home. Missing appointments. Belongings left at her door. Someone seems to know her routines, her fears and the memories she trusts least.
As the truth closes in, she must decide whether her past has made her paranoid, or whether her whole world is about to end.
Because the most dangerous kind of control doesn’t look like cruelty.
Hidden Inside is a gripping psychological thriller and emotional domestic suspense novel about coercive control, stalking, trauma, survival and the courage it takes to rebuild your life. This page-turning story explores the secrets people hide, the damage no one else can see and the dangerous difference between protection and possession.
For fans of Lisa Jewell, Claire Douglas, Teresa Driscoll and emotionally charged psychological thrillers featuring toxic relationships, obsessive ex-partners, domestic abuse, hidden secrets and unexpected romance.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2026
About the author
Paul Gorry
115 books1 followerPaul Gorry is an interdisciplinary artist, who has created successful and award winning art in many different forms. From art commissions hung in the the newly refurbished Abbey Road Studios in London, to screenplays & number 1 hit single productions.
Paul is now focussed heavily on writing, with his his debut fictional novel ‘How to bury cars’ becoming a best-seller and receiving 5 star reviews worldwide in 2023.
Paul has been writing constantly ever since and lives on a farm in England with his wife and children.
Paul is now focussed heavily on writing, with his his debut fictional novel ‘How to bury cars’ becoming a best-seller and receiving 5 star reviews worldwide in 2023.
Paul has been writing constantly ever since and lives on a farm in England with his wife and children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 19, 2026
A tense, very readable psychological thriller
I was pulled in quickly by the opening of Hidden Inside. What worked particularly well for me was that the threat doesn’t come from anything overly dramatic at first. It comes through phone calls, messages, small invasions of privacy and the feeling that Rachel’s ex, Daniel, still believes he has a right to her time and attention. That made the coercive-control element feel unsettlingly believable.
Rachel is easy to sympathise with, especially in the way she keeps minimising Daniel’s behaviour even while clearly being frightened by it. I also liked the contrast between that tension and her developing relationship with William. Their dialogue is light and often genuinely funny, and Sophie adds warmth without feeling like she is there purely to be cute. The accident that brings Rachel and William together is a slightly convenient setup, and their connection develops quite quickly, but I found myself enjoying their scenes enough not to mind too much.
The strongest part for me is the psychological detail: Daniel moving things, changing numbers, turning up unexpectedly and making Rachel question whether she is overreacting. Those relatively ordinary behaviours are more disturbing than a stereotypical thriller villain would have been.
I was pulled in quickly by the opening of Hidden Inside. What worked particularly well for me was that the threat doesn’t come from anything overly dramatic at first. It comes through phone calls, messages, small invasions of privacy and the feeling that Rachel’s ex, Daniel, still believes he has a right to her time and attention. That made the coercive-control element feel unsettlingly believable.
Rachel is easy to sympathise with, especially in the way she keeps minimising Daniel’s behaviour even while clearly being frightened by it. I also liked the contrast between that tension and her developing relationship with William. Their dialogue is light and often genuinely funny, and Sophie adds warmth without feeling like she is there purely to be cute. The accident that brings Rachel and William together is a slightly convenient setup, and their connection develops quite quickly, but I found myself enjoying their scenes enough not to mind too much.
The strongest part for me is the psychological detail: Daniel moving things, changing numbers, turning up unexpectedly and making Rachel question whether she is overreacting. Those relatively ordinary behaviours are more disturbing than a stereotypical thriller villain would have been.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review