A Psychological Thriller.
A guilt-ridden single mother kills in revenge for the accidental death of her child. But she can't stop, and she can't hide what's inside.
The future is bright for Madison Sanders, a 27-year-old business analyst and single mother. Finally free from her abusive mother’s controlling grip, she relocates across the country and begins a new job.
Soon after, dark troubles arise as her misogynistic male office co-workers sexually harass her to the point of desperation. Unwilling to tolerate any more of the offensive behavior, she strikes back, reporting the offenders to management. Feeling self-assured, she resumes her focus on work.
Then tragedy strikes in the form of an accident, resulting in the death of her only child. Madison accepts all blame and is crushed under the weight of her guilt and grief.
But everything changes as a startling revelation about the accident is revealed, sending her on a crusade to find the truth of what really happened. Frustrated by uncooperative police detectives, she turns to the help of a private investigator to find the criminals responsible. But he finds much more than he expected.
The reader is transported through an odyssey of lies, deception, and murder as more facts about the crime are revealed, including Madison’s own dark hidden past, unbeknown to her. In the journey to find justice, her mother’s secrets are manifest into reality, forcing Madison to accept a horrifying truth that she can’t hide within.
Book 1 of the Madison Sanders Trilogy.
A grieving mother will do anything to avenge her child in Heigelmann’s novel.
After Madison Sanders’ boyfriend abandoned her when she was pregnant, she had to raise her son, Elijah, as a single parent. But, now she’s in a good place: She has a new best friend, Brittany, at her new marketing job, and her 4-year-old son is healthy and happy. Then, her life takes a dark turn when she becomes the victim of workplace sexual harassment. A group of men who call themselves “the Wolf Pack” have targeted her, and she must decide what to do. Then a shocking and heartbreaking accident occurs, and as a result, Elijah dies and Madison is horribly injured. She’s left to wonder if she is responsible for her child’s death, and if not, then who is? Meanwhile, Don Carson has been put on leave from the police force and has opened his own private detective business. Madison comes to him for help in finding her child’s killer, but Carson is not exactly whom he presents himself to be. Indeed, many things are not as they seem, Madison discovers, as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life; along the way, she falls in love with a new man and turns to her mother for support despite their troubled history. Heigelmann has crafted a striking psychological drama that carefully and thoughtfully explores the despair that victims of abuse and sexual harassment experience. Madison is shown to be a complex character with an arc that’s surprising and compelling. Some secondary characters feel underdeveloped in comparison, but Heigelmann compensates for this with a fast-paced plot, and the chain of events that leads to Madison’s breakdown feels realistic. Overall, it’s a well-crafted story that maintains a good balance of believability and unpredictability.
An engagingly emotional thriller with surprising plot turns.
- Kirkus Reviews
Loved it! 😍
It's a deep psychological dive into crime, lies, and the thirst for revenge.
So, it begins a new future for Madison Sanders. She is the single mother to Elijah. Madison has escaped her controlling and abusive mom. When she starts a new job, she is faced with more abuse. The group of four is called the Wolfpack. Its leader is Ron Tatum. He considers himself a ladies' man. In his mind, he feels slighted and can't let it go. Maddy's subtle rejection fuels his insecurities. Forced to stop the harassment she reports it to the Human Resource Manager. They receive a reprimand.
It is the end of a toxic work environment but not the hard times. Her son Elijah is accidentally killed. The light of her life is gone. And so is her hope. Then she discovers it was not an accident. This is when the story elevates. You are introduced to this Don Carson character. He will play a part in the story. The former cop is now the private investigator helping Madison piece together what really happened to her son.
In You Can't Hide What's Inside I found myself transported. I was deeply invested in the story. Once I started the chapter on the Wolfpack, I was hooked. You can see how Ron's behavior formed. Now I understand, but I don't condone it. The author shone a light on sexual harassment. To me, the writing about it felt real. This was an untapped subject that he handled with mastery.
