Hidden Strangers

A desperate mother on the run becomes entangled in family secrets, lies, and murder in a chilling novel of suspense from Minka Kent, the Thriller Award–nominated author of Unmissing. After a series of unsettling events, Camille Prescott is on the run from her dangerous husband. With their two small children in tow, she flees to the Chicago estate of her estranged and manipulative mother, Lucinda—the last place anyone would think to find her. Inside the sprawling manse, Camille meets Lucinda’s new husband, Rob McClindon—wealthy, aging, and in rapidly declining health—and Zoey, their unnervingly observant teenage daughter. Then there’s Evan, the mysterious tenant living above the garage. The longer Camille stays, the faster the household’s facade cracks. Rob worsens. Lucinda’s hospitality borders on disturbing. Zoey’s late-night behavior raises unsettling questions. Evan’s stories don’t quite add up. Then a note appears under her pillow: You’re not safe here. Someone in the McClindon house wants her gone. Someone else wants her trapped. One of them has already chosen her fate. Camille survived her childhood. She survived her marriage. But surviving the strangers she calls family is another story entirely. © 2026 by Nom de Plume, LLC., all rights reserved.