Review: 'The Hive' by Gregg Olsen

Cults are fascinating, definitely from the outside but I also imagine from the inside. The magnetism ascribed to cult-leaders, the clarity of their message, the slowly increasing demands, the tests of loyalty, and the creeping loss of identity; it's all dreadful and fascinating. So of course I was going to be intrigued by The Hive, which promised to combine this with the world of self-help and cosmetics. Sadly it didn't entirely live up to my hopes. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 6/8/2021
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Glamorous messiah or charlatan? A mask of beauty hides deadly secrets in #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen’s mesmerizing novel of suspense.

In the Pacific Northwest, detective Lindsay Jackman is investigating the murder of a young journalist found at the bottom of a ravine. Lindsay soon learns that the victim was writing an exposé. Her subject: a charismatic wellness guru who’s pulled millions into her euphoric orbit…

To hear Marnie Spellman tell it, when she was a child, a swarm of bees lifted her off the ground and toward the sunlight, illuming her spiritual connection with nature—an uncanny event on which Marnie built a cosmetics empire and became a legend, a healer, and the queen of holistic health and eternal beauty. In her inner circle is an intimate band of devotees called the Hive. They share Marnie’s secrets of success—including one cloaked in darkness for twenty years.

Determined to uncover the possibly deadly mysteries of the group, Lindsay focuses her investigation on Marnie and the former members of the Hive, who are just as determined to keep Lindsay from their secrets as they are to maintain their status.

The beauty industry is insidious and it has only become worse with the commercialization of feminism. Now you no longer need to wear mascara because men might think its attractive. No, now you need to wear mascara to be a fierce boss. The right shade of lipstick now highlights your individuality. Hour-long Youtube videos are dedicated to achieving a "no make-up" look so that you can look your best "effortlessly". It's almost impossible to escape and most of it is marketed with the idea that your exterior should highlight your internal perfection. The conceit at the heart of The Hive is that its own beauty guru flips this and says to start with the outside and that internal beauty will follow. The message is just odd enough that you want to listen, initially to scoff and then to wonder. While Olsen does poke at the beauty industry, the novel doesn't go as far as I would have liked to see. 

Lindsay is dealing with a lot, from the loss of her police partner to the finding of a dead young woman, Sarah. So she throws herself into this new case wholeheartedly and is in deep before she realizes it. It is no longer just about finding Sarah's killer, it's about unravelling the web of mysteries around the elusive Marnie Spellman, whose beauty empire is fading but not quite gone. As Lindsay digs deeper and deeper secrets come to light, excuses get bandied about and loyalties betrayed. I was wholeheartedly intrigued by the set-up and started picking up on the breadcrumbs that Olsen was dropping throughout. While Lindsay is the novel's guiding star, we get the perspective of many, if not almost all, characters. On top of that, we get perspectives from different time periods. I have to be honest that I occasionally lost the thread as to where in the timeline I was. At almost 500 pages, The Hive is big and at times it felt a little muddled to me, as if too much was going on. While I appreciated the twists and turns, as well as the central storyline, I found myself occasionally just reading to get to the final reveal, not because I was majorly enjoying myself.

Gregg Olsen works with a wide variety of characters in The Hive, most of whom are women. Although I would say each of them is clearly marked initially they all stem from a single type: young, beautiful, driven yet naïve girls who turn into jaded, sad, secretive, still beautiful women. Because of this I found it hard to connect with any except Lindsay, who is a little more grounded. As Olsen flips back and forth between these characters, between their young and current selves, things get stuck a little. While initially the different angles give us extra information and hints, at a certain point it feels more like a perfunctory checking in. It also becomes clear many things aren't being said, not in a mysterious way but more in a 'I can't reveal this yet otherwise the plot is over' way. And yet I did enjoy reading The Hive. If we lost half of the side-characters and focused a little less on how catty women can be when it's about looks and fame, then The Hive would be a tight, fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists. As it is, it will still be an enjoyable read for most Thriller fans.

I give this novel...

3 Universes!

While a little muddled at time, The Hive is an enjoyable thriller skewering the beauty industry.