Chase: The Boy Who Hid

The Hide & Seek Chronicles, Teen Sci-Fi Adventure, Book 1

De: Z Jeffries

Narrado por: Todd Starr, Nicole Cash

To save his lost grandfather, one kid inventor must win a classified game of hide-and-seek.

Chase's quiet life of fixing electronics, dumpster diving, and inventing shatters after Grandad vanishes. Now the boy will risk everything to reunite his family. When Grandad's old team offers Chase a spot in a secret camouflage competition, he jumps at the opportunity, hiding the truth from family and teammates.

Accepting means facing deadly futuristic technology, mech-suited soldiers, and an out-of-control robotic seeker. But once he realizes this game is deadly, Chase must focus on surviving, losing hope he can save Grandad.

Chase: The Boy Who Hid marks the stunning beginning of the Hide & Seek Chronicles. Fans of Ready Player One and Ender's Game will be captivated by Chase’s journey through an elimination game thick with tech and conspiracies. Join Chase as he ventures into the unknown, where the line between hunter and hunted blurs, and the ultimate prize is the truth itself.

©2021 Zack Geoffroy (P)2025 Northern Lake Audio

Very cute. For kids.

I don’t even know what to call this, sorta … YA / SciFi - meets LitRPG and GameLit … Whatever you call it, it’s super cute with a likable lead, lots of adventure, mysteries, and a bit of action.

Check it out, or grab it for your kids.
No real plausibility, heavy on the science. I think better for kids than adults.

Overall, it’s okay. 3.5 stars.


Audio:
The audio was good, very smooth overall sound quality, with okay narration. A little robotic on his parts.

The Ultimate Game of Hide-and-Seek: My Thoughts on

Sometimes I’m just in the mood for a book that feels like an adventure from start to finish—something with mystery, cool technology, and a main character you can’t help rooting for. That’s exactly what I found when I picked up Chase: The Boy Who Hid by Z. Jeffries.
The story follows fourteen-year-old Chase, a brilliant but somewhat overlooked kid who loves inventing and tinkering with technology. His world is turned upside down when his grandfather suddenly disappears. The more Chase looks into it, the more he realizes his grandfather was involved in things far bigger—and more dangerous—than he ever imagined.
Before he knows it, Chase ends up pulled into a secret military competition built around advanced stealth technology. It’s essentially a high-tech game of hide-and-seek where contestants use futuristic gadgets and camouflage to evade hunters and outlast the competition. The stakes are high, the technology is fascinating, and every challenge pushes Chase further outside his comfort zone.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the creativity behind the technology and the competition itself. The gadgets and stealth elements made the story feel exciting and different from other middle-grade adventures. It gave the book a bit of a spy-thriller vibe while still keeping that fun, adventurous tone.
Chase is also an easy character to root for. He’s smart and determined, but he’s still figuring things out along the way. His motivation—wanting to uncover what happened to his grandfather—gives the story emotional weight beneath all the action and gadgets.
The pacing kept things moving quickly, making it really easy to get absorbed in. I found myself wanting to keep reading to see what the next challenge or twist would be.
Overall, Chase: The Boy Who Hid was a fun and inventive sci-fi adventure that blends mystery, technology, and a high-stakes competition. It feels like the beginning of a much bigger story, and I’m definitely curious to see where Chase’s journey goes next.
If you enjoy books with clever inventions, secret competitions, and a young hero trying to solve a mystery, this one might be a great pick

A rollicking good time for everyone 11 and up

This teen action sci-fi adventure is really entertaining and well-written. Once the training gets underway (several chapters into the book), it’s wonderfully action-packed and very exciting. The book is rather light, with the high tech game of camouflage tag not supposed to be lethal. There’s plenty of danger and close calls on injuries, but it’s not dark. The most serious part is the teen boy Chase dealing with the grief of losing his grandfather. The book has some good character development for Chase, with him learning to confront his own biases and prejudices, not giving up when giving up would negatively affect other people, and taking responsibility for his own actions and words.

The cast of characters is diverse, with multiple races and a couple of LGBTQ characters. I like that although the book is completely told from Chase’s perspective, there are a few important female characters. It’s not just a male-only sci-fi book – hooray! There is no bad language, and I think the violence level is only PG. There is not even dating or kissing, just the slightest hint of two teens liking each other. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who likes techy action-adventures for kids and teens probably 11 years and up. I am an adult, and I really enjoyed it as well. There is no cliffhanger. I can't wait for Book 2!

The duet narration is very good. The male narrator Todd Starr did the general narration since the whole book was from Chase’s perspective and all of the male speaking parts. The voice he chose for Chase was a little goofy, but I got accustomed to it pretty quickly. Chase is from South Carolina, and the southern accent he was given was pretty good, maybe more Tennessee than South Carolina. Todd Starr’s voices for everyone else were great, and he has a great talent for action scenes. I really loved the female narrator Nicole Cash. She was superb and amazingly versatile with all the female voices. I already looked for Nicole Cash’s other work because her performance was so excellent.

I requested and received a free audiobook copy from the publisher, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
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