TITLE: Shadows of the Past
AUTHOR: Patricia Bradley
PUBLISHER: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group
DATE PUBLISHED: 2014
STARS: *****
While she’s stalking the truth…someone is stalking her.
Psychology professor and criminal profiler Taylor Martin prides herself on being able to solve any crime, except the one she wants most desperately to solve – the disappearance of her father twenty years ago. When she finally has a lead on his whereabouts, Taylor returns home to Logan Point, Mississippi, to investigate. But as she works to uncover the truth, someone else will do almost anything to keep her from it.
Nick Sinclair pens mystery novels for a living, but the biggest mystery to him is how he can ever get over the death of his wife – a tragedy he believes he could have prevented. Now that his estranged brother is the only family he has left, Nick sets out to find him. But when he crosses paths with Taylor, all he seems to find is trouble.
Join the chase as Taylor and Nick search the murky shadows of the past for the keys to unlocking the present – and moving into a future they never imagined.
From the opening lines of a haunting poem, this story grabbed me, and it didn’t let go until the very end. Taylor Martin is being stalked, and she believes it must be a former student who happens to be Nick Sinclair’s troubled brother. Taylor is determined to prove her theory, and Nick is desperate to prove her wrong. His brother couldn’t possibly threaten and hurt anyone. Or could he?
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Patricia Bradley drew me into each scene from the misty mountain forests of Washington State to the heat and humidity of the Deep South. She uses all five senses plus premonitions to create layers of tension that carry the reader into the story with all its anxiety, desperation, and hope.
I give Shadows of the Past five stars and hope to read more by Patricia Bradley.