Shadows
of the Past by
Patricia Bradley – A Book Review
This book has more twists and turns in the
first chapter than many books do between their covers. It has been a long time since I was so
quickly and completely hooked. Shadows
of the Past is classified as a romantic suspense story. However, I greatly appreciated that the
romance served the suspense plot rather than dominate it. This is the first book I’ve read by Patricia
Bradley, but I cannot wait to get my hands on other books by this author. Although I may need to get some sleep first
since I lost the better parts of two night’s sleep to this one.
Taylor Martin, an expert victim and
criminal profiler and college professor, suffers from nightmares rooted in a
childhood defined by her father’s disappearance. Mystery writer, Nick Sinclair, is just
beginning to heal from the grief and guilt of not being able to protect his
wife from a murderous assault while attempting to understand and assist his
troubled stepbrother. Their lives, initially
drawn together as Taylor searches for her stalker and Nick seeks to clear his
brother of the crime, become intertwined as Nick seeks to assist Taylor in
solving the mystery behind her father’s disappearance while protecting her from
the person trying to kill her, and as they are unable to ignore the attraction
they feel for one another.
Bradley is a master of writing believable,
naturally sounding dialogue. Her
character and plot development are well paced, and subtle. The reader is able to enjoy many unexpected
plot twists that bring the mystery to a logical conclusion rather than having
new characters or events inserted in the last chapter that almost feel like a “gotcha”
in which the author made it impossible for the reader to solve the crime along
with the story’s detective. As I
finished the last chapter it felt good to have some of my deductions confirmed,
and at the same time have some unexpected elements as well.
The setting of this story was another
element that drew me to this book.
Having been born in and having lots of family who still reside in
northern Mississippi, I enjoyed the references to things unique to the southern
lifestyle. Living in Corinth,
Mississippi, Bradley was able to represent people from the northern
Mississippi, southern Tennessee area without the typical stereotypes. Shadows of the Past is book one in the
Logan Point series, and I look forward to other books in the series set in this
location. I am also anxious to see which
characters will have recurring roles.
I
highly recommend this book to fans of the genre, you will enjoy a real
treat. I also recommend it to those who
might not normally read in this genre, you will be pleasantly surprised. Thank you to Revell, the publisher, for sending me a copy of Shadows
of the Past for my honest opinion of the book.
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