Book Review,  Suspense,  Thriller

Book Review: In Her Shadow | Mark Edwards

October 8, 2018 /

Eerie, unsettling, and intense—I have come to look forward to the new Mark Edwards books the way I look forward to Fridays or crawling in bed after a long day. They are always tantalizing and well-written, and they captivate my interest until the very last page. Mark Edwards is a master of the suspense genre! His books always have that vague sense of uneasiness over them—wondering what exactly is going on. And I love the spooky ghost-shadow that lurked over In Her Shadow! It blurs the line between mystery and paranormal, where it made me wonder if maybe there was something otherworldly going on!!

About the Book

Nearly five years ago Jessica’s older sister Isabel fell off of her balcony in a tragic accident. But Jessica’s mother Mo has never been convinced it was truly an accident. She is certain that Izzie’s husband Darpack was to blame, and it’s a topic she won’t let up on.

Jessica’s daughter Olivia never met Izzie, but recently she has begun to talk about her more. Olivia claims that Izzie has been communicating with her. Though Jessica initially brushes this off as the whims of a child, she finds it hard to explain how Olivia is able to sing a song that was a favorite of Olivia’s from childhood, or how she knows the name of their childhood pet or their car. And then things become even more sinister—Olivia seems to know things about others that haven’t happened yet.

Is it possible that Olivia is able to communicate with Izzie? And if so, will Jessica finally get answers to what happened to her sister all of those years ago?

The darker things get, the less certain Jessica is that this is merely coincidence. Someone knows something about Izzie’s death, and they aren’t letting Jessica forget it. Jessica needs to find the truth before something horrible happens to Olivia, or even to herself!

Reflection

Unsettling and haunting are what I’ve come to expect from Mark Edwards, and this was no exception! I had absolutely no clue what to make of the strange events of this novel. I wondered how it could be possible for Olivia to know some of the things she knew, or believe the things she said. Though Jessica wants to be skeptical, she can’t help but remembering her own haunted past. She knows it is possible, because she herself experienced it too.

I think most of us have found ourselves surprised at the things children say sometimes. The words and thoughts that come out of there mouths, that often seem much beyond their years. Children have a mix of innocence and naivety and wisdom. They often are more perceptive than adults believe them to be, and that makes this the perfect set up for this story.

This book is filled with many amazing characters, and the female characters were particular standouts. I think that can be difficult to do—to write a breadth of characters so different from yourself. But this is an area that Edwards consistently surprises and delights in. Every novel of his I read, I find myself captivated again by the characters.

And then the ghost story itself is so wonderful! I love the idea of someone trying to communicate something. What happens in this book is the story of not how something is being communicated, but what is being communicated and why. Why go through Olivia? What did happen that day Isabel fell? The delivery on this mystery will make your mind buzz with excitement and energy. It is so well-crafted, with dozens of twists and turns along the way.

Thank you so much to the amazing team at Amazon Publishing for my copy of this book to review.

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