I was interested in Shadow Man because I read a lot of crime fiction and like that this book was based in the 80’s, in a small California town.
Detective Ben Wade has moved back to his home town of Rancho Santa Elena, for a quieter life with his daughter and now ex-wife. The perfect town, with it perfect streets and excellent school, but the town perfect exterior starts to fade when a serial killer starts murdering women in their own homes. Ben and forensic specialist Natasha Betencourt must stop the murder before he kills again and make the town feel safe again. Ben world is rocked when a teenager commits suicide, and he comes to realise that some secrets are not best left in the past, especially when they affect the future. Ben must decide what he is willing to do to keep his town safe.
This book was a slow burner for me, and it took me till about 40% of the book before I was really gripped. I was fascinated with part of the story about people secrets, and people looking the other way to them, as they are the ‘norm’ and people do not like to question that. I wouldn’t class this books as a thriller but more of a mystery that surrounds Ben Wade, with the subplot being the serial killer case. I also enjoyed that the cases were solved by old fashioned detective work, and knowledge of the area than with fancy technology.
In Conclusion.
I would give this book a read if you like ;
- A book that is more about the detective solving the crime than the crime itself
- books about the impact of looking the other way
- Good fashioned detective work
- a beautifully written book.
I give this book 3.5 out of 5
Thank you Corvus for the copy of this book to read for a fair and honest review.
Thanks for reading
Gem x
