Review Hiding in the Shadows by Kay Hooper

Hiding in the Shadows is the second in Hooper's BISHOP SERIES: The "Bishop" Special Crimes Unit Series Publisher: Bantam. And it is second in the Shadows trilogy.

I wasn't sure what to expect, because Stealing Shadows was a difficult read for me. Excellent book, but difficult read.

Thankfully Hiding in the Shadows was less difficult.

Accident victim, Faith Parker, has awoken from a coma no one expected her to recover from, but with no memory whatsoever. Along with this she has disturbing psychic memories or dreams of Dinah Leighton, the steadfast friend (of whom she has no memory) who visited her daily in the hospital.

It appears she had been intoxicated, but the time line is wrong. If she had been drugged, then the accident was deliberate, in an attempt to silence her forever.

Dinah is an investigative reporter, and she has gone missing. Tragically and horrifically. But before she did, she settled a huge trust fund on Faith, paid all of her hospital bills, and paid for her apartment. How did they become friends -- and what were they investigating? Did it have anything to do with why Faith had moved across the country?

Dinah's man friend Kane, almost her fiance, is moving heaven and earth to find her. He feels guilty that he didn't press for more information about her latest case and that he hadn't really been engaged to her. There had always been some sort of disconnect in their relationship.

Bishop, the FBI agent who believes in psychic phenomenon, enters in. He is Kane's friend.

Faith's dreams intensify. Dinah is being tortured to reveal where something is. But Dinah doesn't reveal it through the dreams -- and Faith doesn't know what it is or how to find it. More importantly, she doesn't know how to find Dinah.

Along the way Faith and Kane pick up additional information, including that both women were involved in a safe house for abused women. Faith finds herself sometimes using her left hand; sometimes using her right.

Dinah was a precognitive. She could see the future -- at times and not always clearly. She evidently had seen her own, which caused her to pull back from making plans with Kane or giving herself fully to the relationship. She also was afraid of the scenario that was where she died.

But if she had done a few things differently, she might have avoided her 'fate.' That's the bad part, at least for me.

There's not a lot of sympathy for Dinah in this book, which makes it more readable. I could skim quickly the dreams. At one point, Faith is warned in a dream and narrowly escapes death. But who was being targeted, her or Kane?

Meantime the doctor who helped her is a little too attentive. Kane dislikes him immensely. Faith does not. And Faith's records of toxicality have disappeared from the hospital. Is the doctor part of the evil-doers or not?

There is a major twist in the end. Interesting to think if it were possible. Bishop guesses and is correct.

I give it 5 out of 5. Hooper is an excellent writer, in the tradition of Phyllis Whitney or Victoria Holt. I find it a little disconcerting that the quotes on the front of the book jackets are identical and not linked to a particular book. Iris Johansen is one of the one's quoted -- and she is a terrific writer too, though I find her mainstream paperbacks a different genre than her romances.

This is not a romance. The romance enters into the last few pages. It is a thriller with psychic aspects. There is romantic tension until the last few pages when it is consummated.

It is available for Kindle.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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