Because I enjoyed Kay Hooper's last book, Raven on the Wing, I got a number of books from the library to read. I don't have them all, and they may not be in perfect chronological order, but I will try to read in order the ones I have.
Stealing Shadows is first in Hooper's BISHOP SERIES: The "Bishop" Special Crimes Unit Series Publisher: Bantam. And it is first in the Shadows trilogy.
This is an intense, scary, chilling, psychological suspense read. Not to be read at night, in the dark, alone.
Cassie Neill is a psychic, a real one, one of a long line of women in her family who have the gift of sight. She has used it, at great mental and physical peril, to aid police in finding serial killers. Sometimes she is too late, and what she sees, she is unable to put the pieces together, and women have been killed, heinously. To see what is happening, to do this, she enters into the mind of the killer (or a possible victim) because she has had some contact with them in real life -- a meeting of the eyes in a chance encounter; touching a piece of the evidence, touched by the killer, etc.
If she gets too deep into the mind of the killer, it is almost impossible to get out. She needs a lifeline, someone to hold her to her own life and mentality, while she is entering the mind of the killer(s.) If the killer is himself killed while she is in his mind, she will not recover.
Not too long before this book, she had been in a coma for a week, because she got too close to one of the subjects. Now, she is living in a small town, to avoid her fate -- but of course, that leads her to it -- living in the house her aunt had willed to her.
Enter the next serial killer. Who is connected to a case she left behind -- but he has not left her.
While there is some romance in it, and the romance contributes both to the saving of Cassie (and her saving her lover), it almost leads to the death of both of them. I would not categorize this as a romance, there is too little of it in the book.
I did my usual, reading the first few pages, skipping to the end, reading that, then reading the middle very fast because this is a genre I no longer like. It is too difficult to read. It is a testament to her ability that I continued to read it at all. It hits too close to home for a variety of reasons.
My take
Hooper is a wonderful writer, with a vivid imagination, able to make her subject come alive and truly seem real. She enters into the thought processes of the killer.
If you like true suspense, with twists and turns, and psychological thrillers, this book is for you -- likely the whole series is. This is far different from Raven on the Wing that I reviewed in an upcoming review for Love Romance Passion.
Not all the ends are tied up neatly, but I suppose they aren't in RL either.
I give it a 5 out of 5 for its genre, but in truth, I didn't enjoy it, because as I said, this is no longer the genre I prefer to read.
Have you read this book? Have you read any of her books?
Do you have a favorite? She has also written in the fantasy genre.
You is available for Kindle. You can read my review of the second book in the series, Hiding in the Shadows, here.
Karin
www.savvythinker.com
Originally posted 2010-05-27 07:56:38.
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