Book Review: “Shadows of Deceit” & “The Gift”

About Shadows of Deceit

A rookie PI. A city full of secrets. One deadly game she may not survive.

When rookie private investigator Cassie Maddox takes on her first big case in the gritty streets of Lenape City, she stumbles into a web of corruption, betrayal, and murder.

What begins as a simple job spirals into a dangerous cat-and-mouse chase with the city’s most powerful figures.

Haunted by her father’s legacy as a decorated detective, Cassie is determined to prove herself—even if it means uncovering secrets that cut too close to home.

To find the truth, she must risk everything: her independence, her family, and maybe even her life.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FG3B7LFB

My Review of Shadows of Deceit

I received a digital review copy of Shadows of Deceit, by Timothy R. Baldwin through Sandra’s Book Club in exchange for an honest book review. All opinions stated here are my own.

Young Cassie is overwhelmed by a need to prove herself as she avoids following in her father’s footsteps. So, when her first case as a P.I. turns into more than just a cheating husband, she is determined to solve it on her own. But her bulldog determination causes her to make mistakes, miscalculations and misjudgements until she finds herself over her head in web of corruption and deception, and playing a very dangerous game.

A typical hard crime novel, but the stakes aren’t high enough. Although we’re told that Cassie is swimming in dangerous waters, we don’t really see it past her friends being kidnapped and knocked around. But we don’t see that, just the after effects. It doesn’t feel so dangerous. I never really felt the peril. Even when the case is solved, I’m not sure what the real scam was, or who was doing what.

While it could be a good detective story, Shadows of Deceit fell short of the mark for me. I give it three quills.

About The Gift

“The Gift” will change Christmas forever.

The breakout thriller novel of Canadian author Stephanie M. Matthews, “The Gift” will leave you breathless in this story about a darkness that haunts a little Belgium village, and the lengths it will take to save a young woman from being lost to it forever. This is a vividly haunting Christmas story that will not be easily forgotten.

The darkness begins here.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Stephanie-M-Matthews/dp/0995313202

My Review of The Gift

I received a digital review copy of The Gift, by Stephanie M. Matthews, through Sandra’s Book Club, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own. The author, Stephanie M. Matthews has done a smashing job of weaving religious and philosophical symbolism in to make the storyline work in this fantastical tale.

The Gift is a dark Christmas tale with an undercurrent theme of the age-old struggle between good and evil. Fae goes to the village of her heritage at her grandmother’s request. It is her grandmother’s wish Fae receive a very special gift, and Fae can’t imagine what it might be. The village closes down to the outside world on Christmas eve, allowing no one in or out on account of a strange event when the village was saved from a Nazi invasion which no one is willing to talk about. In order to receive her gift, she must spend the night in the village, but the villagers are less than welcoming, strongly urging her to leave before Christmas eve begins.

The more she learns about the village residents and their strange customs, the more mystery that shrouds her anticipated present, the more determined she becomes to collect it. But everything comes with a price, and the price of Fae’s gift may be higher than she ever imagined.

The Gift is everything that a Christmas tale shouldn’t be: dark and scary, with Christmas horror, rather than Christmas cheer. I give it four quills.

About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.

Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.