Author:  Kate Brian
Series: (Shadowlands #1)
Published: January 8th 2013
Publisher: Hyperion
Categories: Paranormal, Suspense, Thriller
 

I tried a few books from Kate Brian (and her other pseudonym) and liked them. So when I found out she has written a different kind of book from the bunch I’ve tried, I decided to check it out. There’s no denying that Shadowlands is really different, a little vague but not a complete successful venture to paranormal, thriller combination.

This book opens in a very creepy way because aside from Rory Miller’s pov, we also got the stalker’s point of view. How’s his disturbing mind works really added to the suspense feel of the book. At first I was really engaged to it, feeling the tension and the excitement build up as I progressed. But it didn’t take long for me to know who the stalker was but his motives were a bit unclear. Once he was caught, Rory’s family need to stay away, they decided to move town and enter the witness protection program. But the new place was getting stranger by the minute. There’s mystery behind it, the people are acting strange. And there’s group of teenager who I thought will go all ‘Mystery Inc.’ on me. But they weren’t as fun as Scooby Doo’s gang though. But kidding aside, from the way the story went you’ll realize that there’s something off with these kids. Even the town itself. And I was right, they’re not normal. The last line of the book cleared what mystery behind hers and the rest of the people of that town’s existence.

At first I thought this is just an ordinary thriller book, like Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz but the ending cemented that this book is also a paranormal one. I’m itching to tell you the big secret but I’ll just refrain. To be perfectly honest, the last few pages were the truly engaging ones. Sans the beginning, the events are pretty mundane. Yes, there’s this eerily feel to it but it wasn’t as intense as I thought it’ll be. After I finished it the other night, I still slept soundly. It wasn’t hunting, and the powerful start was wasted because it lacks the strong punch I was hoping for when it comes to this kind of book. I also didn’t like how it dodges the information by making details vague as possible. I’m all for the big hoopla at the end but it was still necessary to build up the tension with clarity.

But that saying, I kinda liked the story. It just took me one night, one sitting to finish this one. It’s rare for me these days because of my conflicting schedule and divided attention. So that says a lot about the story. Maybe I was just hoping a bit too much from it. You know, expectations. I have a feeling that people who wanted a good young adult thriller (with paranormal aspect to it) this will satiate their cravings by trying this book. Ms. Brian delivers—most of the time—exceptional scenes. The beginning and the end were the major highlight and strength of the book. If only the rest of the book are as good as those parts.