fuonlyknew

I’m tearing through the CORE Shadow Trilogy and want to share my review of the first book, Shadow Of Danger, while the feels are still fresh in my mind. Kristine Mason has now become one of my go to authors for romantic suspense.

Shadow Of Danger

The CORE Shadow Trilogy #1

by Kristine Mason

Genre: Romantic Suspense

 My Review

I won this book in a giveaway a while ago. Kristine also sent me a gnome. You’ll learn his significance further into my review. He sits in my front garden protecting my home. He’s been joined by several others and I suspect I’ll be seeing more. Knowing how much I enjoy this genre and upon some trusted recommendations, I went ahead and grabbed the three book boxed set before I even began reading Shadow Of Danger. I’m now into the second book, Shadow Of Perception, which introduces some new character’s while some favorite ones from the first book make brief appearances.

Celeste is plagued by horrific nightmares and visions of torture and death. A clairvoyant, she sees four women brutally attacked and murdered.

The local sheriff believes in Celeste’s abilities and calls on a trusted friend from a private agency, CORE, to send assistance. The man he sends, John Kain, is having none of it. He’s a former FBI agent, relies on facts and the rest is just nonsense. But before long he witnesses one of Celeste’s trances. The information she provides is vital to the investigation and John comes to accept her abilities.

Reminiscent of shows like Criminal Minds, Karen takes you on a dark journey into the mind of a killer. You get insight into what feeds the need for insatiable blood lust. Gruesome scenes provide a high level of suspense and create empathy for the victims and all of the character’s involved in the case. Kristine does this very well and it’s something I need in a suspense romance.

The suspense builds as the author drops in some twists about the killings and some intriguing side stories.

As for the romance. I had a lot of good times reading about Celeste and John and their instant attraction. It was very believable. Especially when the danger ramped up and the character’s emotions were heightened. And the author provided some much needed comic relief in the form of Celeste’s gnome collection. It started as just one gnome and quickly grew to dozens of them in all shapes and forms.

This book has it all. Suspense that keeps you glued to the book, anxious to see how it all plays out. Anxiety over whether more will die and if they’ll catch the killer or killers before they kill again. And excitement and amusement as Celeste and John fall hard for each other and work through the instant attraction and lusty thoughts.

5 Stars

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Synopsis

Four women have been found dead in the outskirts of a small Wisconsin town. The only witness, clairvoyant Celeste Risinski, observes these brutal murders through violent nightmares and hellish visions. The local sheriff, who believes in Celeste’s abilities and wants to rid their peaceful community of a killer, enlists the help of an old friend, Ian Scott, owner of a private criminal investigation agency, CORE. Because of Ian’s dark history with Celeste’s family, a history she knows nothing about, he sends his top criminalist, former FBI agent John Kain to investigate.

John doesn’t believe in Celeste’s mystic hocus-pocus, or in her visions of the murders. But just when he’s certain they’ve solved the crimes, with the use of science and evidence, more dead bodies are discovered. Could this somehow be the work of the same killer or were they dealing with a copycat? To catch a vicious murderer, the skeptical criminalist reluctantly turns to the sensual psychic for help. Yet with each step closer to finding the killer, John finds himself one step closer to losing his heart.

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Audible

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