Procure In The Shadow Of Revenge Presented By Patricia Hale Displayed In Manuscript

enjoyed this book. This novel was a mystery and had time jumps from past to present, Read this excellent mystery novel, Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

A small town, a cold case and three friends who haven't been able to leave the small town or the past behind.
Cecily, Amelia and Hilary have been friends since a young age and at the tender age ofendured a horrific day that left them all scared and they have all been barely coping until the past comes back to haunt them.
Feather's Book : Patricia Hale is an excellent author, Her talent for throwing the reader into the scene is tops, Few thriller novels grab me to the degree In the Shadow of Revenge did, I could relate to Cecily's childhood, needing to escape the threats within her home, growing up with horrific secrets.
What saved Cecily as a girl was the blood bond with her two friends, Hilary and Amelia, That bond followed her into adulthood as did the guilt she suffered, When the trio discovered justice was possible, they became unstoppable in spite of overwhelming risk, physically and emotionally.


The suspense grew swiftly right from the first page, The characters were alive, each with their particular brand of personality quirks, charm, heroism and unrelenting demons, My heart was fully engaged in this story, sometimes fearful of the next chapter, And yet, I was drawn to face the terror, The plot, while sometimes extreme, was plausible,

When the police force gave no heed to their belief a rapist had returned for revenge, Cecily exchanged her lawyer hat for a detective's.
She underestimated her adversary, and was not prepared for the truth of who was behind the attack on the three girls.


The only criticism I have, and it's minor, is that the characters seem to drink a lot of wine.
Perhaps that's part of the culture among lawyers who can't escape a childhood nightmare,

One of my favorite paragraphs,
My anger at Hilary over her addictions had more to do with my own guilt, The longer she stayed sick, the longer I had to carry the blame, If she'd just get better, I could let some of it go and I knew that day would come, but I was impatient.
Hilary exuded pain like a runner exudes sweat, Sooner or later she'd let out the last of it and wake up ready to move on, But for now, every one of her admissions into a psych unit or rehab sends me back in time.
People said that Amelia and I were the lucky ones, And they were right, if you call it luck to watch your best friend get raped while you huddle in the corner of a rustedout rail car, thank God it isn't you and feeling guilty as hell that it's not.


One of my favorite scenes,
"What'd you do to your hand" he asked, nodding toward the red line on the fat of my palm where Hilary, Amelia and I had last run the straight edge for our ritual.

"It's nothing," I said,
"Doesn't look like nothing, Looks sore. "
"We're blood sisters. "
He nodded and looked back at the road,
I couldn't tell him that sometimes I ran the straight edge along the thin red line when I was at home too.
While my mother was downstairs, her eyes moving left and right over the words inside her Bible, praising God.

Officer Marquette pulled his police car into my driveway and lifted my bike out of the trunk.
"There you go," he's said and leaned it toward me,
When I took it from him he'd placed his palm on my shoulder and I'd felt the same heat as the night in my kitchen.

"We've got a deal, right" he asked, "No more visits to the rail car, "
His hand had been warm, comforting as a blanket fresh out of the dryer, I'd dropped my bike and ran for the house,
He'd looked at my hand again today, Not everything in childhood gets left behind,

My favorite lines,
The feeling that I would pay for that someday kept me returning to the ritual, like a sinner to Sunday Mass.

Balls come in all shapes and sizes,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel by Patricia Hale and felt it was a very fast paced story with little to no lull in the action or plot development at all.

In The Shadow of Revenge contained very likeable, strong characters and a believable storyline that kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next.

The faults and the habits of each character after experiencing a traumatic childhood event together, as well as how they each developed and moved on with their lives was quite interesting and I also enjoyed the small supernatural element that was contained within the story.
I do wish that this element had been explored a little bit further though as I felt that it didn't really add to the story in the way that it could have.

This book was a definite page turner and kept my interest until the very end, I did have a little issue with some of the constant secrets and hiding of information that went on a lot to supposedly protect one another, but this was only a very small gripe which didn't detract from the story at all.

I'll definitely be looking out for more from Patricia Hale in the future, I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review,

This was quite a powerful story and quite hard hitting from the start, It's the story of how childhood innocence that is so cruelly taken away, affected the lives of threeyear old girls.
One eventually became an assistant DA but was constantly haunted by the event and riddled with guilt one turned into a promiscuous woman who just couldn't settle down and form a relationship one became alcohol dependent and went in and out of rehab.
One thing that never changed was the love and bond these three girls share,

When the subject of their fear and revulsion reappears on the scene, they look for the chance of revenge.


I thought this a thoroughly enjoyable read, I loved how the author had created the bond between the three characters and how she had written them to be such different people, pulled together by a cruel act committed when they were children.
The strength that they showed at times then moments of weakness, were very moving,

It was quite a believable story how they undertook to take revenge on the person who robbed them of their childhood.
When things didn't go the way they planned, you felt their pain and frustration, There is the inclusion in the story of one of the girls using a Ouija board, like they did when they were younger, when they sealed their friendship.
Some other readers have said this wasn't needed in the book, but I disagree as it includes the ritual of selfharm which so many people inflict upon themselves, to relieve the pain and hurt of a trauma they've endured.


This was a well written story full of content and with many twists and turns, It was in no way predictable and I found it hard to put down,

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review, For a first book for Patricia Hale, this one was very good! I can't wait to see what she will write in the future.
I liked the bond between Cecily, Hillary and Amelia, and given what they have gone through, it is very understandable and believable.
Something like that either tears you apart or brings you together forever,

The story unfolds with us learning more and more about the girls' childhoods and the women they have become today.
You learn how they each have developed coping mechanisms to get them past the memories that haunt them.
Cecily seems to bear the most guilt and it is linked to a Ouiji board that they had played with as children.
She has a link to the board which she is sure comes from her deceased Grandmother, She feels that the answers that she has been given through the board may have been guidance from her Grandmother all along.


The more involved Cecily becomes in the investigation concerning the assault fromyears before, the more danger she finds herself in, and the more muddy the lines between being loyal to friends or being loyal to family become.


Again, loved this book and I loved the touch of paranormal that was thrown in! What a great mystery/thriller based in ME! The main character Cecily seems to have a great life, a good job as a DA, living with successful lawyer boyfriend who want to one day marry her and have a family.
She has a close group of friends, who unfortunately also have painful secrets and s those start to slowly unravel her life changes drastically.
Propelling and intriguing from start to finish! The lives of nineyear olds Cecily, Amelia, and Hilary are changed forever when a stranger invades their hideout and rapes Hilary while forcing the other girls to watch.
Cecily manages to rise above the tragedy long enough to attend law school, while Amelia and Hilary's lives are stuck in a pattern of promiscuity and alcohol abuse.
Although she appears to have her life together, Cecily carries her own secret of guilt and addictive behavior.


When it appears that Hilary's rapist has returned to town, Cecily and Amelia determine to bring him to justice.
with or without the law,

This is a spellbinding story of dysfunctional families, abuse, and revenge, From the first page, I could not put this down until the heartstopping conclusion, With characters as unforgettable as these, I will be looking for Ms, Hale's future novels.

stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Partners In Crime Book Tours reviewers program.
I was not required to write a positive review, The opinions I have expressed are my own, I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission'sCFR, Part: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
" Today is my stop on the In The Shadow of Revenge blog tour sponsored by Partners In Crime
sitelink blogspot. com/ Everybody thought brilliant Cecily would leave deadend Miller's Falls for something better, But a twodecadesold tragedy locks her in place, Few understand the fierce bond that Cecily and Amelia share with Hilary, who was assaulted one summer as the two other girls watched helplessly.
It's a bond of love and guiltand a desire for vengeance that cuts clear to the bone,

So Assistant DA Cecily Minos waits, eager to see the guy in her courtroom, When Amelia meets a man who has the tattoo the girls remember seeing that day, they think they've finally caught a break.
But the police refuse to reopen the case, and it's up to Cecily and Amelia to pursue their suspect.


Their investigation soon uncovers secrets best left buried, But the law is slow, and they've waited long enough for revenge

,words When nineyearold friends Cecily, Amelia and Hilary became blood sisters in the railcar they had claimed as their very own cubby house, they swore they would remain sisters forever.
The beginning of the school holidays were no different as they made their way to the railcar again, excited and happy about the upcoming games and mischief they would get into.
But that day would change their lives forever a young guy was inside and the brutality of the attack on Hilary while the other two girls cowered in the corner, unable to move, created a bond of guilt, laced with a desire for vengeance which never left them.




Twenty years later the three girls were still as close as ever, but Hilary was in and out of rehabilitation from drink and drugs, her only coping mechanism Cecily was a lawyer, an assistant DA with commitment issues and Amelia had no trust of men, seeing a different man every night, never allowing herself to form a relationship.
So when Amelia picked up yet another young guy at a nightclub one night, Cecily didnt think anything of it.
Imagine her shock when she received a call from an exceedingly distraught Amelia in the middle of the night.
She had recognised a tattoo from the past, but the police wouldnt reopen the case, basically laughing at them,

Hiring a Private Investigator, Cecily determined they would find the evidence themselves no way was he getting away with it again.
But as she dug deeper and deeper into the past, she discovered horrifying secrets, She couldnt let it go, she wouldnt let it go the danger escalated at a frightening speed and suddenly the worst happened.


What an absolutely fantastic thriller from debut author Patricia Hale! I couldnt put it down, and when I had to I found myself thinking about it continually, talking about it and wondering what would happen next.
The twists were amazing, I was in the grip of the plot from the very beginning, I have no hesitation in highly recommending this novel, and Ill be watching out for more from this author.

.