Taylor from Shadows of the Past by Patricia Bradley

I finally have a new post for you, and it's on an exciting contemporary thriller called Shadows of the Past that came out last year!


I’m 50/50 with this genre to be honest, for me it all depends on my mood.  When I’m feeling sad or stressed I don’t like reading thrillers or anything with a difficult subject matter.  On the flip side, when I feel good, I really get into them.  For that reason, it took me a while to read through Shadows of the Past as I had a bit of a low point part way through it, but when I was feeling less morose and picked it up again, I enjoyed finishing it and am happy to share with you about it now!

For a thriller, the pacing was great.  There was a perfect balance of action, romance, and suspense.  Every time you started to think things were safe, something unexpected would happen.  The story follows Taylor Martin, a criminal profiler & professor who’s being stalked while working to help solve several murders.  I think it was the stalker thing that really creeped me out.  That and Taylor's dreams about a clown.  Seriously, clowns can sure be creepy… just reading about a character having nightmares of clowns is enough to give me nightmares of clowns, lol!

Aside from the murders, the stalkers, and the nightmares, Taylor picks up on a personal investigation to find her father who’s been missing since she was a little girl.  As if that wasn't enough stress, Taylor continues to struggle with the feelings of abandonment she's had since his disappearance.   Remembering her father as such a loving man, the reasons for his leaving never really added up.

When Taylor gets a lead on a former student of hers possibly being connected to one of her cases she crosses paths with his brother, Nick Sinclair, and the romantic tension begins.  Nick Sinclair is quite a catch.  He's a handsome, successful novelist, but Taylor won’t give him an inch when it comes to the matter of his missing, possibly stalker brother, Scott.  Nick is convinced Scott is innocent of any crimes, but Taylor is much less trusting.

There’s a lot of action that happens as it gets increasingly dangerous for Taylor to do her job.  The closer she gets to solving the case and finding her father, the farther away the truth seems.  It’s a thoroughly entertaining journey, if not a bit intense at times!  The romance aspect helps a lot for someone like me who wants a story that’s not only exciting, but heart-felt.  Taylor’s fears and doubts about her past make her a deeply believable character.  If you like a good thriller with murder, mystery, and a touch of romance, definitely ad this one to your list of books to read!

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

-Monica