STORY-LINE IN THE VICTIM’S SHADOW BY VICTORIA SCHWIMLEY:
In The Victim’s Shadow, the reader finds a suspense-filled romance. Amber Winters lost her mother to violent when a child; without leads, the police never caught the culprit. Never receiving closure of her mother’s murder affected her greatly. A successful attorney, she lives a life of luxury, as her father’s wealthy and she’s wealthy in her own right. However lately, she felt dissatisfied with her life. She’s feeling her internal biological clock ticking. As the next anniversary of her mother’s death approaches strange things begin to happen; she turns to her best friend.
John, an attorney in the same firm and her best friend, secretly felt more for her. As a result, John recognizes her unease; someone’s messing with her mind and life. A psychotic stalker has Amber in his sights. My suspense romance book reviews of In The Victim’s Shadow follows.
CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, DEVELOPMENT:
Author Victoria Schwimley filled In The Victim’s Shadow with intrigue, suspense, and romance. Stalked by a psychotic, deranged man, fueled by revenge and jealousy, she created a first-class villain in Chad. As she developed the character of Chad, I found him a scary man. With a personality filled with hate, Chad hides his true character as best he can from Amber. However, at times of stress, he reveals his true nature; Chad’s temper sits on the edge of explosion, and he erupts often. Chad’s a crude, rude man raised in an atmosphere of uncaring and poverty. I can not reveal the reasons for Chad’s mental instabilities without spoilers. Needless to say, the turn of events will surprise the reader.
Our main characters, although wealthy and privileged, have caring hearts for the underdog, their friends, and family. Schwimley skillfully introduced the feelings between them; including very tasteful love scene which did not include erotica, explicit, or graphic sex. This is a sweet tale between best friends as they realize they want more than friendship. Each has strong personalities; John’s the perfect love interest for her. Each is classy, articulate, and successful.
With many plot threads to bring together and weave into a solid book, the author wove the plot threads together, and masterly leads the reader through this action-packed story. I found the pace of tale correct for the length of the story and the characters well-developed. She also added in tidbits of faith into the story-line. Schwimley demonstrates how past events affect many lives. The reader views this tale from the prospect of the victim and culprit.
After I started reading, sleep was the only thing which had me laying it down. The suspense, intrigue, and mystery, kept at a high peak, had me reading long into the night. The inventive way Schwimley introduced Chad into Amber and John’s life made his crossing their path seem normal.
In Chad, the reader finds not only a first-class villain, but he’s also intelligent in a crude way, angry, sneaky, streetwise, and bordering on insanity. You will love to hate him and wish for his demise. He is far beneath Amber’s class and his dreams of the future ridiculous. With an explosive surprise ending with many revelations, I sat on the edge of my chair as Amber learns the reasons behind Chad’s madness. An epilogue brings closure to this intense story. I closed this novel with a sigh of satisfaction for a story which held my attention from the first page, characters I came to love and a story which kept me intrigued. Kudos Ms. Schweinley, kudos for a job well done.
IN THE VICTIM’S SHADOW RECOMMENDATION: STARS 5
FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE:
Additionally, I received a copy from the author and chose to voluntarily review with honest suspense romance book reviews. Lastly, reviews of any novel are dependent on the author’s opinion. Consequently, all reviews online and on my blog, are my opinions.
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