Customer Reviews

Behind the Shadows (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

STORY BRIEF:
Kira's mother Katy is dying and needs a kidney. Kira wants to donate her own kidney but blood tests reveal she is not the biological daughter of Katy. She eventually finds Leigh a wealthy heiress who is the biological daughter. They were switched at birth. Leigh doesn't want to believe any of this and is reluctant to take a DNA test. Meanwhile, someone is trying to kill Kira. Max is an attorney who manages Leigh's inheritance. He's been close to Leigh's family for years. Kira and Max are drawn to each other, yet they are on opposite sides of this conflict and potential law suit.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
During most of the book I kept thinking this is a fabulous story. I didn't want to put it down. When I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it to read more. However, the ending was a little weak, as described in the Spoiler below. There was a happy ending, but it didn't wow me as much as the rest of the book did. This was mostly a mystery with some suspense and some romance. I usually prefer more romance than what was here, but the story and characters were so good that I didn't mind having a little less romance than normal. However, the romantic developments were warm and satisfying. Overall, the book was a great escape and left me with some thoughts I've pondered since.

DATA:
Story length: 324 pages. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 2. Total number of sex scene pages: 7. Setting: current day Atlanta, Georgia. Copyright: 2008. Genre: mystery with some suspense and some romance.

OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I've read one other book by Patricia Potter. My 2.5 star review of "Beloved Stranger" copyright 2006 was posted 3/22/09.


CAUTION SPOILER:

Toward the end, the heroines did something stupid and against character for the sake of the plot, which bothered me. Because of several murder attempts, security people are with Kira at all times. The bad guy calls Leigh with a lie to get Leigh to come to him. Kira then drives Leigh to that location. Kira doesn't ask the security guys who are currently with her to come. Also, when they get to the location, the security guys who should have been there were gone. But, the two women go right on in to the clutches of the bad guy. That troubled me. Kira was smarter than that. It was the only weak part of the book.

Patricia Potter manages to pull off, in the space of one book, a primary love plot, a secondary love plot, AND a mystery/suspense. It's really pretty impressive. There's plenty of tension. Best of all, I love watching the romances develop. I have to give Potter some pretty serious credit for creating much more believable and natural-feeling romance progressions than I'm used to seeing in books.

I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed watching Potter create tension between them without making half of them into bad guys. She does a bang-up job of simply giving them conflicting, yet understandable, needs and points of view. She also gives the men more personality and depth than some romance authors do.

The only real problem I had is that the suspense genre has one or two semi-fundamental conflicts with the romance genre. Let's just say that in order to conform to the needs of the romance genre, assuming someone knows what those assumptions are and realizes this is a romance, you remove some of the tension of the suspense side of things. Still, there's enough mystery, I believe, to keep the reader happy.

Patricia Potter did a superb job in the subplot. There was so much excitement at the beginning of the story line. I finished "Behind The Shadows" in one day. Kira Douglas's mother has renal failure. Kira went for a blood test to decide whether or not she could donate a kidney to her mother. The test results, no match. And, Kira isn't Katy Douglas's biological daughter. Kira and another baby were switched at birth.

"Behind The Shadow" was more about a gift of life. The devotion and determination to find her mother a donor. Kira Douglas was in a rush to find her mother's biological daughter. Her mother has two weeks to live without a transplant.

Kira hired Chris Burke a former police lieutenant. He's a neighbor and a friend to Kira and Katy Douglas. Chris narrowed it down to one possibility. Kira was able to obtain a DNA sample from Leigh Howard under false pretense.

Leigh Howard is the biological daughter. Kira needs to convince Leigh to donate her kidney. Leigh is an heir to her grandfather's estate. Kira doesn't want any part of the estate nor will she contest the will. She's willing to sign documents that she doesn't want any part of Westerfield estate. Leigh is afraid she's going to lose her fortune that she refuses to take a DNA test.

A suspenseful thriller. Three attempts on Kira's life. Is she getting too close to the truth that there was a baby switched and why? I recommend "Behind The Shadows"

With her beloved mom Katy dying and in need of a kidney, Atlanta reporter Kira Douglas offers one of hers. However, the blood test results affirm they are not just incomparable, but it a 100% certainty that Katy is not her biological mother.

Kira carefully talks to her mom and soon concludes that Katy is unaware that they are not biological mom-daughter. She concludes that somehow a switch occurred over three decades ago. Her private investigative friend Chris Burke helps Kira find the most logical candidate, Leigh Howard, heir to the Westerfield fortune. Leigh's attorney Max Payton fiercely protects his client as he assumes Kira is pulling a scam. However, he reconsiders his opinion re Kira when someone tries to kill her.

The concept of baby switching at birth has been done many times, but Patricia Potter provides a strong fresh entry. The story line is action-packed once Katy learns the truth, and is driven by her need to know what happened, find a kidney match with her mom's DNA daughter and to meet her biological family as well. Her desires turn nasty starting with Max who distrusts the newcomer and worse for her besides wanting the outraged lawyer when someone stalks her. Readers will relish this fast-paced one sitting double the fun romantic suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Plot Summary: Reporter Kira Douglas keeps getting bad news. First, her mother is dying of renal failure, and a kidney transplant is her only hope. When Kira has herself tested as a possible donor, she learns that her mother isn't her biological mother. Kira begins tracking down leads, and the improbable, ugly truth is that she was switched at birth, and now her best option is to find her mother's real daughter, and convince her to donate a kidney. This opens a Pandora's box of trouble, and then the woman Kira approaches denies any possibility of a switch. Leigh is wealthy and cloistered by her formidable lawyer and relations, and it's possible that Kira could be the legal heir to a fortune worth millions that someone is willing to kill to protect.

This is one of those rare reads that didn't produce a strong reaction from me. I don't love it and I don't hate it, so it's hard for me to review it. I much prefer it when I feel something about a book one way or another, since I'm at a loss right now. The plotting and writing was professional and smooth, but it was also dry and bland. Considering the heart-wrenching material -- mother on her deathbed with a curable disease -- I was hoping that the author would wring me dry like a ShamWow cloth, but I remained curiously detached from the story.

The plot is divided between four characters, and maybe that's why the emotional punch was pulled back. I like stories that feature dual romances, but neither one here generated the kind of intensely hot inferno that I want to read. In this romantic suspense novel, the romance seemed to take a back seat to the suspense, and I prefer it when the romance is at the forefront.

I found the motivation behind all the character's actions convincing, even Leigh, the presumed switched baby victim. Her entire inheritance, including her identity, was risked by Kira's claims, and I can't blame Leigh for trying to dismiss them out of hand. I found it predictable that the dying mother, Katy, had a saintly soul, because who'd fight for the life of a hag? As for the suspense side of the story, it was fairly transparent. I suspected the guilty parties before the end, so there were no big surprises. This was a more than competent story, but the romance or suspense didn't shine or stand out.

More than anything Kira Douglas wants to help her mother Katy. Katy needs a kidney transplant soon or she'll die. Test results reveal that not only is Kira not a match for the transplant, but she's not her mother's biological daughter either. Kira needs to find out who is before it's too late. Max Payton is the Westfield family's attorney. He's duty and honor bound to protect them and he won't let his intense attraction to Kira stand in his way. Unfortunately, time is running out for Katy and someone wants to keep Kira's mouth shut permanently.

Behind The Shadows is a suspenseful story laced with tons of emotion. As the danger grows, so does the attraction between Max and Kira. I really like Max and Kira together. Their instant connection feels right. Theirs isn't the only tumultuous relationship in Behind The Shadows, many are affected by Kira's crisis. The drama never lets up in Behind The Shadows. It's a story with feeling, and suspense.

Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I have read better books from this author. This does not compared to the others! Frankly, I could have passed it.