Stealing Shadows (Shadows Trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Kay Hooper (Author)
Key Phrases: Miss Neill, Sheriff Dunbar, Cassie Neill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Even though psychic Cassie Neill has traveled more than 3,000 miles away from Los Angeles, she finds that she cannot escape her destiny, any more than victims can escape the serial killer stalking the small town of Ryan's Bluff, N.C. Having retreated to an isolated home left to her by an aunt she never met, Cassie thinks she may have found peace at last. Her psychic ability to connect with the minds of killers and to see through their eyes has allowed Cassie to save lives, while all but destroying her own. Ryan's Bluff seems like the perfect hideaway, but it is not long before Cassie is plagued by visions once again. Cassie knows that local officials will be skeptical of her abilities, particularly since her aunt, also a psychic, was considered the town eccentric. So she goes to Judge Ben Ryan for help. When her claims that a murder is about to take place prove true, cynical town sheriff Matt Dunbar grudgingly accepts her help. In spite of occasional stiff dialogue and some clich?d language, Hooper (Haunting Rachel) constructs a fast-paced, suspenseful plot in this first book of her new series. She does a skillful job of making Cassie's psychic abilities seem like fact rather than fiction, explaining carefully how it is that Cassie can enter the mind of a serial killer and how she might get trapped there. And while the budding romance between Cassie and Ben is awkward and their dialogue seems forced, the story's complicated and intriguing twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the chilling ending. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The first in a planned "thrill-ogy" of suspense novels, this is a serial killer tale charged with deeply felt dread and romance that will steal readers' hearts. Cassie Neill has inherited a psychic gift from her mother that is a mixed blessing at best because it enables her to enter the minds of serial rapists and killers. From her aunt, she inherits a house tucked away in a corner of quiet little Ryan's Bluff, North Carolina, where she takes refuge, hoping to distance herself from the grueling work she's done for the Los Angeles Police Department. But, just as there's no rest for the weary, there's no rest for the wicked either, and visions of a deranged man's plans to kill prompt Cassie to visit Ben Ryan, the small town's prosecuting attorney. Skeptical but interested, Ben finds himself drawn toward the oddly bewitching Cassie, just as she is pulled ever further into the psychotic soul of evil. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (August 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553575538
• ISBN-13: 978-0553575538
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ORIGINAL AND FAST-PACED, September 1, 2000

By	Nick Gonnella - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Psychic Cassie Neill has made a career of helping the L.A. police department catch killers-a career that she puts aside after a terrible mistake leaves a child dead.

Cassie decides to start over by moving to the small town of Ryan's Bluff, but to her surprise, a killer is loose in the town, and Cassie has tapped into his mind-seeing the victims...before, during and after their deaths.

For fear no one will believe her, Cassie, turns to the one man she thinks she can trust, judge Ben Ryan.

Not knowing what to think, Ben is intrigued by Cassie's story, and when some local girls start turning up dead he realizes he will need her help to stop this monster.

Combining the story line of the killer, and some mysterious history to Cassie's family past; "Stealing Shadows" keeps readers guessing until the end. It is a fast-paced novel that will undoubtly be read in one sitting.

Kay Hooper is making the jump into thriller territory ruled by Tami Hoag, and she is making this jump successfully.

Readers will enjoy this novel, and look forward to the next two in the series being released in October and November.

Nick Gonnella

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable!, September 10, 2000

By	"paula_k_98" (Muskogee, OK USA) - See all my reviews

Kay Hooper has always been an excellent author, but she has outdone herself in Stealing Shadows. Ms. Hooper is apparently making her move from romance to thriller in an exciting book that will keep you glued to an explosive story that involves an intriguing cast of characters.

Psychic Cassie Neill moves to a small, secluded town in North Carolina from L.A. after she misreads the mind of a serial killer that results in the death of an innocent child. Blaming herself, she wants to isolated herself from the world and never be called upon to experience the terror she feels when using her psychic ability to enter the mind of a killer. Her aunt, who had spent the last twenty years hiding from the world because of her own psychic abilities has left her a house in the isolated countryside upon her death. Luck goes against Cassie as she begins to experience visions of a madman who is about to begin a killing spree. Cassie, knowing what skeptism is instored for her, goes to the local sheriff and prosecutor trying to warn them of what is ahead. Expressing doubt and disbelief, they are stunned to find out Cassie is right. There is a serial killer amid their small town stalking and brutally murdering women.

Kay Hooper has written one of the best novels I've read this year--if not the best. It amazes me how she has taken such a large, complex cast of characters, intertwined their lives, and still maintained the high level of terror and suspence in the plot. The suspense in this book never lets up. I'm glad there are two more novels folloing this one. I can't wait to see what Ms. Hooper has instored for her readers.

Grab this book, isolate yourself for a couple of hours, and get ready for one of the most exciting stories you'll ever read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ....very well indeed...., January 2, 2001

By	Sharon D. Spiller "book fiend" (Erie, Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first read the back of this book, I scoffed at the idea that an author would be able to successfully make a plot like this work. A psychic who runs across country to forget her past and finds herself in the midst of the same thing she was trying to escape? How appropriate. An attraction to the extremely handsome district attorney who is helping to solve the case. Where have I heard this before? It may be formulaic at best and trite at worst, but I could not put this book down. The pace was very fast, the suspense non-stop and the villian not an easy one to unmask. Kay Hooper seems to have found a very nice niche when it comes to the genre of romantic suspense novels and it seems to be one that fits her very well indeed.