"To protect her, he must remain a ghost . . . “If you love emotional reads that pull at your heartstrings, then In Shadows is a must read for you.” —Fresh Fiction

Jack McCann has been in love with Shelly since they were teens. They married just out of college and right before he went to work as an undercover agent for the FBI. When he can, he slips away from his assignments to see her.

Jack has been undercover on his latest case for months, investigating a weapons-smuggling business. But just as the FBI is set to make the bust, Jack’s cover is blown. The last thing he feels as he crashes through a warehouse window and into the open water is a bullet piercing his back. The last thing he hears is Adam Ito promising to destroy everyone Jack loves.

Shelley’s worst nightmares come true when the FBI arrive at her doorstep to bring her the news. But she doesn’t know the truth: Jack survived the shooting and will do anything to keep his beloved wife safe—even if it means hiding in shadows . . .

Praise for Sharon Sala

“If you can stop reading, then you are a better woman than me.” —Debbie Macomber, New York Times–bestselling author

“Sala is a master at telling a story that is both romantic and suspenseful . . . one of the best writers in the genre.” —RT Book Reviews

“Sala’s characters are vivid and engaging.” —Publishers Weekly "

Quoted material is from the book's Amazon page.

The bulk of my review will be in the further comments section, near the bottom.

People who like romantic suspense and / or thrillers with romance.

The characters.

see further comments

Read something tamer.

All the feelings.

"About the Author

Sharon Sala is a native of Oklahoma and a member of Romance Writers of America. She is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than eighty-five books written as Sharon Sala and Dinah McCall. She's a seven-time Rita Award finalist, a Janet Dailey Award winner, five-time National Readers' Choice Award winner, four-time winner of the Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews, and four-time winner of the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence.


Teri Schnaubelt is a Chicago-based stage, on-camera, and voice actor as well as oil painter and photographer. An Earphones Award-winning narrator, she has voiced over a hundred books for New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, in addition to helping independent authors get their stories heard."

Source: the book's Amazon page.

It was full of action and the love between the heroine and hero was strong.

I'm a fan of Sharon Sala's writing. This book was similar to her others in that the characters were engaging and the story grabbed me.

It differed in that there was a graphic sexual opening that I thought was unnecessary and there was a lot more graphic violent content in general than she usually has in her books. I didn't know until doing this review and grabbing the "about the author" information that she had a coauthor. That explains the difference. I think they were trying to sensationalize this one. I personally think her normal style is better.

Still, I was gripped by the story and wanted to know what would happen to each of the good characters.

There was one of the "bad" characters who died that I was sad for. I would have preferred to have a redemption story for him (don't read more if you don't want spoilers).

I'm talking about Yuki, the main villian's younger brother.

There was an unexpected supernatural element that was surprising to me that came from Yuki's mother. I don't know much about Japanese supernatural myths so am not sure if Sharon Sala made that up herself or borrowed it from folklore, but it was definitely something I didn't expect.

I bought this book on sale for $1.99 on September 4th, finished the book I was reading and then read this one. I've been sick so have had more reading time than usual. It's September 7th. I'm thankful for engaging books that keep my attention. She definitely scored in that department.

So, if you're looking for something cozy, this isn't it. But if you want a wild ride and can handle some extreme violence and depravity, it's a good read.

It's not all believable though. I was into the story enough to believe just about everything except the FBI letting Jack get away with shooting Adam to torture information from him. I have no FBI experience though.

This book was published six years ago, in September 2018, so there was enough technology that I doubt they could have buried the torture evidence. That's not my specialty though. Maybe it could happen.

Even though the book is older, it's doing well on the Amazon best seller list. As of today, here are its rankings:

"Best Sellers Rank: #17,096 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

#125 in Heist Thrillers
#445 in Kidnapping Thrillers
#662 in Crime Thrillers (Kindle Store)"

The $1.99 sale is still on, so that is probably giving it a big boost.

Will I still read just about everything Sharon Sala writes? Yes. If she taught a characterization course, I'd take that too.

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Created Sep 07, 2024 at 8:45pm • Submit your own review...