Review of Listen to the Shadows by Danuta Reah

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Jul 16, 2002

Listen to the Shadows by Danuta Reah, available from William Morrow, ISBN: 0-06-019964-4. Contains mild sex and language.

It seemed like a beautiful day to Suzanne Milner, until she found the dead body of a young woman in a secluded area of a local park. Her death will rip open wounds that have never really healed as the police question her again and again, looking for what clues Suzanne seems to be hiding. During an interview with the handsome and determined Detective working the case, Steve McCarthy, she tells him that she saw a young man in the same spot earlier, one who looked just like one of the troubled teens she works with. The police interest in the young man puts both her career and life in jeopardy. Obsessed and weakened by her past - haunted by memories of her failure to save her brother, she decides to try and help solve the mystery for the sake of the young man she feels she unwittingly betrayed. I liked Listen to the Shadows in that it was a pretty good mystery - lots of buried pasts and interesting twists. Ms. Reah builds the layers of this story carefully, and manages to convey an air of menace that is quite chilling at times. All the characters were pretty well drawn, my favorite being the little girl, Lucy, who tried to warn everyone of the monsters, but no one listened. While I found Suzanne likable to an extent, and I could certainly relate with her, she was a little too weak as a person. Her insistence in taking on this huge burden of guilt and how it affects her relationship with her son and clutters up her mind when she's talking to the police can be very frustrating. Fortunately, Suzanne is sympathetic enough that you can get passed it, and enjoy the book.

Cindy Lynn Speer was the reviewer for this book and will be doing several reviews here on this site during the summer. Thanks Cindy for your help.

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