Despite its pleasant, seemingly innocuous name, Walton, Georgia is not the place to plan your next getaway, especially if you are trying to escape a dangerous past. Just when you thought it was safe…Nurse Pecca Gallegos has fled to Walton to protect her son from her own poor choices in the past, putting distance between them and the danger. Or so she thinks, until a phone call from her brother upends her fragile sense of security and increasingly disturbing things begin happening. Her newest patient, honorably discharged Army veteran Colton Crawford, steps in to help, but neither is prepared for the consequences.
Romantic suspense tends to be hit or miss for me. I often find that the romance angle is overdone and overpowers the suspense, which is my favorite part. Thankfully, “Silent Shadows” provides an adequate amount of tension, and I wanted to know what would happen in each new chapter, although I did easily zero in on one of the villains right away. While this is book three in Natalie Walters’ Harbored Secrets series, I did not have any difficulty reading it as a standalone. The patients at Home for Heroes quickly captured my heart, and I appreciated that Walters chose for Colton to be affected by psychogenic movement disorder (PMD) rather than the typical PTSD in order to highlight another challenge that may impact our veterans. Pecca and Colton’s first meeting certainly packed a punch and had me laughing!
Throughout the story, however, I found Pecca’s character rather aloof, and I did not feel that I could relate to her; she often seems awkward, and her internal dialogue disrupted the narrative for me. Maceo, on the other hand, was one of my favorite characters, with his natural ability to empathize and make others feel at ease in spite of his young age. I also very much enjoyed Uncle Jack, who in my opinion had the best commentary in this story, telling Colton, “You’re a go-getter, son, but even Lazarus had to die before the Lord could do his work” and “We all die different kinds of deaths, Colt, but they all lead to one truth. Do you trust him enough to bring you back to life?” These are deep facts to ponder when our own lives seem to be going off track and we are faced with trials. We can either try to work things out on our own, or we can turn to the One who already knows the end from the beginning and has a perfect plan for our lives. As Pecca and Colton come to realize, God is sovereign and omniscient, and because nothing is a secret to Him, ultimately He alone is able to keep us safe, even from what lurks in the shadows.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All opinions are my own.
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