Jane Blake is a mystery/thriller series full of unexpected twists and turns. The first novel of the series, Jane Blake: True Sinner, will immerse you in the world of an extraordinary con artist tricked into working with the police. Jane, a con artist with a difficult past, has managed to solve some tough criminal cases while working as a thief in Los Angeles. Her dark history has made her … deceitful and cunning. She doesn’t trust anyone, and has always worked alone.
Ryan Gray, a hacker for the police, is impressed with her abilities. He tracks her down and successfully blackmails her into helping solve his mother’s murder. But that’s not all he wants—he wants her to work with his team.
As she settles into life as a Homicide consultant, Jane decides it’s finally time for her to collect the pieces of the puzzle of her past. With a team behind her back for the first time, she’s ready to uncover the truth—why a man tried to kidnap her as a child, and who saved her from that horrible fate. That incident shaped every part of her life. But her search will lead even deeper, uncovering the secrets of her family, her true origin, and a criminal conspiracy that stretches far beyond L.A.
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‘Jane Blake – True Sinner’ is the debut novel of Kelly Shade, a new author to me. I came across an ad on social media for the second book in the series and was sufficiently intrigued to buy it, and this one, to see how the main character developed. Writer Shade has a comfortable style with words that will carry the reader along in this first novel, and is sufficient so that the continual fast pace with no respite does not become too repetitive a rhythm.
The story structure is unusual for a crime thriller of this type, reminding me more of a television series where we are presented with the case-of-the-week against a background of a continuing story arc that directly affects the protagonist, in this case her search for her real parents. The central character, Jane Blake, is an expert con artist with a wide range of skills that give her an edge over her victims, yet she often takes on jobs that take the form of payback for some ill deed done to a third party. This is a strong setup for her transition to a consulting role with an elite Los Angeles Police Homicide Department. The tale explores both her and her new team’s mutual trust issues where the individual murder cases they are assigned are used as a vehicle for them to come to a compromise.
A promising first novel from this author. If you are a fan of good crime fiction with strong female protagonists, this is the one for you. Recommended.
First, I have to say, that I’m very picky when it comes to choosing a crime novel… very picky. So believe me when I say, that the debut novel of Mrs. Shade just blew me out of the water!
I have never read anything like Jane Blake before. The character development of the Jane, the main protagonist, and Grey, her unlikely “sidekick” is just like from a Hollywood movie (a good one for that).
So, a little plot reveal is in order, so be advised *spoilers ahead*
Jane is a shady, off-the-radar, badass grifter *slash* thief, who steals from the rich to teach them a lesson (so not your garden variety Robin Hood). While doing so, she’s uncovering their dirty secrets, which most of the time are gruesome murders. While indirectly helping police in their ever-lasting search for justice and making herself filthy rich, she’s looking for the one thing she wants, but can’t have – her true origins. Only knowing, that she’s been illegally adopted by a rich and powerful family, she’s on the search for her biological family and understanding why she was literary sold to the highest bidder.
Of course, we come to the twist, a knot if you will, in her otherwise perfectly executed heist – a young (and quite handsome) hacker has picked up her trail and got her read-handed on a surveillance video. What’s the big whoop with that, you might think – well, the whole persona of Jane is that she’s a ghost. And once the authorities have her face, it’s all over.
So, long story short, that hacker, Ryan Gray, recruits the unwilling Jane for the police task force team, which he himself is a part of, and they set off on a search for Jane’s real parents and Gray’s secret agenda.
I’ll stop here, because I already dropped quite the juicy details, which are still just the tip of the iceberg.
The story, the twists and turns, will keep you guessing – what’s really happening, who’s playing who… And to top it all of, the proverbial cherry on top of the cake, you’ll have a few mysterious and thrilling cases, which Jane and Gray will be untangling, just so you can “”rest”” from the main plot.
To put it in a nutshell – it’s refreshing (and I’m hopeful for the next books) that there are still indie authors out there, that are willing to go the extra mile in order to deliver quality and unique content, whilst still keeping to the classics in the genre!
I’ll be sure to read the second book of the series very soon and I’m sure, that Kelly Shade will not disappoint me.