Shadow Sands: A Kate Marshall Thriller

“Shadow Sands, book two in the Kate Marshall series, is nerve-shreddingly tense and utterly addictive. A great thriller writer, Bryndze is on top of his game. I can hardly wait for book three, Darkness Falls.”

Kate Marshall returns in another pulse-pounding adventure full of unexpected twists and turns, and a shocking conclusion.

Author Robert Bryndza follows up Nine Elms, the fast-paced mystery in which he introduced Kate, her teenage son, Jake, and Peter Conway, the psychopathic serial killer who was Kate’s supervisor when she was a detective. Having discovered the identity of the copycat Nine Elms serial murderer of young women, and barely escaping with her own life yet again, Kate is back at work as a lecturer at a small English university on the coast. She and Jake have enjoyed spending his school holiday together. As it draws to a close, they are scuba diving in the old Shadow Sands reservoir, a pastime the two of them have take up during the summer. Several small villages were flooded in order to construct the reservoir and the buildings that comprised those little towns remain submerged. As Jake explores an old church spire, he finds the body of a young man and, shaken, alerts his mother. Kate simply can’t believe it. After all, it’s Jake’s last day with her before he must return to her parents’ residence and start the new school year. Now she has to inform her mother that her dream of having a normal family life has again been shattered. “The average person in the world didn’t stumble on dead bodies, but here it was, happening again to Kate. Was the universe trying to tell her something?”

Kate becomes suspicious when the death of Simon Kendal is quickly ruled an accidental drowning — and not by the coroner who usually conducts such forensic examinations. Simon’s mother doesn’t believe her son drowned. He was a champion swimmer and his injuries were not consistent with drowning. Detective Chief Inspector Henry Ko brushes Kate’s interest aside, anxious to wrap the matter up quickly. But why? Does he have a vested interest in ensuring that the case is closed without further investigation?

Kate cannot let Simon’s death be so easily dismissed. But as she and Tristan begin investigating, a beautiful new professor of philosophy and religion, Magdalena Rossi, suddenly goes missing. She asked Tristan out on a date, but never showed up. Tristan has his own secrets that cause the police to consider him a subject in the case. Terrified, he realizes that there are aspects of his life he can no longer keep hidden. But while divulging the truth might convince the police of his innocence, it also might cost him the love of those dearest to him.

Someone is holding Magdalena hostage. But who? And why? She finds herself in a dark room on a filthy mattress and her captor visits periodically to torment her. As her nightmare is unfolding, Kate and Tristan work feverishly to find out what really happened to Simon and how his death might be connected to Magdalena’s disappearance.

In the midst of the investigation, Kate must deal with yet another crisis involving Peter Conway. He defined her life for many years and her “greatest triumph, catching Peter, had also been her greatest failure.” The tabloids made the story known to everyone. She still blames him for the unraveling of her life: her ouster from the police force, her alcoholism, and her difficult relationship with Jake. All of her anger, resentment and fear turned Peter “into an almost mythical creature. A monster crouching in the dark to torment her forevermore.” So she has to muster all of her strength when she learns that Jake wants to meet Peter, who has only agreed if Kate accompanies him. Kate’s mother counsels her to “demystify Peter Conway . . . for your own sanity and Jake’s too. He’s many things . . . but he’s also just a person. He’s held all of us in his grip for too long.” But can Kate heed her mother’s advice and maintain her fragile grasp on her sobriety?

Bryndza reveals that in his first draft of Shadow Sands, Peter was not part of the narrative. However, the character was inserted into the story due to demand from readers who reached out to let Bryndza know how much they loved to hate him in Nine Elms and inquire about what happened to him next. Bryndza correctly opines that the book is better with the storyline involving Peter. Indeed, he is a despicable character, but intriguingly so, especially in light of his history with Kate and connection to Jake. It’s difficult to imagine the books without him.

Once again, Bryndza’s story is entertaining and gripping, with blunt descriptions of horrifying criminal behavior and a further exploration of Kate’s drive to keep her life on track despite the challenges that threaten the tenuous normality she has established for herself and her son. Tenacious and skilled, she is determined to uncover the truth about Simon’s demise and find Magdalena, assisted by Tristan. A cast of colorful supporting characters, including a woman no one believed when she described almost being abducted out on the foggy moor, provide interest and give Kate and Tristan much to do and evaluate as their investigation proceeds.

Bryndza again delivers a superbly-crafted story that ramps up with a pulse-pounding prologue and never slows down until all is revealed. Hopefully, Shadow Sands is only the second of many installments in his highly enjoyable Kate Marshall series. And Peter Conway appears again, too.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.

Quite a few changes happened from the previous book to this second one in the series. We still find a lot of conflicting feelings regarding Kate´s relationship with her family especially with her son, and she finally decides which north she wants to give to her career always supported by her faithful associate Tristan. She and her family realize that bygones must be bygones and they have to look to the future. Whilst all these feelings plague her mind she also succeeds in solving a series of murders and missing people around the area where she lives. A very entertaining story that keeps you totally hooked till the end.

*5 Stars*

ARC kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series. This is the second book in the series so far, and a wonderful instalment. I really like both Kate and Tristan, and them working together to solve cases is just awesome. I like how we to get know each of the characters and learn more about them as we go.

As we got more and more details about the mystery in this one, I was very intrigued and trying to put together what the outcome would be. I was wrong, and was shocked at the ending. Bryndza writes in such a way that you’re drawn into the story and the world of these characters. You feel for them and want to get to the bottom of the mystery with them.

I also find Kate’s relationship with Jake quite interesting, and there were some bits in there that I understood, but wasn’t quite happy about at the same time. You’ll understand when you get there lol.

A great story that kept me on my toes, and coming back for more.

I’m loving these books and can’t wait for more. I particularly liked the way this ended, opening up a great world for the next book.

When Kate and her son, Jake, are scuba diving in the Shadow Sands Reservoir, they come across the submerged body of a young man. The police call it an accident … the boy’s’ mother just won’t accept that he had drowned whil swimming … he had been set to enter the Olympics in swimming.

Kate, herself, has doubts that this is ‘just’ an accident …. and she and her research assistant do some investigating on their own. What they discover is that there has been a series of strange deaths and disappearances in the area.

They’re chasing a killer that is making dead certain that the secrets of Shadow Sands stay buried… and will kill anyone that gets in their way.

Full of non-stop action and suspense, this is well-written with characters that seem to jump off the pages into your living room. Although second in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone, however, I do recommend reading in order … Kate’s back story is fascinating.

Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

ARC received from publisher via Netgalley for an honest review

I am new to the writing of Robert Bryndza, Nine Elms being the only other book by this author that I have read so far.

And now I am kicking myself for what I have been missing.

This is the second book in the Kate Marshall series,and whilst it could be read as a stand alone (we are given back story), you won’t want to miss Nine Elms.

Kate Marshall is a strong protaganist. She is protective, she is complicated, and so is her life.

When the ex-police officer and her son stumble across a body, the stage is set for another enthralling chase. She is tenacious, not letting it go when her spidey senses feel that the investigators get it wrong.

Corruption and money are all in play in this twisted tale. Just when you think you know what is going on and who is the bad guys, we are thrown a curve ball and left scratching our heads again. I had an idea of the who but no idea of the why or what for.

What I really liked the most is the relationship between Kate and Tristan – a Watson and Holmes of sorts. I like the direction they are going as this story comes to its conclusion, and look forward to where Bryndza takes them in future stories.

Now I am impatiently awaiting more… I guess I should go check out more of his series whilst I am waiting.

This is the second book in this series bringing back some of the same characters and adding some new. I found this to be a fast moving story that kept you reading to figure out who the serial killer was. It took me a bit longer to get into this story but once I did it went very fast. Would like to read the next one if there is more.

One Night in august 2012, young Sam is camping out with his friend Geraint near the Shadow Sands reservoir and power plant. When he witnesses how a man dumps a lifeless body into the water, his own fate is sealed. A few days later, Kate Marshall (ex-policewoman now lecturer) and her son discover the body while diving to the flooded villages. The police and coroner rule ‘accidental drowning’ very quickly but the mother isn’t satisfied with this verdict and asks Kate to find out the truth. Her son was an Olympic swimmer, how could he have drowned?
Kate’s research assistant, Tristan is asked out by Magdalena Rossi, an Italian guest lecturer who’s taken a shine to him. But when she doesn’t turn up for their date, the police see him as a suspect. The reader, however, knows that she’s abducted and kept prisoner. Time is ticking away for her.

This is a complex but suspenseful story with a rich family that behaves badly and harbours secrets of their own, an elusive serial killer that nobody knows about, a police force that may be corrupted, and an unwilling private investigator with enough trauma of her own. Put all those elements to stew for a while and Bryndza cooked up a delicious thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Personally I could relate well to Kate. She’s overcome some incredible traumas as well as an alcohol addiction. I’ve lived through some similar issues and I know how hard temptation can hit you at the most unexpected moments. “But virtue never tested is no virtue at all” Frankly, I think she’s not treated well by her own parents that never wanted to sign over the custody of her son back to her. Resentment and blame seep through in the way they talk to her. This puts a strain on the relationship between her and Jake, especially when he wants to see his biological father (a serial killer who tried to kill his mother twice.)
Her sidekick Tristan is more the adorable kind. He’s having trouble with his sister who’s not taking his coming out very well. Even prior to this I thought she was as acting the entitled diva and being self-centred.
In this list of protagonists, I can’t forget Magdalena who has to deal with an awful lot just trying to survive. She doesn’t sit down waiting to be rescued but tries to create any chance to force an escape. There’s not 1 but 2 strong female leads in this book. Not an easy feat for a male author, I think.
This is the second book in this series and there are quite a lot of references to things that happened before. Not only to those in the previous book but also to the further removed past. At first, it was a bit much to take in all at once, but once the dust settled, things were easier to understand. The story starts slowly but gains momentum and ends with a fireworks finale.