Some secrets are worth dying for. Others are worth killing for.Five years after the brutal slaying of her husband, software executive Jill Shannon is ready to take the next step in her life. But with her wedding to prosecuting attorney Conner Manning just eight weeks away, her future father-in-law’s political ambitions for her fiancé threaten all her hopes. Jill’s past holds dark secrets. Secrets … secrets. Secrets she can’t afford to have exposed under the relentless lights of a political campaign.
When Phoenix Detective David Shaw turns up at Jill’s door asking questions about a reporter’s murder, he has no idea what a lethal Pandora’s Box he’s just opened. Was the womanizing reporter killed by a jealous husband, or was it related to his drug use? Or did it have something to do with the secret expose the reporter was working on? Jill Shannon looks like a dead-end lead but Shaw can’t shake the feeling the beautiful widow has secrets she’s not sharing.
Jill is caught between the sins of her past and the shattered hopes for her future. Shaw finds himself drawn deeper into a twisted labyrinth of lies and danger. One thing is clear: some vows are made out loud in front of witnesses. But some vows are made in silence, and witnesses can’t be left alive.
Vow of Silence is book 2 of the Jill Shannon Murder Series.
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***** What a Powerful Book!
Wow. What a powerful book! Starting out with a journalist, Joe Gaines, obviously meeting up with a call girl, we are stunned by what happens next. Shot dead. Done. Period. Or is it?
Filled with multi-faceted characters, in this tight-plotted, fine-prosed work, Patchell shows us that there are two sides to everyone in life. Particularly with the people in this book. First off, there’s Jill Shannon––beautiful, devoted to her daughter, Lexi, and her fiancée, Connor, and relishing her seemingly perfect life. Until her dark secrets just might be revealed. Secrets that stem from a highly abusive past and her own robust sense of justice.
We learn more about kind Connor, who comes from an overly ambitious governor for a father, and a mother who is ten steps beyond controlling. Then there’s David Shaw, the lead detective in this Joe Gaines murder mystery, who has demons of his own at home. Wendy, his wife, forever changed by a car accident, is now dependent on opioids and filled with hatred for the celebrity who carelessly drove smack into her.
Complicated enough, right? Wait, that’s just scratching the surface. Like peeling back an onion, more and more people float in and out, providing us with hints here and there of motivations in each character’s life. Particularly Jill’s. Slowly and surely, we see her revealed as ultra complicated. Not your typical feminine lead, she is touching and appealing one minute, horrifyingly calculating the next. She is as vulnerable as damaged goods, then, in the blink of an eye, switches into a dangerous femme fatale. Using her street smarts, her technical know-how, and a tiger’s ferocity, she manages to control situations to try and keep her secrets, as we turn those pages as fast as possible to see what will happen next. HIGHLY recommended!
Vow of Silence: A Jill Shannon Murder Mystery Thriller, my first read from author Chris Patchell. “I received a free review copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.” (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
This is a thrilling mystery. A reporter, Joe Gaines is killed in his casino hotel room. Detective, David Shaw is assigned the case. Jill Shannon is the prime suspect. Jill goes on the run and changed her name and identity. Is Jill the killer or is there another reason she disappears. The pace of the book is fairly rapid and keeps your interest.
I love that Vow of Silence by Chris Patchell gets right to the action. We have multiple storylines, threats, and danger. Drug cartels, politics, domestic abuse, kidnapping, lies, secrets, and the past…All have their place in the complex mysteries of the characters lives, filling them with danger and betrayal.
I didn’t realize this was Book II of the series, but I don’t feel it harmed my reading in any way, though I do recommend beginning at the beginning. It just made me work harder to try and solve the mystery myself. I read a lot of books like that. Funny thing, I was able to pick up the first book, Deadly Sins, for free from Amazon. YAY!
Joe Gaines, a reporter for the Arizona Republic, was ready to party without the pregnant wife he left at home. He had some blow, which he did a couple lines while waiting for the hot woman he expected to knock on his casino room door any minute. BUT….she was there for more than a private party.
Phoenix Police Detective, David Shaw, was excited to be working such a high profile case. It would be good for his career advancement.
Jill Shannon, our main character, has money and connections, soon to be married to a prosecutor and the only son of the former governor. She had left behind a dead husband in Seattle, a police officer shot right in front of her in their own home. I feel there is so much more to her story and I aim to learn about it. Jill is super smart, a whiz with technology.
I don’t know why I am so drawn to villains. I love when the villain is so likeable I want to root for them and do, but I am still waiting to ‘hear’ the full story.
The characters have many personal, as well as, professional problems. The sad thing is, the kids seem to pay a heavy price, even as their parents struggle to protect them. How many lives will be lost as the the mysteries are solved? I keep trying to anticipate who will live and who will end up dead or locked up as the time to pay the piper comes due. Will ANYONE be happy in the end?
I love complex, multiple plots, and characters that sometimes make it hard to distinguish good from bad. After all, let he who is without sin cast the first stone and I don’t see any of these characters able to do so, except the children and we won’t ask that of them.
Chris Patchell has a way of piling stories on top of stories, intermingling them in such a way that by adding the bits and pieces the complete the picture is exposed in a spellbinding way. The mystery compounds, the suspense keeps building and I am so happy to know this is not the end of Jill Shannon’s story.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Vows of Silence by Chris Patchell.
Vow of Silence takes place some five years after the events in Deadly Lies. Jill is doing well in her career and is settled down with her husband to be, Conner and her daughter, Lexi. While not exactly likable, Jill is certainly an intriguing character. She’s smart, calculating, and has absolutely no compunction about doing whatever it takes to keep her past buried. She also manages to fit herself into any circle with seemingly little effort. Jill Shannon is the perfect example of what we see when a psychopath is finally caught by police and the friends and acquaintances had no idea. I was a bit baffled about the need for so much of the story being devoted to Conner’s cartel case, but it does merge with the storyline. Once again, we have not so much a cliffhanger as an open ended conclusion, and I’ll be interested to see where Jill’s story goes from here. I’m also curious to see if she crosses paths with the determined David Shaw in the future. While this thriller isn’t of the heart-racing variety, when you think about the characters and what happens, the idea that one person’s machinations can have this kind of impact on so many is definitely chilling.