I’m absolutely thrilled to be on the blog tour today for the 2nd book in the Kate Marshall series by Robert Bryndza. Shadow Sands was published on 3rd November so grab your copy now! Many thanks to Francesca Banks for my blog tour invite and review copy of the book.
When Kate Marshall finds the bloated body of a young man floating in the Shadow Sands reservoir, the authorities label it a tragic accident.
But the details don’t add up: why was he there, in the middle of the night? If he was such a strong swimmer, how did he drown? As Kate and her assistant Tristan Harper follow the evidence, they make a far darker discovery . . .
This is only the latest victim in a series of bloody murders dating back decades. A mythic serial killer is said to hide in the rolling fog, abducting his victims like a phantom. And when another woman is taken, Kate and Tristan have a matter of days to save her from meeting the same fate.
I’m such a huge fan of Robert Bryndza-he consistently delivers gripping pageturners with likeable and relatable main characters. His Erika Foster series is one of the best crime series out there and I had been worried I wouldn’t take to Kate Marshall as much as Erika but after the brilliance of Nine Elms, I knew this new character would work perfectly! Kate Marshall has had a difficult life and really been through some major traumas but she’s come through everything with a strength of character that makes her an intriguing woman. She commands admiration due to her respect of others plus she is not afraid to show her fears and acknowledge that things that happened to her previously have lead to those emotions. Her determination to discover the truth makes her a natural leader and that is shown in the relationship she has with Tristan, her research associate.
Sometimes I forgot that Kate wasn’t a police officer anymore as those qualities she commanded as a serving police officer followed her into her private investigation of how the body of a young man man turned up in a local reservoir. Due to the fact that Kate herself had found the body when she was diving with her son Jake, there was a personal connection driving her on and once Kate gets involved in things then she is invested until the very end! As you can tell, I love her and enjoy how Robert Bryndza peels back the layers of her personality, exposing the true emotions of the woman who refuses to be defined by her past.
Shadow Sands has an intriguing storyline full of twists and turns that meant I had no idea who was behind the crimes that were taking place! The location of Shadow Sands itself and the descriptions of when the fog came rolling in meant that there was a feeling of menace throughout which gave me goosebumps. The other threads that ran through the narrative also served to keep me on the edge of my seat. There was a claustrophobic atmosphere that enveloped me every time the storyline peered into the makeshift prison of one of the victims of that “killer fog”. Honestly, Shadow Sands really is one hell of a creepy thriller!
If you’ve not read Nine Elms then I do recommend you read it first-especially as you will then get to meet a vicious serial killer who then makes a surprise cameo appearance in Shadow Sands (which does contain spoilers for Nine Elms). And I’m hoping that’s not the last we see of him either as he certainly seems to have a few more tricks up his sleeve and I don’t think he has finished with either Kate or her son Jake yet-worryingly for them!
I loved Shadow Sands and couldn’t put it down. It’s a dark and compelling read with an exceptionally good female lead character so make sure you don’t miss it! Truly terrifying!
Robert Bryndza is an international bestselling author, best known for his page-turning crime and thriller novels, which have sold over four million copies in the English language.
His crime debut, The Girl in the Ice was released in February 2016, introducing Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. Within five months it sold one million copies, reaching number one in the Amazon UK, USA and Australian charts. To date, The Girl in the Ice has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language and has been sold into translation in 29 countries. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2016), the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in France (2018), and it won two reader voted awards, The Thrillzone Awards best debut thriller in The Netherlands (2018) and The Dead Good Papercut Award for best page turner at the Harrogate Crime Festival (2016).
Robert has released a further five novels in the Erika Foster series, The Night Stalker, Dark Water, Last Breath, Cold Blood and Deadly Secrets, all of which have been global bestsellers, and in 2017 Last Breath was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Mystery and Thriller.
Most recently, Robert created a new crime thriller series based around the central character Kate Marshall, a police officer turned private detective. The first book, Nine Elms, was an Amazon USA #1 bestseller and an Amazon UK top five bestseller, and the series has been sold into translation in 15 countries. The second book, Shadow Sands will be published November 3rd 2020.
Robert was born in Lowestoft, on the east coast of England. He studied at Aberystwyth University, and the Guildford School of Acting, and was an actor for several years, but didn’t find success until he took a play he’d written to the Edinburgh Festival. This led to the decision to change career and start writing. He self-published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels, before switching to writing crime. Robert lives with his husband in Slovakia, and is lucky enough to write full-time.
You can find out more about Robert and his books at http://www.robertbryndza.com
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