Shadow Woman by Linda Howard

Shadow WomanNarrated by Carrington MacDuffie

Shadow Woman is in the vein of Linda Howard’s more recent romantic suspense novels, with a heavy emphasis on the suspense that almost supersedes the romance. The prologue introduces us to the horrific murder of the President of the United States by his wife, witnessed by a Secret Service agent who loses her life in the crossfire. Four years later, Lizzette Henry looks at herself in the mirror one morning – and doesn’t recognize the face looking back at her. As flashes of her memory cause debilitating headaches, she starts to piece together the remnants of her life… before. Her current status as a boring, stick-to-the-routine office worker is slowly replaced by the muscle memories and echoes of her previous incarnation as someone completely different.

With a slight nod to the 1996 Geena Davis movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, Lizette begins to realize her safe, routine ways are not at all safe, and acting on instincts she doesn’t even realize she has, she starts the journey back. Meanwhile, “Mr. X” inhabits her dreams – he’s elusive, difficult to find, but she gets closer and closer. She spends the first half of the book trying to understand what is happening, and at the same time, trying to come to terms with Mr. X – is he the enemy?

If you are one of the many readers who needs the protagonists to spend a lot of time together, this isn’t your book. While Xavier appears in the first half, he’s unknown to Lizzette, who isn’t suffering from amnesia but a chemically-induced brain wipe. By the time he finally catches her, the SNAFU is so overwhelming, you’ll wonder how they will ever extricate themselves. The suspense is excellent, especially with the jarring prologue. Lizzette is truly a kick-ass heroine and Xavier a drool-worthy and just as kick-ass hero, working together to transcend the “mutual assured destruction” situation in which they find themselves trapped.

And hallelujah, LH got a terrific narrator with Carrington MacDuffie. My only other experience with MacDuffie is Suzanne Brockmann’s The Defiant Hero, Book 2 in the Troubleshooter series (TSS), and unfortunately for her (but fortunate for us!) this is one of the 4 books that will be rerecorded by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank later in 2014. MacDuffie’s version is the only 5-star listen of the earlier TSS audiobooks for me – she’s got a terrific suspense delivery in both Shadow Woman and The Defiant Hero, with well-developed and differentiated characters, including a good lower register for men. And I have to give her kudos for her well-read hot love scenes – no breathy, overacted sex here; she gives it a straight, full-voiced reading, with just the right amount of raw emotion. (Am I the only one tired of narrators getting too involved and way too breathy when they read sex scenes?)

Melinda


Narration: A

Book Content: A

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Escalated fighting

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Random House Audio

 

 

 

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3 thoughts on “Shadow Woman by Linda Howard

  1. You are definitely not the only one getting tired of those overwrought, breathy love scenes. Sometimes I just have to shut off the book and take a moment to get over my aggravation!

  2. I listened to this one through a library loan. Despite the fact that the h/h don’t actually meet until far into the book (something I usually don’t like) it worked well for me. I agree with the A grade. I was also pleasantly surprised by the narrator, who I had never heard of. I figured a library book was safe with a new narrator, but I would have been happy to buy this one.

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