Reviews

The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner

mirable's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

LJ review:

Sarah Keller is a skip tracer with a shadowy past, hiding the lie that she and her five-year-old daughter are living. Fiercely determined to keep Zoe safe from the far-reaching clutches of a messianic cult with ties to terrorism, drugs, and polygamy, Sarah is always prepared to run. When a traffic accident exposes her deception, there's no time for her to second-guess or doubt her choices; hell is coming in the form of the Shattering Angel and his Angel Wings-devout members of the cult who will do anything their leader asks of them to assure their rightful place in heaven. Sarah's possible connection to the cult is like blood in the water for government agents, and she and Zoe are pressed into serving as bait in a cat-and-mouse game she has no desire to play. Near cinematic quick-cut action drives a lean, plot-driven story populated by larger-than-life characters. Alternating points of view interspersed with flashbacks keep everything rocketing along until the incendiary finale.
VERDICT: In her second stand-alone thriller (after Ransom River), the Edgar Award-winning Gardiner has set up a high-velocity ride into the heart of the New Mexico desert that is sure to keep adrenaline junkies and armchair thrill-seekers on the edge of their seats. [See Prepub Alert, 1/14/13.]-Charli Osborne, Oxford P.L., MI

thriller_chick's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3.5 star

denaiir's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

2.5 stars

princessdeleon's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I liked this way more than i thought I would. the beginning seemed too exposional but it turned out well. time to find out if there is a sequel

seddso's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

this was a 100 miles an hour book - exhausting to read but in all, a good little thriller with a few little twists. 3.5 would be my preferred rating

shelleyrae's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0


The Shadow Tracer is a rare stand alone thriller from author Meg Gardiner who is best known for her popular series, one which features Jo Beckett, a forensic psychologist, and the other, Evan Delany a journalist with a law degree.

The protagonist in The Shadow Trace is skip tracer, Sarah Keller. Since the night Sarah sister was murdered and she was forced to flee with her newborn niece, Sarah has been careful to remain off the grid. For five years she has been living under an alias, raising Zoe as her own, staying one step ahead of the violent, criminal cult that want to claim Zoe for the family when a minor accident, which leads to Zoe being hospitalised for treatment, uncovers a shocking secret and with their cover threatened, Sarah is forced to take Zoe and run.

The cult wants Zoe not only because she is family and therefore one of God's 'chosen people' but also because she is unknowingly a key to part of their criminal enterprises. Without the intervention of a rogue FBI agent with vengeance on his mind, Sarah and Zoe may have stood a chance of escaping the clan's assassins but Agent Harker's single minded agenda complicates everything.

Sarah is uniquely placed to avoid the attention of those who are pursuing her and Zoe having spent her years on the run working as a skip tracer. There is just enough character development to make sense of Sarah's motivations. I really liked the way in which she was portrayed as capable, resourceful and fiercely protective of Zoe. Yet despite the burner phones and untraceable pre-paid credit cards, with both the clan and the FBI hunting her, Sarah is forced to reach out to US Marshal Michael Lawless, despite being wary of him and his motives.

Though the plot isn't entirely credible, the breathless pace overrides any real concerns. With the feel of a movie script due to several cinematic action scenes including a brutal murder in an isolated farmhouse during a snow storm, a dangerous car chase along a freeway and a final bloody confrontation in an airplane graveyard, The Shadow Tracer is an action packed thrill ride. The villains are suitably scary given their amoral and relentless, deadly pursuit of a an innocent five year old. And though the focus is firmly on the the frantic action, Gardiner still finds the time to introduce a subtle element of romance, or at least chemistry, between Sarah and Lawless.

This stand alone novel should be welcomed by Gardiner's fans and tempt new readers to delve into her backlist. The Shadow Tracer is an entertaining, action driven thriller from an author Stephen King endorses as a 'suspense superstar'.

selinamarcille's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Book #2 for 2021 down!

"The Shadow Tracer" by Meg Gardiner is one of her few standalone books. Meg Gardiner is one of my favorite thriller authors and I own everything she has ever published in English.

This novel follows Sarah, a skip tracer, as she tries to stay hidden from a secretive past. Also included is an ironically named Michael Lawless, a US Marshall love interest, and Zoe, a creepily perceptive 5 year old with a penchant for dropping her stuffed mouse in the most inopportune moments. Thrown in are some memorable side characters and really gripping moments.

I wouldn't say this is Gardiner's best effort, but she still manages to build characters with depth and keep you guessing.

This doesn't quite have the finesse of some of her other stories in terms of mystery building, but still a good read. It also closely follows a similar plot as the first in her Evan Delaney series, so it was hard to separate the two... especially since the Evan series is really effing amazing. As I was listening, I couldn't remember if I had read this before or if I was just crossing lines with her other book.

But... who doesn't like reading about crazy meth-dealing polygamist cults?

3/5

#selinareads2021 #readinglist #shadowtracer #meggardiner #thriller #audiobook #audible #polygamy #cults #evandelaney

ncrabb's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

Sarah Keller knows all about hunting deadbeats or skip tracers. She has done it for years. She knows all the mistakes people make when they try to fake their death or go off the grid because they can’t pay their bills or whatever. She hunts such people down, and she’s good at finding them. But she understands the idea of hunting down the deliberately lost for another reason. Five years before the book began, Sarah escaped a burning house wherein lie her sister, dying not from the flames, but from a knife wound inflicted by someone else. Sarah escapes into the snowy night once she’s sure she can do nothing to help her sister. In her arms is her sister’s baby, Zoe.

So on a day when Zoe’s bus is involved in an accident that put the little girl in the hospital, physicians are startled to find that Zoe has been microchipped like a dog. Who would chip their child, and what’s on the chip that is so important?

Sarah realizes that she must now again enter the murky world of those who are running from things they can’t or won’t face. Because she’s good at it, she knows what she has to do.

What she’s running from is a ruthless polygamist sect. Sect leaders want Zoe back, because Sarah’s sister was briefly married to a sect member who broke free. It’s bad enough that he got out; but the leadership was infuriated by the fact that the little girl could not be one of theirs.

Sounds like a great thriller plot, right? Not so much for me. So much of it seemed forced and contrived and hard to believe. I just couldn’t buy Sarah’s surprise over the fact that the child was chipped. Are you serious? You’ve played with that kid almost from birth, bathed it, examined every part of it at various times for bumps and bruises, and you are freaked by the existence of a microchip? Sorry, folks, I’m not buying it. Other things happen here that are just too coincidental. The descriptions of the ruthlessness of these polygamist clans is pretty accurate, but the book left me mostly in a state of yawn-and-shrug.

catiandrah's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3.5 stars!

claudetteb's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Meg Gardiner never disappoints. This is a stand-alone book and a wonderful thriller. Meg Gardiner is one of my favourite authors mainly because of her strong female characters, and this book goes right to the top of the list. All the characters are well-defined, the story is so fast paced that it's hard to stop reading, and she ties it all together at the end, to produce a satisfying, thrilling read!