The Silver Shadow

Tried three times to read this one and finally skimmed a little, read the ending, and gave it up.

First of all, we're supposed to believe Polly is a newspaper reporter but hasn't finished school. The narrative is written very choppy, which matches an under schooled person, but also makes her come across as immature and childish. Since papers of the day were written on an 8th grade reading level, it made it very difficult to believe she could ever match the quality expected.

Second, the focus of the plot is “woman in a man's world” which was kinda funny to belabor since she's out west where women had so much more freedom. To drive this point home, the psycho attacker is given a motive of “women should be home before dark” for his crimes.

The drama of the crimes is very repetitious, same sort of shock and awe on each one, which quickly left me skimming.

Then I read the author's note. Wait, what? She convicted a man in the story who was cleared of the crime in real life? Using a real man's name and then admitting he couldn't have done it? Um....that really crosses a line for me. That's just wrong.

Other major changes were made, especially ones that were completely needless. Changing the paper's name “for simplicity” though the story takes place before the name change. Changing a warm chinook that made history into a cold storm to create a cold basement for the heroine to shiver in? Sorry–that's so dumb. Basements in Colorado in March would be cold regardless because of soil temp. You don't change history to create a scene that literally would be the same scenario if history was adhered to. Then, changing the pace of the crimes and using real names for some, but mixing up who died and who didn't. For what point? Giving the guy multiple victims in a single night instead of one every few weeks entirely changes the psychology of the crime.

Ultimately, this was frustrating. This was a real cold case and the ending was completely fabricated into something that couldn't have happened on any level. Just go write fiction. Don't try to tie it to a crime and then undo everything known by changing the most important part: how the crimes stopped, and who was responsible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free review copy. A favorable review was not required. Review is based on a purchased paperback copy.