Shadow Laws

Jim Michael Hansen

Someone is sending notes to the Denver news outlets. A news reporter friend of homicide detective Bryson Coventry shows him the note that arrived at her television station. Only when a follow up note with a picture of a woman arrived did they follow it up. Ashley Conner had disappeared over the weekend. It seems she had been abducted and killed although there wasn't any body as of yet.

Taylor Sutton is called by another lawyer friend asking for a meeting. Nick Trotter has been contacted by an anonymous caller and retained. Then he has received numerous phone calls from this man. Trotter believes this man has done something illegal. He wants to retain Sutton to help him figure out what to do next. After listening to the taped messages, she agrees. Trotter's, and by extension, hers, client is hiding something, almost admitting some crime.

Coventry starts looking for Ashley Conner. He meets her neighbor, Darien Jade, another single woman living in the shabby apartment buidling. Jade knows she hasn't seen Conner in a couple days. Coventry starts investigating further. Conner hasn't been seen since Friday evening. It looks like the message received by the news agencies was legitimate. When another message arrives later in the week, it begins to appear that a serial killer may be threatening women in Denver.

Shadow Laws is the second book in a series by Jim Michael Hansen. It is dark and violent, yet has enough light moments to keep it from being unreadable. Hansen has woven an eerie psychotic tale written from three points of view - Sutton's, Coventry's, and the antogonist's. The reader learns what motivates the killer. It's not easy being in that man's mind.

This is definitely a man's fiction novel. It contains plenty of violence and sex, written for a male audience. It will appeal to the intended audience. It was a bit much for me. I can appreciate Hansen's flow and characters. They are overblown, but fit the type of novel this is. This is not for the faint of heart, but will appeal to a select audience.

Notice: Graphic violence, Suggestive dialogue or situations,

Author provided for review

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