The streets are no place for a child …

After a traumatic event that almost ripped Jen Garner’s family apart, life is finally starting to get back to normal.  Then a woman’s body is found in the river.

Shortly afterward, a young boy is discovered wandering the streets. He refuses to speak to anyone, just repeats one name over and over, to the confusion of most of the local authorities –but Jen knows exactly who he’s asking for, and it’s enough to make her blood run cold …

Titles in the Lisa Carter Files series include —  Perfect Lie – A Silent Child –

 

 

 

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Title:  A Silent Child
Series:  Lisa Carter Files #2
Author:  Claire Sheldon
Genre:  Mystery/Crime/Police Procedurals
Published:  March 23, 2021
Publisher:  ChocLit/Ruby Fiction
My Rating:  4.5 stars

A Silent Child continues the Lisa Carter Files series with a dark, gripping, emotion-packed mystery that held my attention and emotions in a tight hold from the opening scene until the final page.  Although the story is shorter, you’ll not really notice that as you are pulled into a world that none of us really want to have any knowledge of or connection to whatsoever.  But then, the innocents in our world don’t always have a choice about being dragged into a dark underworld of society – their only goal is to escape.

You won’t get a lot (if any) of real plot details in this review.  What you will find are reactions to the story and the characters.  While I will always suggest reading a series in order if at all possible, I really believe that if you can read Perfect Lie first before moving onto A Silent Child the impact will be stronger, the backstory of recurring characters will be fresher, and their actions (and interactions with others) will flow more naturally.  It’s a suggestion only, you do what works for you, I’m well aware that it isn’t always timewise or financially possible to follow that suggestion.

A woman is pulled from the river.  A young boy is found alone and silent on the darkened streets with only two words spoken: Lisa Carter.  A connection?  Perhaps.  And a step back into a past that Jen, James, and Chris have recently visited in Perfect Lie.  What they will discover are every parent’s nightmare and every sane person’s fear.  The villains in this story are particularly vile – and I feel that there should be a trigger warning attached to this story for it is dark, dangerous, and unfortunately, very real for some people.

As Chris and Jen dive into her past once again there will be twists, turns, red herrings, dangerous situations, and a damned good story for the readers who pick up this Mystery/Crime story.  As I mentioned when I first read Perfect Lie, Claire Sheldon writes as though she’s been telling us stories for years with the turn of the just-right phrase here, and ratcheted up tension there.  A Silent Child is a rollercoaster of an emotional ride as we discover who this little lost boy is, and who killed the woman from the river.  If you devour a good Mystery, Crime, or Police Procedural novel then this one is right up your dark alley.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher.  That does not change what I think of this story.  It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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