Deadly Shadow

A Paranormal Suspense Thriller (The Assassin Chronicles, Book 1)

By: Kim Cresswell

Narrated by: Robin Siegerman

Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

The Assassin Chronicles TV series is in development with Council Tree Productions.

Two recent murders. Two serial killers. A conspiracy that reaches beyond the physical world.

Consumed with grief over the tragic death of her husband, FBI Agent Victory McClane is obsessed with finding Ohio's serial killer, "The Wrapper". When another young woman turns up dead and the victim is linked to Derrick Lynn, son of the secretary of defense, Victory finds Derrick has all the right answers and is a little too helpful.

Derrick has a secret: He's a government assassin who uses his unusual paranormal skills to eliminate targets. Determined to keep his own secrets buried, he offers to help find the Wrapper. But can Victory trust him?

As the body count rises, Victory must cross a dangerous line - into a world of government cover-ups, murder, and betrayal - a decision that will test her limits and everything in which she believes.

The battle between good and evil begins! Deadly Shadow is the first audiobook in the gripping paranormal/supernatural thriller series, an action-packed blend of suspense and mystery for detective and crime story lovers.

©2018 Kim Cresswell (P)2018 Kim Cresswell

Critic reviews

"Deadly Shadow takes you on a suspenseful, thrilling ride." (Dima Zales, New York Times best-selling author)

Get Hooked

This is the first Kim Cresswell book I've read, and boy have I ever been missing out! The characters walked off the page and into my mind, what they saw, I saw, what they felt, I felt, and boy did I ever feel it. I grinned, I cried, and I didn't care how many odd looks I got from the other train passengers, I couldn't help myself.

The story is fast moving, there's a lot happening and it weaves an interesting tapestry of events and connections. The paranormal element of the story is well done and not overdone. It left me wanting to know what other abilities are out there.

Loved the narration, the character voices are clear and recognizable and the delivery conveyed the tone and emotions of the different parts of the story.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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Excellent story, great narrative.

I am extremely impressed with this amazing start of a new series. I do enjoy a fantastic suspense, mystery book. Something that is different from my usual go-to.
The first couple of chapters, while I was extremely locked-in with the story, the audio seemed a bit fuzzy. I normally double and triple check my earphones when that happens, because I've had bad earphones in the past. But this time around, it wasn't tech issues. Maybe it was total accident, but I willingly overlooked it. Definitely a minor hiccup, but the audio was amazing after that.
This aside, Robin Siegerman did a wonderful job narrator. She was, in fact, a new narrator for me. I am always looking to find new voices. Robin was able to make me believe in all the characters and their depth, their growth. She read clearly and amazingly. Awesome.
This all aside, Deadly Shadow is a book to add to your list. Audio, ebook or paperback. I highly recommend it. There was a point in the book where I had to just turn off my device, toss my earphones aside and I went to hang out with my dogs. I only do that when I need to come down from an emotional roller coaster. Now, this is a mystery/suspense. It just kept building. But what broke me and forced me to take a break from my listening streak (I listened to about 2 hrs. without ceasing by this point). I just felt like my heart was bleeding on the floor because of the pain experienced by a family member to one of the victims. It was heavy. But I kept listening just to know that there would be justice and redemption.
This is an amazing start to a new series. I truly hope to read more from Kim Cresswell soon. Her style of writing is one to look for.

My Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars.

Great story; narration needs a little work

I really like FBI Agent Victory McClane. She’s in a tough business and she’s suffered a tragedy or two. Now she’s on the hunt for a serial killer, maybe two. Yet she still has a sense of humor and she’s totally dedicated to her daughter Jade who is off at college. Her work partner, Ryan, is a steady brotherly type who isn’t above teasing her a bit here and there. They make a really good team.

Derrick makes a really great questionable character. He’s not evil but he’s not really on the side of good either. His paranormal abilities were recruited when he was a young man and he’s spent decades serving his country, albeit for this shadowy group that specializes in assassinations and espionage.

Even as Victory and Ryan narrow in on the serial killer ‘The Wrapper’, Derrick finds himself drawn further into Victory’s circle of influence. He has been ordered to keep the government paranormal group a secret, even if that means destroying evidence, compromising people, or worse.

The tension spirals up and up until this crushing wave comes down on Victory. Derrick has to make a tough decision of whether or not to help Victory, which would mean sharing a few of his secrets with her. The last hour of the book is nail biting and a little heart wrenching. Over all, it was a satisfying murder mystery and a pretty good paranormal tale. 4.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Robin Siegerman has the perfect voice for Victory McClane. She sounds like an older, confident, career woman. She also had a decent voice for Ryan, however I did sometimes get his voice confused with Derrick’s voice. Derrick always sounds raspy (which I wasn’t sure was what was intended) and sometimes Ryan’s voice went raspy as well, blurring the distinctions between these two characters. The male voices sometimes needed a bit of masculinity. Several of Siegerman’s voices were a bit cartoony. For instance, Jade (who is in college) sounds like a 12 year old. Angie, who works at the FBI office, sounds like she’s 16. The newsreporter sounds like a Disney witch. Also, Siegerman didn’t always nail the character emotions. McClane sometimes sounds flat even when she’s joking. Angie sounds way too chipper even when she’s handing out condolences. On the other hand, there were no technical issues with this recording. 3.5/5 stars

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Kim Cresswell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Excellent murder mystery with a paranormal touch

Detective Kate Becket meets X-Men. There's a serial killer named "The Wrapper" kidnapping and torturing young women to death on the streets of Ohio. Agent Victory McLane is on the case, while also going after another killer called "The Shadow" due to the ability of not leaving any trace behind on his murders. This Shadow is closer to Victory than she thinks, and may be of great help in finding "The Wrapper".

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. The two parallel cases in the story got me hooked, and the several twists and turns kept my attention. The characters are likable, and they are developed enough to make me care for them. 

I like murder mysteries but I don't always enjoy paranormal stories. This was an exception. The paranormal factor in this story added another layer of complexity and interest, and Derek was so charismatic that I couldn't resist his charm. Another thing I liked was that, instead of having your typical young main characters, here Victory and Derek are on his forties, which, I think, makes for a more interesting read for people my age.

Robin Siegerman was the perfect match for this story. Her voice sounds mature, very appropriate for Victory, but she also did great in performing the rest of characters, delivering different voices and using sound effects when on phone calls, so that listening to this audiobook almost felt like watching a movie.

Great story, plot, writing, characters, and narration. What more can anyone as for? I would absolutely recommend it to anyone into murder mysteries, even though they are not into paranormal.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Kim Cresswell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Deary Shadow review

Suspenseful and thrilling, Deadly Shadow was for the most part all right, sort of a disappointing ending. Still five stars and worth it.

This book deserves 10 stars!

Wow...this book is fanfreakintastic!! It leaves you wanting more!
Victory...love the name btw...is an FBI agent in OH. She’s dealing with the grief from the recent loss of her husband in a bank robbery...and also trying to catch a killer known as The Wrapper. This killer wraps his victims in bubble wrap and burns them alive. Eesh! The Wrapper has eluded authorities for over 10 yrs. Victory is also hunting down another killer dubbed The Shadow because there’s no evidence of his existence other than his victims. Derek is a paranormal...and he Is The Shadow. He can travel outside of his body to get the job done. By day, he is the owner of a gaming company and son of a senator. By night, he is an assassin for the government. Derek and Victory cross paths when one of his employees is abducted and killed by The Wrapper. Derek is intrigued by the FBI agent and sends flower with a request to take her to dinner. When The Wrapper hits too close to home and Victory needs his powers, will Derek help? No spoilers on how this ends but just know that you will not want to stop listening/put the book down until the end! This author does not disappoint and I can’t wait for the next book!!
I voluntarily accepted a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

What a great take on paranormal mystery

Kim Cresswell created a brilliant world filled with murder, justice, paranormal abilities and life's grey areas. I truly felt for The main characters as they struggled with right verses wrong and all of the middle pieces that are the realm of everyday hard decisions. I nearly cried for the main character as she struggled with her grief as she tries to catch two killers. I truly want more.

My only criticism of this audiobook is the male choices the narrator makes. They are all nearly the same and they all sound like they have been smoking for 60 years. Perhaps she can work on improving it or just not make voices for the men.

Great series Introduction

Rating. Writing 4 / Narration 3.75 / Overall 3.75

This is an original story concept to me. Not entirely new, but definitely not one that I have read/ listened to a lot of. It is a police procedural, that includes people with paranormal abilities.

Victory was a likeable, interesting FBI agent, who is mourning the loss of her husband and has a close relationship with her college aged daughter, and a few colleagues.

Victory is investigating two apparent killers. One is a serial killer who has a cruel and unusual method of killing his victims. The other killer is making kills that appear to be impossible. For me this had so very much potential to be a great story with an epic finish.

I didn't form any strong opinions on the other principal character, Derrick Lynn. He was an interesting character, with a fascinating story-line that was imperative to the story. I just felt that a little more knowledge about him could have made me care either way about his character.

I definitely got the great story but I was left feeling unsatisfied by the way the book finished. (This may be just me, and there are further books to come so there is a good chance that it may improve.)

I would still read/ listen to further books in this series and am interested to see what direction this book series takes.

Robin Siegerman did a good job with the narration, the characters had recognisably different voices and they were maintained throughout. Being completely honest, I feel the book could have benefited from the addition of a male narrator as I did find some of the male voices to be harsh in their tone and not pleasing to the ear.

I look forward to the next instalment in the assassin chronicles series.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Kim Cresswell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Deadly Shadow

Mystery and suspense are always fun when you aren’t the one who finds themselves in the middle of it. When you are looking over someone who is responsible for catching the bad guy or reading a mystery and trying to find out who the bad guy is…those are fun! For Victory, this mystery just keeps getting harder and harder to solve. There are victims with two different styles of killing and they have both seemed to fall in her lap. Cresswell has a compelling mystery and first installment with Deadly Shadow that will draw readers in.

Victory McClane is on the case and this time, the MO is different. The perpetrator wraps his female victims up in bubble wrap and burns them alive. Such a sick and twisted way to kill someone, but Victory has a hunch that the way he kills has something to do with catching him. All of the other victims that were found have been credited to a killer known as the Shadow where he comes in and kills the victim without the police being able to find an entry point into their lives or homes. It is as if they committed suicide, but the suicides are virtually impossible with the way that they were found. Victory is asked out on a date by a suspect who she feels some kind of connection to and on top of that, her daughter comes into town and then goes missing from a club. She may find herself enlisting help from an unlikely ally in order to save the only family she has left from the Rapper.

Cresswell has an incredible story with superb character development, an entertaining mystery, and is chalked full of originality. Since this review is complimenting the audiobook, it appears that the story is well-written from the voice relay. Siegerman’s narration is impeccable and enjoyable. The character vocalizations are all different and her relay is easy to follow. If you are a reader of paranormal suspense, you may want to pick up this book. Since this is the first installment in the Assassin Chronicles, you are able to dive right in.

An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a five-star rating to Deadly Shadow by Kim Cresswell.

Captivating paranormal suspense...

This story is the first in a new series that promises to be one Kim Cresswell’s best yet (and that is saying something). Ms. Cresswell is known for her unique and engaging characters and her amazing world-building, but it is the imaginative twists and turns of the storylines that truly mesmerize her audience and this story is no exception. This tantalizing tale incorporates many of my favorite elements into one well-crafted thrill-ride: a strong yet vulnerable hero/heroine (in this case it is a female FBI agent named Victory McClane with a heart-breaking backstory), a twisted villain (in this case there are actually two completely disturbing serial killers), and an intriguing touch of the paranormal (e.g. etheric travelling and psychokinesis), just to keep things really interesting. How could you not be thoroughly entertained?

The audiobook version is narrated by Robin Siegerman who does a good job of helping the listener keep the various characters straight with vocal distinctions and keeping the flow of the story moving along with cadence and intonations appropriate to the situation. Less experienced narrators often read unbearably slow and many put undue emphasis on too many words in each sentence but, thankfully, that is not the case in this performance. While I rarely agree with every inflection choice made by a narrator, I felt Ms. Siegerman did a commendable job and would not hesitate to listen to another of her performances.

The bottom line is that this story is absolutely absorbing from start to finish and sets the stage for what looks to be a most promising new series. Personally, I can’t wait for the next installment.

I received a free audiobook version of this story and I am voluntarily leaving this unbiased and honest review.
If you find this review helpful, I thank you for so indicating.