Shadow Sands

Kate Marshall, Book 2

By: Robert Bryndza

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

An Amazon Charts best-selling series

The moors are a perfect hiding place for a serial killer. And a chilling return to the past for nascent private investigator Kate Marshall in a pulse-racing thriller by the author of Nine Elms.

Criminology academic Kate Marshall is on a scuba jaunt with her son when they dive toward a shocking discovery: the body of a teenage boy entangled below the surface of the Shadow Sands reservoir. The detective chief inspector’s too-quick narrative of a tragic drowning doesn’t add up, and when Kate follows the evidence, it leads to a darker discovery.

The victim is only the latest in a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances linked to the moorlands - and a mythic phantom said to hide in the rolling fog. When a researcher of urban legends vanishes without a trace, Kate and her associate Tristan Harper must act fast and look deep if they hope to find her alive.

But the elusive serial killer they’re hunting isn’t the only one a step ahead of Kate and Tristan. Someone else is making dead certain that the secrets of Shadow Sands stay buried.

©2020 Robert Bryndza (P)2020 Hachette Audio UK

Critic Reviews

"A cracking thriller from a rising star in British crime fiction." (Irish Independent)

"Sharply written and wonderfully wrought, this crime thriller sings with every twist and builds to a more-than-satisfying bang." (Publishers Weekly)

Another good one

I've been a fan of this author for a long time. There's not one book that I haven't loved so far. This one did not disappoint. The narrator is excellent and kept my attention throughout. Good job!

Robert Bryndza does it again!

I’ve listened to hundreds of audiobooks. Mystery/Thriller is my all time favorite genre but often even books with great reviews fall short because they’re predictable or cheesy or just ridiculously unrealistic. Robert Bryndza’s Kate Marshall Series is SO GOOD and so well written. I always finish his books in just a day or two because they keep me engaged from the very beginning which is hard to do. The narrator also does a fantastic job every single time, Kristin Atherton is a wonderful storyteller. I’ve never actually written a review for a book before in all my years of listening. So it says a lot that I’m writing this one!

Great continuation of the Kate Marshall series

I really enjoyed the first book and was excited to see the second installment had been released. I think the key to a thriller/mystery with a character that spans multiple books is that the central character has to have many layers to their backstory and a lot of depth must be created. The sordid details of her background make her a very interesting character - one you definitely want to follow from book to book. Highly recommended!!

Will look for book 3

Another good chapter in the series but...
If only authors would do just a little research on firearms before they tried to write them into their stories. It happens quite a bit and its maddening to me. REVOLVERS DON'T HAVE A SAFETY.

Ok & short

Nothing thrilling, seems like a good premise but to me it's a sort of outline for a book .

Boggy Silence of the Lambs

Bryndza is still true to form with dark mysteries involving water. Here, we have foggy marshes and a reservoir. There are recaps, so you don’t have to start with book 1. But, the whodunnit and why from book 1 is given away, and book 1 definitely helps with the backstory of Kate’s dysfunctional relationship with cops.

This is not for those who prefer Agatha Christie mysteries over Silence of the Lambs. There are grisly themes involving torture, rape, and murder. Atherton’s stellar narration combines with Bryndza’s suspenseful writing to create a smart, but darkly creepy crime thriller. Kate’s alcoholism is still part of her story, but I like that her sleuthing instincts are getting more confident and her relationships are getting better, especially with her research assistant Tristan, who I’m glad to see is becoming the Watson to her Holmes. Finally, there’s more than one strong female role here... a welcome change from many mysteries where the lone female lead is surrounded only by men.

Misogyny and homophobia

If both of these are your cup of tea then by all means this is the book for you. Such a poor sequel to the last book. So many people discount Kate and Tristan’s evidence as well as that of other witnesses so they must go it alone. Ridiculous way to move the plot forward. Just awful.

Good series

Another buddy read with my pal Mary. This is a good series and this was a great story but I gave it four stars because it had a bit of a slow start. Still worth the time.

Didn’t hold up to usual Bryndza

After listening to every single one of this author’s crime thriller dramas I had a high expectation. While not bad it also wasn’t near as good as the others. Way too many characters, even missing or dead people names thrown out all over the place so it made it hard to follow. Also bringing up an old story line, Peter Conway, made it seem like Bryndza was looking for filler. The fact that he mentioned Jake had never met his father before, so they included it in this novel, was odd considering Jake had in fact met his father in the last novel. Meh....

Wow

A great follow-up to NINE ELMS. Even better. And I liked that book.

This author has become one of my favorites. Each series has been full of interesting characters and hairy situations. Kate is getting stronger in her investigation work and Tristan is growing in his personal life and his professional lives.

Kate and her son find a body while they are scuba diving in the Shadow Sands reservoir. Kate has questions about the police investigation and their conclusions. When she’s hired to find out what really happened to the boy things get very interesting.

There’s a lot going on here and both Kate and Tristan have to deal with personal issues. It’s a terrific book.

The narration by Kristen Atherton was great.

I’m looking forward to Book 3.