Where Shadows Lie

Cover retrieved from the
Goodreads page.

Where Shadows Lie is a Christian New Adult book with thriller themes mixed in with themes of clean romance, family, and the redemption in Christ.

My Goodreads review can be found here.

My Amazon review can be found here.

*Disclaimer: I won this book in a giveaway hosted by the author. This in no way affects my thoughts and views on this book. All thoughts are my own.

Sentences in this shade of blue are random thoughts that I had while reading the book or any thoughts not exclusive to the review.



I had read Tialla Rising's first book, Holding the Future Hostage, and enjoyed it, so when I was told I had won the giveaway, I was extremely excited. This was an enjoyable read as well.

Since characters are my favorite, and there aren't fifteen, let's start there.

First, there is Shawn. He's the main character, who is a reformed criminal trying to live a better life after leaving jail and gang activity. Shawn also has some carpentry abilities, some possible anxiety, and apparently can't use Google. That legit made me laugh when I first read it.

Then there's Virginia. She's the love of Shawn's life, she's very understanding of his life, she's a Christian, and can't keep her phone charged to save her life. Also, 5'2" squad represent.

Our antagonists are Nick and Max. Max is the boss of the gang and Nick is his right-hand man. Max has a vendetta against Shawn due to past history, and it becomes especially bad when Shawn leaves the gang.

Finally, there's N. He's a mysterious character who gives Shawn missions and seems to know all about him.

There's other characters like Joy, Bryan, and Jackson. They play a part in the story, but those listed above are the characters with the most importance.

These characters are pretty realistic, but more importantly, I liked them. I could relate to some of their feelings and choices, even though there was clunky dialogue at times.

The story is pretty good and has three overarching plots. First plot: Shawn's busy trying to work his boring job to start his "good" career so that he can be a good person for Virginia. Then N begins to send Shawn on missions (with Shawn's parole officer's permission) that leave him both confused and intrigued.

Second plot: Shawn has decided to leave the gang, the Shadows, but Max isn't too happy about that. Max toys with Shawn and Shawn has to figure out how to not give in to Max and also keep himself, Virginia, and her family safe from Max.

Third plot: Virginia is a Christian. Shawn is not. Yet the two of them get into a relationship. Insert my unamused face here. Virginia has to decide if this is something she wants to continue, and Shawn has to decide if what she believes is applicable to him or not.

There are quite a few things that I liked about this book. I liked how Shawn's POV was in first person, while everyone else's was in third person. This made it easier to read and to understand where you were in relation to the MC.

As much as I hated the missionary dating theme, I did appreciate Virginia's dedication to Shawn, no matter what was happening.

I liked how the secondary characters gave the story depth, since the character list was so concentrated. Bryan, Virginia's brother, is the best. The plot needed more Bryan. I also really appreciated Jackson; however, I appreciated him after I finished the book because I was too busy being distrustful of him. I'm going to save you all some time: Jackson is the least of your concerns in this book.

As I mentioned before, the characters are mostly realistic. One of the reasons I say that is that they make mistakes. Joy is one that I specifically saw. She ends up meeting a guy named Darius. It's very surprising how they met and he's all focused on her so that she doesn't really ask any personal questions to him. When things go down with Shawn, Joy begins to get angry at Shawn for not telling them what was happening; yet at no point did she ask Darius about his life. This slightly selfish but understandable reaction is relatable. Many characters make choices like these and adds a level of depth I wasn't expecting.

I also liked the struggle that Viriginia had on accepting help from her church. (Page 276) This is something that Christians need to work on, as it is very difficult to accept help from the church. But, if we are to act in community, we need to be willing to accept help if we need it.

Another fact that I apprecitated was that some of the antagonists were not redeemed. (Being vague to prevent spoilers.) Since one of the main points of this book is redemption, I got close to the end of the book and was worried that this would happen. It did not, and I was very thankful.

The suspence of Where Shadows Lie is great. I went into many new scenes and situations with a lot of distrust, which added to the feel and the enjoyment of the story. However, I was able to call a lot of things, like Darius; but then again I do read a lot of mysteries/thrillers.

Finally, I did appreciate how Shawn wasn't the normal strong male character. One of the first things that the reader learns about Shawn is that he is not afraid of emotions (though he phrases it differently). I really appreciate this as male emotions are not really shown in fiction, and it's not realistic. Also, men who are able to take responsiblity for their lives but do not have problems understanding emotions (even if they do not show them much themselves) are the best kind of men.

Side note: I hate the term "beta male" and Shawn is not one, don't @ me.

Even though I did enjoy the story, I did have some problems with it:

For one, Virginia makes the comment that God will keep them safe. Safety is relative and is not promised. He did, however, promise to not leave us during trouble.

Then, the whole missionary dating thing. Virginia even knows better, but still continues on. People, don't do it. You'll only end up hurt. It's not worth it, I promise.

I felt as though Darius' history reveal was too early. I believe it was after page 140. I feel as though the reveal should have been more towards the end of the book to keep the suspence building a little bit longer.

I'm still suspicious of how Virginia and Bryan's grandfather died. It doesn't come up again, but I'm still supsicious and I feel like there could have been a little more there.

(Vagueness to avoid spoilers) Someone has a connection with N that is explained away in a paragraph, making it seem as though it's coming out of left field. I do like it, but I also think this was a wasted opportunity to have more suspence, or at least more depth to the characters.

Finally, the sophistication of how Max runs his gangs is a little too grandiose, but it does make for an interesting story. You also never really see Max actually running his gang, which took me out of the story a little bit.

I do have my content warnings on my Goodreads review, but I'll add it here too: We have gangs, lots of violence, lots of hospital visits, and an occasional car bomb.

All of this being said, it was a good story and I enjoyed reading it, and I encourage you to pick it up as well.