Sunday, January 20, 2013

Shadow Woman by Linda Howard




Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and makes a terrifying discovery: She doesn’t recognize the face she sees in the mirror. She remembers what she looks like, but her reflection is someone else’s. To add to the shock, two years seem to have disappeared from her life. Someone has gone to great and inexplicable lengths to keep those missing years hidden forever. But the past always finds a way to return.

Strange memories soon begin to surface and, along with them, some unusual skills and talents that Lizette hasn’t a clue about acquiring. Sensing that she’s being monitored, Lizette suddenly knows how to search for bugs in her house and tracking devices in her car. What’s more, she can elude surveillance—like a trained agent.

Enter a mysterious and seductive stranger named Xavier, who claims he wants to help—but who triggers disturbing images of an unspeakable crime of which Lizette may or may not be the perpetrator. With memories returning, she suddenly becomes a target of anonymous assassins. On the run with nowhere to hide, Lizette has no choice but to rely on Xavier, a strong and magnetic man she doesn’t trust, with a powerful attraction she cannot resist. As murky waters become clear, Lizette confronts a conspiracy that is treacherous and far-reaching and a truth that, once revealed, may silence her and Xavier once and for all.

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“Turning back to the mirror, she fought through confusion and terror, studying this new person as though she were an adversary rather than …rather than what? Or, who? This didn’t make sense. Her breathing came in swift, shallow gulps, the sound distant and panicked. What the hell was going on? She didn’t have amnesia. She knew who she was, where she was, remembered her childhood, her friend Diana and her other coworkers, what clothes were in her closet and what she’d planned to wear today. She remembered what she’d had for dinner the night before. She remembered everything, it seemed— except that face. It wasn’t hers.”
-Linda Howard, Shadow Woman: A Novel


What would you do if you did not recognize the person looking back at you in the mirror? One morning Lizette Henry wakes up, takes a shower, and is ready to start her day when she looks into the mirror and does not know the face of the woman staring back at her.
Lizette attempts to figure out the missing pieces of the puzzle. But it is hard because there are two years of her life that are missing from her memory. With the help of Xavier, her ex, she starts to remember some things from her past.  But why and how did Lizette loose her memory in the first place?

What I liked:
Lizette is a tough, determined, and smart woman. It is not easy to get her to back down, and she is willing to do whatever she must in order to find out the truth. Even though Xavier in a relationship with Lizzy at the time, he was still supportive and protective of her. He was willing to help her no matter what. Once Lizzy and Xavier finally came together, it was nice to see how well they worked and interacted with each other. I wasn’t completely sold on their “strong” love connection, but it was nice to see Lizzy and Xavier happy together.

What I didn’t like:
Once Xavier enters the picture, she first thinks that he is out to hurt her, but she quickly starts to remember their past and trusts him completely. (Perhaps a little too quickly for me)  It was a little disappointing that Lizzy and Xavier did not spend very much time together in the story. I wish I could have experienced their journey of falling in love.  The story was told with mostly Lizzy’s POV with Xavier’s POV showing up occasionally along with some other characters to take note of.

Final thoughts:
I have not read any other books from Linda Howard, so I cannot compare this with her earlier works, but Shadow Woman was a book that was easy to read and fun to watch as the events with Lizzy unfolded.
There was a good amount of suspense, twists and turns that I liked. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.



Rating: 3 out of 5.

** I received this book from Random House/ Ballantine Books in exchange for nothing, but my honest review. Thank you!** 





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