Shadows Still Remain

Peter de Jonge, coauthor of three bestsellers with James Patterson, makes his solo debut with this taut, dark mystery. NYPD Detective Darlene O'Hara doesn't think the prime suspect in her first homicide is the real murderer, and she's not above breaking rules or stepping on toes to find the truth. As Darlene uncovers sordid facts surrounding the murder victim's secret life, narrator Tina Benko's minimal approach leaves listeners wishing for a more animated reading. Vibrant, brainy, and beautiful, Darlene has enough personal problems to make her interesting, but Benko's restrained narration doesn't do her justice. Even so, de Jonge's crusty old cops, creepy criminals, and stunning plot twists make this absorbing story well worth a listen. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

February 16, 2009
De Jonge, a James Patterson coauthor (Beach Road
), delivers his first solo effort, a routine crime thriller set in New York City. NYPD Det. Darlene O’Hara, “beautiful and thirty-four, with wavy red hair and the kind of freckles men try to lick off shoulders,” is looking for missing NYU student Francesca Pena, “a very pretty teenage girl with long jet-black hair and bottomless brown eyes,” when she learns that Pena’s brutally beaten body has been found in East River Park. While her professional colleagues soon focus on David McLain, Pena’s hometown friend who initially reported her missing, O’Hara doubts McLain is guilty. As the evidence against McLain mounts, she persists in her search for the real killer, a quest that leads her to cross lines, risk her job and become a wanted person herself. Predictably, O’Hara’s digging reveals Pena had a secret life. Few readers will be surprised that the detective manages to crack the case in the nick of time.