Book Review: Land of Shadows

Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall

Along the ever changing border of gentrifying Los Angeles, seventeen year old Monique Darson is found dead at a condominium construction site, hanging in the closet of an unfinished unit. Homicide detective Elouise “Lou” Norton’s new partner, Colin Taggert, fresh from comparatively bucolic Colorado Springs police department, assumes it’s a teenage suicide. Lou isn’t buying the easy explanation.

For one thing, the condo site is owned by Napoleon Crase, a self
made millionaire. . .and the man who may have murdered Lou's missing sister, Tori, thirty years ago. As Lou investigates the death of Monique Darson, she uncovers undeniable links between the two cases. But her department is skeptical.

Lou is convinced that when she solves Monique’s case she will finally bring her lost sister home. But as she gets closer to the truth, she also gets closer to a violent killer. After all this time, can he be brought to justice. . .before Lou becomes his next victim?

I have been reading a lot of books from Titan over the last year, most of them have been focused on the science fiction or fantasy genres, I do think that Sherlock Holmes also is closely related to these genres a bit. Land of Shadow is I think my first Titan book that falls in the category of a classical thriller that takes place in our current day and age. This book really piqued my interest, I am always looking for books to offer me new experiences in fiction reading and Land of Shadow directly fitted into this category. Land of Shadow is written by Rachel Howzell Hall and is also one of the biggest debuts that Titan will be releasing this year. I can't compare Land of Shadows to the names of Dan Brown or Lee Child since I haven't read there books, but what I can say is that Rachel Howzell Hall did a remarkable job with Land of Shadows. 

The story of Land of Shadows is far from your average whodunnit type of detective story and I do have to say this is important in the current fiction to make your story stand out. Land of Shadow picks up directly with the action as homocide detective Elouise Norton is handed a new case. A teenage girl has been murdered and hanged from a condo construction site and it's up to Elouise Norton and her newly assigned partner Colin Taggert (who is also freshly out of police school) to find out just who the murderer is. Early on several preliminary conclusions are being drawn, however with most of them, like naming this case a simple teenage murder is one where Elouise doesn't by far agree with. Because the body of the victim, Monica Darson, has been found on the property of Napoleon Crase a rich millionaire who Elouise still suspects of having murdered her sister years back (And so the plot thickens!). Elouise, being one of the best homicide detectives, starts to uncover information that brings both her and her partner Colin closer to the killer. From this point Elouise has to start to tread carefully since the killer of Monica shows no remorse and doesn't mind to add Elouise to his list... As the ending draws to a close and the days, hours and minutes start to count down the story picks up a great pacing, placing you on the edge of your seat just to find out who the killer is... Rachel Howzell Hall tells a dangerous and powerful story in Land of Shadows with Elouise Norton when in her current investigation she finds leads to tie back to the cold case of the disappeared sister she is will to go the whole yard. Now you may think that this does sound like a pretty straightforward detective story well trust me when I say that it isn't because mainly by a lot of twists along the investigation and by several of the characters and their interaction does Rachel Howzell Hall make her story count.

There are a few elements which are required if you really want to make your story stand out and that is breaking cliches and coming up with new bit and pieces. This is also something that you will find back in Land of Shadows and mainly in the characters and their histories. Elouise Norton is known on the streets as "lockjaw" having solved roughly 90% of the cases she has worked on and is opted for a honored track. Having grown up in a harsh environment this was not something that was thought of her but she managed to do it, so it does comes to show that when you have a goal you should never give up on it. Ok so you know her past wasn't that great well her current situation also isn't all roses and sunshine. Elouise and her husband have everything they can wish for a big house in one of the richest neighborhoods but one thing is lacking between them, love, he has taken and still likes to take on the affair on the side and even though he knows that Elouise knows it, there is just no stop. All along the storyline Elouise's mind is troubled with this fact she just doesn't know what is a wise decision to make. Well yes there is still more to Elouise's character. The disappearance of her younger sister and the ties to her current investigation, this again adds another distraction to the mix. As you can see this is far from an easy life and with this all combined Rachel Howzell Hall has created a very strong female lead for her series, one that you will be connecting to and rooting for from the start. 

As a contrast to Elouise stands her new partner Colin Taggert, a recent transfer due to some family connections. Colin got on the fast track and made detective in only a few years... But he is definitely far from experienced, and this is something that slows Elouise down. He makes a lot of rookie mistakes that could have turned out disastrous if it wasn't for Elouise there to save him... It was a great addition to the storyline to see the friction that was caused by having two different poles, but it wasn't all friction though, luckily. Rachel Howzell Hall did just what a strong character driven crime/detective needs, create characters that you will like and root for or character that you will shout at but in either case you will be able to connect to them, spot on characterization. 

During the telling of the of the investigation, there are several chapters in which the attention is taking from the main story. These chapter either involve flashbacks to the past of Elouise and her sister's disappereance or the focus on the twisted mind of the killer. I am always a big fan when an author does these things with his or her story as this, when carried out in a good way, adds tons of extra material to the story that will only make it grow more and more and embody a much bigger feeling. I think you can make up that Rachel Howzell Hall did achieve this. A lot of extra information is given with these alternating chapters, without taking the focus from the main storyline, it was all cleverly interwoven with each other. 

Land of Shadow is a powerful story by a new and exciting voice in crime fiction. Rachel Howzell Hall has created a strong female lead for her story in Land of Shadows, Elouise Norton is far from the standard detective, her own troubles of her past and current life definitely feel like a weight on her shoulders that feel like they will topple her over at any moment, but her strong personality keeps her upright and she only grows more and more as the story continues. The way in which Rachel Howzell Hall tells her story, the narration and switching of point-of-view, highlighting the killer's mind as well as the flashbacks of Elouise's sister really help to bolster a much bigger feeling to the story. Land of Shadows is a thrilling start of a new series that will make you laugh with some of the squad humor but will also produce goosebumps during the crime scene investigations, just perfect. Don't miss this one!