Long Shadows

3.5 out of 5 stars

While I enjoyed this novel, I feel it drags the mystery out longer than necessary. The whole story is engaging, but by the time we finally start making clear progress on the mystery, I was wondering if we were ever going to get anywhere, and that was about 75% through the story.

I love Decker’s new partner, Freddie White, and particularly like that Decker shows his loyalty to his new partner even as he makes some gaffs socially and professionally. The two bond pretty quickly even if they don’t realize it for a while. Freddie’s mother is correct in telling her that their shared life experiences make it possible for them to connect despite their very different lives and backgrounds.

I struggled with the suicide of Decker’s former partner. Its impact seems to bookend the novel as does the letter he receives about possible forthcoming changes to his brain and his superpower. The problem is that this seems like something the reader should be interested in, but the “impact” in this novel is nearly nothing, not even regarding character development, so I ask, why is it here? Maybe it’ll play a bigger role in the next novel.

I like the aspects of the mystery. The coincidence of two unrelated murders in the same location at nearly the same time is kind of awesome. I picked up the clue for one of the murders pretty quickly, and that one ended as I expected. The historic and espionage aspect of the other murders played out nicely; however, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief with regard to the clarity of 40 year old memories.

Regardless of what I disliked, in the end, I really enjoyed this story. The introduction and development of Freddie is well done, and it’s clear that Decker is growing as well. I love the final scene with his boss. It looks like Decker will the a thorn in the side of the FBI for at least one more novel.