Review: The Shimmering Road by Hester Young

Title:The Shimmering Road

Author:Hester Young

Series:Charlie Cates Trilogy, #2

Published:February 2017, G.P. Putnam‘s Sons

Format:ARC Paperback, 416 pages

Source:Publishers

A pulse-pounding mystery
from the author of “The Gates of Evangeline” featuring Charlotte Charlie
Cates, an unforgettable heroine whose dark visions bring to light
secrets that will heal or destroy those around her…

When
soon-to-be mother Charlotte Charlie Cates begins to have recurring
dreams about harm coming to her unborn daughter, she knows these are not
the nightmares of an anxious mom-to-be. They are the result of her
mysterious gift. But before she can decipher what these dreams might
mean, Charlie learns that the mother who abandoned her when she was a
toddler is the victim of a double murder in Arizona. The other victim
Jasmine, a half-sister Charlie never knew she had has left behind a
child, a little girl who speaks to Charlie in her dreams and was present
on the night of the murders. Convinced that she must help her orphaned
niece, Charlie travels to Tucson, Arizona, where she must confront her
painful ties to her mother and delve into her sister s shadowy past.

To
untangle the web of secrets that will reveal the truth of her
nightmares, Charlie can no longer avoid her family s checkered history.
Who is in the racy photos that turned up in Jasmine s apartment? Where
is her niece s father, whom Jasmine was rumored to have been seeing
again on the sly? Was her mother s charity work in Mexico really as
selfless as it seemed? And most important of all, what did her niece
really witness on the night of the murders?

The search for
answers leads Charlie across the Mexican border, from the resort town of
Rocky Point to the border town of Nogales, and elucidates the meaning
of her dreams in most unexpected ways. Ultimately, to protect her niece
and her unborn child, Charlie must battle not just evil but the forces
of nature, in one final terrifying encounter in the Tucson desert.

A
thrilling mystery that combines literary suspense and romance with a
mystical twist that is unputdownable. If you love Kate Atkinson and
Alice Sebold, you should not miss Hester Young.

My thoughts:This is the second book in Hester Young’s Charlie Cates trilogy and I was so excited to get my hands on this one…I absolutely loved the first book in this trilogy – The Gates of Evangeline – and this one was just as good!!! 

Although this book can be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend reading the first book…it just helps set the scene on the characters and the situation surrounding Charlie to put everything into context. But, rest assured if you decide not too, you are given just enough backstory so that you aren’t completely lost. 

I love Charlie’s character. She’s strong, yet complex. She has quite a bit of baggage that she is carrying around, yet she is trying to move forward and create a new sense of normal and happiness for herself. Her visions are intense and you know when she has them, it’s not always a good thing.

I really enjoyed the mystery in this installment. It’s not a simple, straight-forward mystery, but rather full of twists and turns. Everytime I thought I knew where it was going to go, I was thrown off course with a new twist. There are some areas that are slow and others that are fast and action-packed. The tension and suspense builds throughout and kept me engaged. 

While I’m not a huge fan of the supernatural, I found the elements in this book to be just right. They were blended seamlessly into the storyline and added an extra touch of suspense to the overall mystery. 

I’m a huge fan of this series and cannot wait for the next book. Hester Young is definitely an author on my auto-buy list! 

Books in this series:

1. The Gates of Evangeline
2. The Shimmering Road