Hidden in the Shadows
A.D. Vancise | Atmosphere Press 338p, e-book, $18.99, ISBN 978-1-63988691-3
“Nothing ages people more than secrets,” Vancise writes in this polished, dark-as-blood-wine thriller, which finds a young woman digging into the mysteries posed by an old photograph of her late grandfather’s, and then facing unspeakable horrors of the past—and, of course, her present. In a small Arkansas town in 1991, Evie Day sees again a photo that has long haunted her, an image from 1933 of a tall woman and a tiny coffin. Soon she’s dug up intriguing clues that suggest her police chief grandfather harbored secrets: a vial of blood in his desk; a key to a safety deposit box in Castlewood, a town four hours away. Meanwhile, an older man named Charlie works with a specialist to recover suppressed memories and shares horrific visions of occult torture in a Castlewood foster home.
Writing with crisp efficiency, mordant wit, and bursts of searing terror, Vancise whets the novel’s escalating puzzles and portents with an edge of queasy uncertainty. As the two perspective characters’ paths edge closer to crossing, readers will question what to believe—and whether Evie and especially Charles have hidden agendas. Character work is engaging and surprising, with relationships coming to life in well-honed dialogue. Apparent coincidences like Evie encountering an ex, or running into an acquaintance who does profiling work for the FBI, don’t just help the plot along—they contribute to the feeling of fevered suspicion.
That tense atmosphere does not slow momentum. Vancise teases with potent recurring images—a tuxedoed man with a lollipop; a baby in “little black mask with gold stars covered its mouth and nose”—that will compel readers of thoughtful, occult-tinged, buried-secret thrillers to tear through the pages to discover the truth behind them. The revelations jolt but satisfy, the romance is handled with heart and a touch of heat, and the villains are quite literally bloodthirsty.
This smart thriller pits an Arkansas woman against a haunting, possibly occult mystery.
Great for fans of Gina Sorell’s Mothers and Other Strangers, Craig DiLouie’s The Children of Red Peak.