Once Shadows Fall by Robert Daniels

In Once Shadows Fall, Detective Beth Sturgis is heading up her first major manhunt for a potential serial killer. Seeing similarities between this new killing and ones from years ago, Sturgis enlists the help of the retired FBI agent, Jack Kale, who headed up those long ago cases. Kale, now a university professor, is at first reluctant to get involved. Demons from the past still haunt him, but he is soon helping Sturgis on the new case.

I really enjoyed this police procedural, a debut novel from Daniels. There's tons of action, lots of entertaining twists, and some pretty good characters. Once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. It turned out to be quite the page turner. Some of the details are a little gruesome, so this one's definitely not for the faint of heart.

I liked both Sturgis and Kale. I think they make a pretty good team. I hope we learn more about them in subsequent books.

One thing that struck me as odd was the lack of urgency towards the end of the book. I don't want to give too much away but I would have thought that with a missing person you'd think there'd be a mad scramble to find them. No holds barred. I just didn't feel that build up in intensity. That's not to say it wasn't a good ending. It just wasn't as intense as it could have been.

This book and its main character, Kale, a retired FBI agent, reminded me a little of John Verdon's books and his character, Dave Gurney. This one isn't quite as good, but it's still a wonderful read.

Recommended. I'd definitely read another work by this author.

For more information about this book, please visit the Crooked Lane Books website.

For more information about the author and his next books, please visit Robert Daniels's website.

Thanks to Sarah from Kaye Publicity for this review copy.

Once Shadows Fall by Robert Daniels, Crooked Lane Books (The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC), ©2013. ISBN 9781629533834(Hardcover), 343p.