A review by sdsmith80
Silent Key by Laurel Hightower

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

<b>A tense thriller with a supernatural twist!</b>

I'm so happy I got a chance to check this book out! Laurel Hightower is such a great author, and an amazing human to boot! This book blended thriller and crime themes with the supernatural and it worked wonderfully. 

At first the book seemed a bit wordy for my taste, but soon the pace picked up and the ride started in earnest. I really identified with the main character as a single mom doing whatever it takes to protect her child. She was a strong, independent woman, which we need more of in everything!

The characters felt believable and authentic. Usually I don't love books with a young child prominently featured because I feel it's hard to write them in a way that feels real. This book definitely didn't fall into that trap, and I was able to get fully invested in all the of characters. 

There were also many dead ends and twists throughout. I was kept guessing about who she could trust until the very end. The fact that there were a couple of leads mentioned, but ultimately not followed up on, bothered me a little at first, but by the end I wonder if they were intentionally left in to throw the reader off course. If so, they definitely worked. 

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book, and I do wonder if there will be another story to come for these characters, just from the way things ended.