SHADOW OF THE BEAST

SHADOW OF THE BEAST
MARGARET L. CARTER
E-Book ISBN#: 1-59279-321-5
Paperback ISBN#:  1-59279-812-8
December 1, 2004
Amber Quill Press, LLC
www.amberquill.com
E-Book
$6.00
Trade Paperback
$13.50
220 pages
Horror
Rating:

Jenny Cameron is having horrid nightmares resulting from her witnessing a feral dog
fatally attacking her brother and sister.  After her therapist insists one too many times
that the nightmares are due to the repression of her sexuality; she stops seeking his
help and decides that finding her long-lost father might solve at least part of her
problem.  Then a rapist attacks her and the nightmares change.  Now she dreams of
attacking the rapist and ripping out his throat with her teeth.  

Amidst this turmoil, she finds herself falling in love with Kurt Ballard.  Now if what she
suspects is true, she will lose him too.  Can anyone help her?  Can she overcome her
nightmares?

Kurt Ballard is an up-and-coming attorney working at the state capital drafting bills.  He
meets Jenny when she proofreads one of his drafts and finds lots of errors.  He is taken
with her and starts to pursue her in earnest.  He knows that she is having issues and
begins to worry about her when he notices strange mood swings and weight loss.  He
recommends a family friend who is a medical doctor as well as a therapist.  However,
is he really ready for what they discover about the woman he loves?  Can Kurt survive
the attacks of another who believes Jenny is his?

Amazing!  This story leads you to draw conclusions throughout the tale but makes you
second-guess your assumptions until the truth is actually revealed.  Ms. Carter did the
necessary establishment of background and then jumped right into the mayhem.  This
first little bit is slow going, but necessary in order to avoid completely losing her reader
later in the story.  The plot was very well done and carefully thought out.  The characters
were so real that I cried several places.  This is an excellent and entertaining read.  Just
be warned you may feel the urge to huddle under the blankets and spend the night
checking each noise with a baseball bat poised to descend.

Keely Skillman
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance