Review of The Shadows We Hide, by Allen Eskens
By Lydia Nolan
© January 10, 2023
This novel is a sort of, but not exactly, a sequel to “The Life We Bury” because it is about the same protagonist who is found in Allen Eskens’ award winning novel “The Life We Bury.” It may be similar: a death, murder, discovery of a person’s true history. But where the two novels diverge is at the consequences of the storyteller. Talbert is the protagonist in both stories, only in “Life..” he is helping find answers to a man’s mistaken identity for no other reason than Joe Talbert’s own good journalistic prowess and his curiosity. Whereas in “The Shadows…” he investigates a death and possible murder of a man whose name is the same as his own; he never knew his father, so naturally, he wants to find out if this man has anything to do with him. The story twists and winds and I will tell no further, the people he learns from and the family he finds. The story also helps Talbert understand his mother, from whom he is estranged.
It’s another good read for the windy, rainy, wintry day or night, and a cozy mystery that creates curiosity in the reader as much as the main character. Just read it. You will understand the journalist, Talbert better AFTER you read “The Life we Bury.” I guess in a way, it is a sequel, so says Publisher’s Weekly. Enjoy.
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