Shadow of Death

Laura Nelson Series Book 1

This is a world you would never want to enter… or forget.

Pull a trigger and everything changes. Medical student Laura Nelson had just finished examining her first patient when she is forced to make a split-second decision that will alter the course of her life—forever.

One life will end, and one life will never be the same. But keeping her dreadful secret will be one of the toughest challenges Laura will ever face. With a persistent and perceptive detective hot on her trail and a host of eerie incidents suggesting that maybe her secret isn’t really a secret, Laura is drawn into an unseemly web of peril, deceit, and treachery and is forced to risk both her freedom and her sanity.

Will her deadly secret come to light, or must she live forever in the shadow of death?

Set amidst the upheaval and smoldering chaos of the Detroit riots of 1967, Shadow of Death is a haunting tale of unrest, fear, and consequences. Hailed as a stunning debut novel, Shadow of Death provides a spine-chilling glimpse of what lurks in the shadows.

Praise

Thriller Award Nominee for Best First Novel, International Thriller Writers

Shadow of Death is medical suspense at its best original and masterfully plotted. Only a physician who is also a great writer could have crafted this novel. This book will have you gasping for breath.”
—Michael Palmer, New York Times bestselling author

“Set against the wounded, wailing backdrop of Detroit during the cataclysmic race riot of 1967. I doubt we’ll see a better story about this unhealed wound in late twentieth-century history.”
—Loren D. Estleman, award-winning author

Shadow of Death portrays an accurate picture of Detroit during that tough year of 1967. It is realistic, gruesome and stunning, almost shocking in its detail.”
―David Poremba, Manager, Burton Historical Collection Detroit Public Library and author of Michigan

“Patricia Gussin’s first novel is a nail-biter…once I picked this one up I couldn’t put it down.”
New Mystery Reader

“Part medical thriller, part woman’s fiction…Deeply disturbing, realistically harsh, Shadow of Death is a taut suspense thriller.”
Futures Anthology Magazine

“All the characters, the riots, the time period of 1967—all are so real. The author catches all the feelings.”
Scribes World
“A very human and compelling protagonist. Nail-biting tension and suspense drive the story to its shocking climax.”
Spinetingler Magazine
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