Beyond the Shadow

A timely read

BEYOND THE SHADOW stirs the imagination. Most of us know somebody who served on a jury, or we've done it ourselves, or we've watched juries through media. It's always haunting to think about this: What if you're the sole holdout and insist on a man's innocence when the 11 others think he's guilty? What type of fortitude does it take to persist? Mara Taylor needs all the strength she can get in this story. There's a good chance she's set a murderer free. And now somebody wants her dead because she stood up for her values and sense of justice. It's great that this book has come out around the Fourth of July because it deals with the issue of justice and freedom, while not getting heavy handed about it at all. At the same time, the author weaves in a wonderful romance. Mara Taylor loses her business, friends and even her apartment and must go into hiding because of setting Holden Sawyer free. It's satisfying storytelling to see how Mara begins to fall in love with a man she shouldn't, and it's fast-paced suspense then all the way to the end.