A genre-arching sequel that tackles complex themes while delivering a plausible story with an indomitable heroine at its epicenter meets readers who dive into author Amy River's newest novel in her Legacy of Silence series.
Stumble and Fall is an award-winning text by Amy Rivers and the second in the psychological suspense series, A Legacy of Silence. Essentially a sequel, the novel can be read as a standalone. Here, readers are introduced to Kate Medina, an astute school psychologist who has had a difficult past. Kate had recently purchased a hacienda in the desert using the money from the sale of her father's house in Alamogordo. Her friend and partner Roman, who had recently resigned from the Alamogordo Police Department knowing full well that he was soon going to be fired, was at loose ends as he applied for a job in several state agencies. Their careers had been jeopardized because of their romantic involvement with each other and Kate had even lost her job at school.
Kate and Roman had both helped put Benny Parks, the man who had assaulted one of Kate's students, behind bars and who they both knew had been used as a scapegoat by the organization responsible for trafficking girls in the area. Knowing that he was in jail did not make them any less jittery since one of those connections was still at large. Things had been going well for the two as Kate had opened her private practice and Roman had gotten a job with the FBI. However, their world is soon stirred up when another abduction rocks the area and puts Kate and her sister Tilly, in potential danger. This gets Kate riled up, consequently plunging her down a rabbit hole of blatant violence and ruthlessness that she is bound to confront and discover the truth.
Rivers hammers out characters with depth and clarity and her creativity shows Kate as an efficacious and capable protagonist. Supporting characters are held just as deftly and the compelling plot is nothing short of engrossing. The book's editing and perfect pacing elevate the novel from the common and often trudging plots of its genre. The masterstroke of the novel is its organization and fine attention to detail, with each chapter building on another, offering a plausible conclusion without conveying a myriad of facts too soon.
Further, Kate's soliloquy throughout the chapters spices up inactive respites in delivering key plot revelations. The natural dialogue in the text further provides a forum for debate as well as provides climacteric information in every shrewdly executed scene. Rivers also expertly anatomizes the complexities of the human soul and successfully unveils the extent of its depravity and virtuousness. She manages to capture the mood and offers a riveting experience for even satiated readers of mystery thrillers.
Rivers' brush strokes are fine, her vision encompassing humanity from its most compassionate to its most dishonorable, providing broad, profound, and extensive facets. She manages to once again display the prolificacy of her imagination and her artistry as a writer cementing the capstone of the book's relevant genre.
Quill says: At turns poignant and elsewhere pleasant, Stumble and Fall is an impressive and moving sequel from a very skillful and competent writer.
For more information on Stumble & Fall (A Legacy of Silence Book 2), please visit the author's website at: www.amyrivers.com.
