Carny Sullivan grew up in the zany world of a traveling carnival. Quaint and peaceful Serenity, Texas, has given her a home, a life, and a child. Logan Brisco is the smoothest, slickest, handsomest man Serenity, Texas has ever seen. But Carny Sullivan knows a con artist when she sees one—and she’s seen plenty, starting with her father. As far as Carny Sullivan can tell, she’s the only one in town who has his number. Because from his Italian shoes to his movie-actor smile, Logan has the rest of the town snowed. Carny is determined to reveal Brisco’s selfish intentions before his promise to the townspeople for a cut in a giant amusement park sucks Serenity dry. Yet, as much as she hates his winning ways, there is a man behind that suave smile, a man who may win her heart against her will. Shadow in Serenity is a modern-day Music Man, penned by a Christy Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author.
Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,” her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.
Her latest series is the acclaimed, award-winning Intervention Series (Intervention, Vicious Cycle, Downfall). Other reader favorites include her books Predator and Double Minds, as well as the Restoration Series, the Newpointe 911 Series, the Cape Refuge Series, and the SunCoast Chronicles series.
In 1994 Terri was writing romance novels under two pseudonyms for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening prompted her to switch gears. At the time, she was reading more suspense than romance, and felt drawn to write thrillers about ordinary people in grave danger. Her newly awakened faith wove its way into the tapestry of her suspense novels, offering hope instead of despair. Her goal is to entertain with page-turning plots, while challenging her readers to think and grow. She hopes to remind them that they’re not alone, and that their trials have a purpose.
Terri has appeared on national television programs such as “The 700 Club” and “Home Life,” and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.
My Impressions:
I like to listen to audiobooks when I walk. My route takes 50 minutes, so I get a good workout and a good amount of time to enjoy a book. Shadow in Serenity was my latest listen. It was so good, it made me anxious to put on my trainers and jump back into the story.
Logan Brisco is a conman out to make his biggest score yet among the residents of Serenity, Texas. The only trouble is that Carny Sullivan lives there too. She is the daughter of carnies and can’t be conned. Logan does his best to keep things all business, but he is drawn to the free-spirited Carny and the town she loves. Carny also finds herself falling for Logan and is dismayed when she starts to believe the story he is feeding the town.
Billed as a modern-day take on The Music Man, it also has echoes of Carousel. Logan’s character is deeply wounded by a childhood spent wondering where his mother is. He was befriended by Montague, a consummate grifter, who made him feel wanted and taught him all the tricks of the trade. But Logan has always been an outsider and in Serenity feels that even more. But the peace and belonging Carny has found is a lure he can’t ignore. The ending is a surprise to the reader and to Carny and was truly satisfying. I really enjoyed the narrator as well. She was great at capturing the accents and flavor of a small Texas town.
Although this is not a suspense novel for which Blackstock is so well known, Shadow in Serenity is a great story excellently written.
Highly Recommended.
Great for A Book Club.
(I purchased the audiobook version of Shadow in Serenity. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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