Abyss & Apex reviews THE SHADOW COLLECTOR by Bonnie Randall

 The Shadow Collector (Tellwell)

by Bonnie Randall

It takes at least a decade to become an “overnight success,” or in this case two decades. In June of 2023 this A&A author and veteran indie writer Bonnie Randall’s latest work became a “Paranormal Romance” Amazon bestseller in three countries: The UK, the USA, and Canada. Her other books that we’ve reviewed were good, but this is her breakout novel.

In Vancouver, undercover cop Owen Brophy visits an old female psychic he knows: a woman who is pretending to be a derelict addict, hiding from those who wish her harm. She can read minds, knows his real name, and warns him that his estranged best friend back home will die unless he goes back there. The next day she is found dead–supposedly from an overdose but actually murdered. And one of her fingers is missing.

Trapped in a 200-person town in Alberta, where she has lived with her grandmother since she was three, Natalya Nikoslav is rumored to be a witch because she was found near the Devil’s Tree. It’s socially acceptable to throw stones at her and spray paint her house. She’s not a witch; she’s a retro-cognitive who can see things from the past. But when she gets yet another grisly package–this time containing  a human finger bone and a cryptic rhyme that she also needs to go home or someone will die–she has no idea where “home” is. And now she starts seeing visions from a future where she gets clues about where home might be, and visions of her tombstone.

Home for both of them is the Okangan Valley, a fruit-growing region of British Columbia dead north of Spokane. And there a malevolent breath of a hidden past meets a current evil that has roots in both of their childhoods.

Randall’s setting is enveloping, her mystery and romance plot twists and turns are exhilarating, and her characters are simply unforgettable. You’ll really be missing out if you don’t read The Shadow Collector!

RECOMMENDED