Kyra Lamb’s
life is shattered when her mother bundles her off in the middle of the night to
a house in the Blue Mountains. Her father is dead and Kyra is in danger.
Kyra’s dad had
been mixed up with something nasty that she witnessed – but cannot remember. Kyra
has blanked it out of her mind and is left with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
She needs to piece together the story around what her father had been involved
with.
Isolated in the
Blue Mountains, Kyra is banned from communicating with anybody and has no
internet access – but against her mother’s wishes, she makes friends with Eric,
a local boy whose curiosity is piqued.
He is determined to find out more about
Kyra’s situation. As Eric’s investigations reveal more and more inconsistencies,
and Kyra’s memories start to emerge, she starts to question everything around
her.
Jones weaves a
fast paced narrative that will keep the reader guessing. Kyra’s memory return
in flashes - but would accessing these expose her to more danger? And just who
is Bennett, a mysterious man who seems to be inveigling himself into her and
her mother’s lives? He knows much more about Kyra than she knows about him. Is
her instinct to be suspicious of him right?
Jones is adept
at building the tension. I felt fully invested in Kyra’s situation and wanted
to know more. Therefore, as a reader I felt betrayed by the big reveal at the
end; the antagonists’ motives were simply not believable. It was a let-down.
Given the excellence of Jones’s writing, I thought she could maintain the
momentum and craft a more consistent ending. Despite this, I hope that Jones
will produce a second book that has the plot-holes ironed out. She certainly has
the potential.
Title: My Father’s Shadow
Author: Jannali Jones
Publisher: Magabala Books, $14.99
Publication
Date: August
2019
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925936704
For
ages:14+
Type: Young Adult Fiction
