Judie Aitken

Two people on opposite sides of a documentary about Dubois Indian Industrial School learn that there are two sides to every story when they're whisked back in time and experience it firsthand.

Kathleen Prescott is the epitome of all that's prim and proper. She lives in the apartment her family has occupied for generations, on the grounds of what used to be the Dubois school, as the caretaker for the school's museum. With no family left, and isolated from even the possibility of friendship, Kathleen is alone with her history; content, if not exactly happy.

Jesse Spotted Horse is a man with a mission. He's finally received a grant to make the documentary he's been dreaming of for years.

When Jesse arrives at Kathleen's museum, they're immediately on opposite sides. He's heard all his life how terrible & inhumane the school was. She's heard all her life how wonderful & helpful the school was. They each set out to change the other's mind.

When the actress for one scene has to bow out because of pregnancy, Jesse asks Kathleen to take her place, and Jesse himself ends up playing a part as well. When both of them are in costume, smoke on the set transports them into the past.

They try to fit in to the past as well as possible, remembering clues from the present about the extra student who arrived unexpectedly (Jesse) and the mysterious English teacher (Kathleen). In the process, they each learn that they both were right about the school, that there were both good and bad things about it, and they solved the mystery of what happened to a young boy from Jesse's family.

From the time he appears, Jesse shakes up Kathleen's world. He makes her question the beliefs she's built her life on, and he makes her want more from her life than the lonely existence she'd contented herself with.

This story definitely follows the advice of "always leave the audience wanting more." Don't get me wrong--the ending was definitely satisfying. It just has my imagination going. I wonder if Jesse's friend in particular noticed anything unusual when Jesse & Kathleen returned to the present. He suspected Jesse was falling in love with Kathleen before they went to the past, but all the time they spent there changed their relationship quite a bit. And I really wonder what (bear with me, this keyboard doesn't have the numerical keypad so I can't make all the correct symbols) "Ta'ku kin oyas'in isanbya cante ciciye" means It's fun to guess, though. Maybe even more fun than actually knowing.… (lisätietoja)

Secret Shadows pairs an unlikely couple: a Lakota FBI agent working undercover, and the burned-out ER doctor whose testimony helped convict him of his dying sister's murder.

Dane White Eagle is the FBI agent. Tainted Ecstasy has been killing people, and the evidence points to a group on the reservation where his mother and sister live. Even worse, one of the culprits, Leland Big Elk, is dating his mother. When he's taking his dying sister to a Christmas party in town, he stops at his apartment to pick up the presents for the party, leaving her sleeping in the truck. When he returns minutes later, she's been shot. He rushes her to the emergency room, but it's too late.

Dr. Claire Colby is the emergency room doctor who treated his sister.

The tragic situation is a godsend for Dane's FBI mission. By allowing him to be convicted of his sister's murder, Dane can be imprisoned with the head of the gang making and distributing the drugs, and attempt to get information about the location of the lab from him. It's an almost intolerable situation for him--he's unable to tell his mother about the ruse, because of her friendship with Leland, and he's unable to search for the real killer.

When he's released on a technicality, he returns to the reservation to find his mother disowning him, and Claire Colby setting up a practice on the reservation.

I can't say much more for fear of giving away the whole story--hopefully I haven't said too much already.

Secret Shadows has a lot going for it: a romance between a couple where the reader can't be sure how they'll ever manage to get together; a murder mystery--who killed Kylee and why; a police procedural story about finding the drug dealers; an emotional story about family loyalty; and a glimpse into life on a Lakota reservation. All the various story threads are woven together seamlessly in a page-turning tale with characters you can care about.… (lisätietoja)