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  • The Shadows We Hide

  • Written by: Allen Eskens
  • Narrated by: Zach Villa
  • Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (66 ratings)

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The Shadows We Hide

Written by: Allen Eskens
Narrated by: Zach Villa
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Publisher's Summary

Journalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national best seller The Life We Bury (Publishers Weekly)

Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter for the Associated Press in Minneapolis, he stumbles across a story describing the murder of a man named Joseph Talbert in a small town in southern Minnesota.

Full of curiosity about whether this man might be his father, Joe is shocked to find that none of the town's residents have much to say about the dead man - other than that his death was long overdue. Joe discovers that the dead man was a loathsome lowlife who cheated his neighbors, threatened his daughter, and squandered his wife's inheritance after she, too, passed away - an inheritance that may now be Joe's.

Mired in uncertainty and plagued by his own devastated relationship with his mother, who is seeking to get back into her son's life, Joe must put together the missing pieces of his family history - before his quest for discovery threatens to put him in a grave of his own.

©2018 Allen Eskens (P)2018 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"The Shadows We Hide is a riveting novel about one man's search for his father becomes a perilous journey into a labyrinth of deceit and lies. Eskens vividly renders how small towns try to keep their secrets, and how sometimes they cannot." (Ron Rash, author of Serena)

"Murder, arson, betrayal, and reconciliation will keep pages turning and leave readers eager for more of Joe Talbert." (Booklist)

"The search for the father is a favorite theme of authors and one that is perfectly suited to the detective story form. Allen Eskens has drawn an intricate and intriguing search map full of sharps turns and returns. Suspenseful, revealing, clear-eyed, and brightly told, The Shadows We Hide is a real experience, page to page to end page." (Fred Chappell)

"Whether you like mysteries with surprise endings and terrific twists or you are a reader who never reads a mystery, but loves literary novels that explore the emotions that bring families together or tear them apart, you will want to read Allen Eskens's excellent novel, The Shadows We Hide."—--Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of The Third Victim
"A brilliant sequel full of deeply developed characters... Eskens keeps readers guessing until the last pages in this darkly lyrical and brutally intimate story of one man's journey of self-discovery."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

What listeners say about The Shadows We Hide

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Great mystery!

Really enjoyed the twists and turns. Love the way the character figures out what’s going on. Even nicer that he remains too to himself.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!

Love the characters, and the narrator's voice. Descriptions of situations made it easy to picture the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Another Great Thriller

Allen’s writing style has excited me from his first book I read. If you like twists and turns, this is just one of Allen’s fine books. You can’t go wrong with any of his novels. Putting them down is the hardest part.

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Very Enjoyable Listen

Mystery and connections are all part of this story. The character development is solid, which makes this a very good story.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good story.

A good story. Well written.  Lots of twists and turns that make for a great read. The reader, Zack Villa, was also very good and added to the experience. It makes it easy to chose to continue with the series. 

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