Shattered Mirror

February 15, 2018
A mad bomber is on the loose, and forensic sculptor Eve Duncan and her family are in the cross hairs.A shadow falls over Eve and her husband Joe Quinn's idyllic lakeside cabin in Georgia when she receives a box containing a burned skull with a bullet hole. The box also contains two mirrors: one intact and one shattered. Her preternaturally empathetic and articulate 6-year-old son, Michael, gives the skull a name: Sylvie. When Eve completes the reconstruction, the result is a stunningly beautiful young woman. Meanwhile, at New York's Carnegie Tech, Eve's ward, 18-year-old violin prodigy Cara Delaney, and her roommate, jaded former child actress Darcy Nichols, are shocked when Cara is attacked in their room one night. She's injured but OK, and Jock Gavin, the spectacularly attractive former assassin who is Cara's longtime bestie (although Cara yearns for more--cue the sparks), is convinced the attack has something to do with Cara's possessive grandfather Mafia kingpin Sergai Kaskov. Cara cuts classes short and heads off for a visit with Eve, inviting Darcy along. They arrive at the cabin, and lo and behold, the reconstructed skull is a dead ringer for Darcy. She's shocked and explains that she has a hidden twin, Sylvia, a physically and mentally disabled girl whose existence their mother insisted Darcy keep secret so it wouldn't cloud her acting career. Could the skull actually belong to Sylvia? Well, sure, anything can happen in Johansen's universe, and they discover that all clues point to former Irish Republican Army member Rory Norwalk, a psycho who will stop at nothing to hit Eve right where it hurts, including targeting her beloved Michael. When Norwalk's handiwork results in a horrific tragedy, Eve decides to take action and must ask for help from someone as dangerous as he is. There's actually a fun plot here, and Darcy is a charming addition, but it's bogged down by an overabundance of navel-gazing, coincidence, and lots and lots of dialogue, much of it expository, in an obvious effort to catch readers up on the characters' complicated backgrounds.Exhausting. Only die-hard fans need apply.

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February 26, 2018
A box containing a severely burned skull, found in a car parked outside Eve Duncan’s Georgia home, presents a tantalizing puzzle in bestseller Johansen’s intriguing 22nd novel featuring the forensic sculptor (after 2017’s Mind Game). Eve goes to work reconstructing the skull’s owner, taking care to minimize its exposure to her inquisitive six-year-old son, Michael. When her 18-year-old ward, Cara Delaney, comes for a visit with her roommate, Darcy Nichols, Eve is struck by Darcy’s incredible resemblance to the face of the reconstructed skull. Might Darcy have a twin? Meanwhile, Eve’s husband, former Navy SEAL Joe Quinn, believes that a recent attack on Cara at her New York apartment might be connected to the burned skull. As Joe and Cara’s longtime friend Jock Gavin try to keep Cara safe, they come to realize that the person who orchestrated Cara’s assault could have sinister designs against Eve and Michael. Mother and son share eerie yet convincing ESP experiences along the twisty path to the truth. Fans of paranormal suspense will be rewarded. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

March 1, 2018
In Johansen's latest Eve Duncan tale, following Mind Game (2017), a package containing a charred skull is ominously delivered to Eve's lake cottage, and as the renowned forensic sculptor begins creating the image of the person beneath the carnage, her six-year-old son, Michael, forms a preternaturally wise attachment to the woman he names Sylvie. Meanwhile, Eve's ward, Cara Delaney, is attacked in her Carnegie Tech dorm room, and Cara's close friend and protector, Jock Gavin, insists that she and her roommate, Darcy Nichols, leave for the safety of Eve's cottage. When Darcy walks in the door, it's as if Eve's reconstruction has come to life, for the woman on the worktable is none other than Darcy's twin, who is, in fact, named Sylvie. In Eve's world there is no such thing as coincidence; indeed, the brutal killer who murdered Darcy's sister and attacked Cara is intent on destroying both girls' families in a deranged quest for vengeance. Johansen is beloved for her strong female protagonists, and Cara and Darcy are worthy additions to this coterie of heroines.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)