Dark Night

Alaska Wild, Book 3

By: Paige Shelton

Narrated by: Suzie Althens

Winter is falling in the remote town of Benedict, Alaska, and with the cold comes an uninvited guest. The dreaded census man, seemingly innocuous, is an unwelcome presence to those members of this secretive community who would prefer to keep their business to themselves. Meanwhile, thriller writer Beth Rivers has received her own unexpected visitor: her mother.

The last Beth heard, Mill Rivers had gone underground in the lower 48, in search of Beth’s kidnapper, and Beth can't help but be a little alarmed at her appearance: If Mill was able to track down her daughter, who knows who else might be able to? Beth doesn't have time to ponder this for long: a battered woman stumbles into the town bar one night, and her husband is found dead the next morning. Suspicions immediately turn to the census man, but when he, too, goes missing, everyone in Benedict - including the police chief - is suspected, and Beth and Mill must work to figure out what really happened.

Meanwhile, in the lower 48, another author has disappeared, and the police think Beth’s kidnapper just may be at it again....

©2021 Minotaur Books (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

A great, suspenseful series!

DARK NIGHT is the third book in the Alaska Wild mystery series by Paige Shelton. This series just keeps getting better and better and I found myself on the edge of my seat, unable to put the book down until I’d heard the final page. Set in the remote town of Benedict, Alaska, the harsh realities of winter is settling in, making the town even more isolated. The protagonist, Beth Rivers, has been hiding out from her brutal kidnapper, hoping law enforcement will be able to capture him before he finds her. In this newest installment, it’s Beth’s on-the-run from the law, mother, who finds her. I enjoyed meeting eccentric Mill Rivers as it gave the reader the opportunity to find out more about Beth’s backstory and personality. It also added an emotional depth to the book.

While this book could be read as a standalone with it’s contained murder mystery, there is the thread of the kidnapping and Beth’s backstory that begins with book one and continues through book three and, hopefully, beyond. Ms. Shelton’s descriptive voice captivated me as the setting and people came alive. As the suspense built, I had to turn the pages faster and faster to find out what happened next. The author’s ability to weave a cohesive arc between all three books while interjecting a standalone mystery into each one exhibits great skill. I’ll be waiting on pins and needles, anxious to find out what happens to Beth next!