The Secret Witness

Shepard & Gray, Book 1

By: Victor Methos

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

From the bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife comes the thrilling first installment in the Shepard & Gray series, featuring a young sheriff who teams up with a former prosecutor to stop a copycat killer.

This is Reaper speaking.

So begins an anonymous letter published in a Utah newspaper after a young couple is viciously murdered. Tooele County sheriff Elizabeth Gray leads the investigation into the double homicide, which is eerily reminiscent of a string of brutal killings years ago. When the letter leads detectives to yet another body, Gray calls on an old friend for help.

Former prosecutor Solomon Shepard is still struggling to recover from the deadly courtroom attack that ended his career. He’s been keeping a safe distance from the action, teaching criminology seminars about serial murders and psychopathology—until Gray asks for his help on the Reaper case.

As the body count mounts, Shepard and Gray race to unravel the deranged design of a copycat killer—and find themselves in a face-off with an enemy they never saw coming.

©2022 Victor Methos (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Gripping from the beginning, this audiobook features a well-crafted story delivered by Timothy Andrés Pabon using an ideal mix of fear, remorse, and personal animosity to define characters and scenes. A whodunit at its core, this is also an exceptional psychological thriller that benefits from Pabon's performance, particularly his ability with nuanced dialogue.… Pabon combines a low-key delivery with well-chosen intensity, making this an audiobook that listeners will not want to turn off." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner)

"A red-hot suspenser aimed at readers for whom a single serial killer just isn’t enough." (Kirkus Reviews)

See Shelly’s Review

This is my 4th book by this author, and he is not for me unless narrated by a fave narrator and on sale. This story was way too dark for me eg beware chapter 28!! The premise is very good and the outline was good, but although I did finish the story, I don’t think I would buy book 2 should this become a series. Shellys review is a bit better than the story in my opinion. If I don’t want to go back to a chapter or want to re listen again in the future, it gets 4 stars. I purchased this story due to narrator, who did The Blood Thing, excellent narration. Don’t miss it.
Were my comments of help?

Spoiler Alert

Don't expect a happy ending. Too much death. Even with a thriller, there must be some good. None here.

Good book, looking forward to the sequel

There's a lot to appreciate in this story. The heroes work together well and have strong characters. The amoral lawyer for the antagonist is interesting. Where does a lawyer's duty to truth and justice start and end? Only with his client, or with society as well?
The antagonist is a serial killer retracing the steps from the past. The protagonists are a chief of police and a former DA working together to determine who the killer is and put them behind bars. Add in a clingy and unbalanced parent, and an amoral defense attorney and you have quite the story.
I did see the twist coming at the end, but I was a bit disappointed with the resolution. I hope the author revisits that and resolves it better in later books.
The reader did an excellent job and lent depth to the story. I hope he records the sequels.

I recommend this book; it is worth a listen.

Exciting Loved it!

Loved it!! Fantastic read!! Great from the beginning to the very end!! A Must read!

I got lost toward the end

I got a little lost at the end. But overall the book was pretty good.

Good for a short read.

I wish there had been a different resolution with Kelly and I wish he would have lingered more on the backstory of Braiden and his mom but I didn’t write the book. Anyway, it was a great read. I always enjoy this author’s work.

This is a good one, narrator bugged me

Everything about this book is very good; I just didn't like the narrator. I mean, he did the job, but if he did and woman's voice it sounded weak, and when he did Solomon's voice, he sounded breathy. It was a cut into the book from time to time. Brittney Presley narrated a previous book, and I liked her a great deal. I am unsure if I will listen to this guy again. I haven't checked, but I hope it isn't the same guy if/when there is a book two. I think the characters are likable and it would be a shame to not get to read more about them and their relationship.

The story was awesome. I liked the ending/closure. A book with a happy ending is great. This book also ended in a not-so-expected way; I like that. Spoilers if I continue with that.

I would say get this book. It is worth the story and was not a waste of my time at all. Just know the narrator may irritate you a bit.

Excellent Character Development

Any author who developes three dimensional who are likable and flawed has my vote for 5 stars. As I listened I was worried that the all the lose ends weren't going to be solved, but they all were in a very satisfying way. Methos is an excellent writer and I will certainly be waiting and watching for the second book in this series to be released. Excellent narration as well. I strongly recommend this bood and this author to anyone who's interested in this genre.

twisted

it held .my attention
and the ending was unexpected. I quite enjoyed it. thanks for reading it so well.

Awesome!

This was an incredible story and I’m still in shock! I totally recommend this book!