RIVER’S SHADOW (River Collins: FBI Mystery Thriller 2) by Kate Gable-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date august 9, 2025

Ten-year-old Sarah Earhart disappears without a trace in Charlottesville, Virginia—and the case hits far too close to home for FBI Agent River Collins. Twenty years ago, she was the one who vanished. She survived. Her captor was never caught.

When River learns Sarah had been chatting online with a man posing as her friend, and she realizes this isn’t just one missing child. It’s the gateway into a predator’s network.

The deeper River digs, the more she’s forced to confront the horrors of her own past… and the terrifying possibility that the man who took her is still out there.

Every second counts. Every wrong move could cost Sarah her life—and put River in the crosshairs of the very evil she’s been running from.

Perfect for fans of Mary Stone and Elle Gray, River’s Shadow is a gripping page-turner from bestselling, award-winning author Kate Gable.
Once you start, you won’t be able to stop.

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REVIEW: RIVER’S SHADOW is the second instalment in Kate Gable’s contemporary, adult RIVER COLLINS FBI mystery thriller series focusing on thirty four year old, FBI Agent Rebecca ‘River’ Collins.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (River and Sarah) RIVER’S SHADOW follows the search for a missing seven year old girl, a case with many similarities to River’s own. Twenty years earlier, our heroine was abducted and held for two years before her escape, and with most recent missing child brings with it memories from the past. Meanwhile, River’s relationship with Aiden, a neurosurgeon at the local hospital, is entering a phase of that is hindered by River’s obsession with the case. As River digs deeper, her spiral into the past, comes full circle as she confronts the memories that continue to haunt.

Meanwhile, River’s sister Leslie is struggling with her own relationship, married to a man who is often checked out but River is about to discover the real reason, and our heroine is caught between a secret or the lies her sister wants to believe.

The world building, is once again, familiar to fans of Kate Gable. The similarities to her previous series and story lines are numerous ; the premises are familiar including struggling familial relationships, and a backstory of abduction and betrayal, and a hard-nosed heroine, whose job affects her friendships, relationships, and the family from whom she keeps her distance.

RIVER’S SHADOW is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, obsession and madness, family and love. The fast paced, character driven premise is edgy and dramatic, a cat and mouse game of suspense and chills; the characters are desperate and determined; the romance is subtle.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one RIVER’S EDGE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy