SHOELESS CHILD (Detective Kerri Blasco #4) by J.A. Schneider-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 24, 2018

A little boy has seen a horrific murder but is too traumatized to speak. Detective Kerri Blasco struggles to connect with him…

Charlie Sparkes peeks out to see his mother and another young woman brutally shot. Hysterical, the brave child bolts into the cold November night for help. He screams and cries, only to fall into more trauma.

Homicide Detective Kerri Blasco is called to the murder scene. One woman lies dead next to the blood soaked rug where Rachel Sparkes was seriously wounded. With little memory of the attack, she has been taken to the hospital – but where is her child? He too, Kerri discovers, now lies in a hospital bed, mute and traumatized in a fetal position, refusing even food and water.

Charlie must have seen what happened. Kerri’s heart aches for this piteous little boy and she struggles to help him; struggles, too to find the monster who did this horrible crime. “It’s your kind of case,” Sergeant Alex Brand, Kerri’s boss and partner tells her, stepping up police urgency when another innocent is shot, and then another.

Kerri Blasco finds herself more emotionally obsessed with this case than with any other, despite clear and onrushing danger to herself…

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REVIEW: Shoeless Child begins with an unprovoked attack on two young women, leaving one dead and one in the hospital. The only witness is a little boy, Charlie, who was able to get away from the attacker and find help.

Detective Kerri Blasco, along with her partner, Alex, make the scene and it doesn’t take her long to surmise that the little boy must have seen the attacker. When they head to the hospital, they find the surviving victim, along with her very traumatized little boy. Kerri finds herself getting emotionally involved in helping little Charlie come out of his shell and vows to figure out exactly what happened. What follows is a suspenseful read that will keep you turning the pages until the final twist is revealed and leaves you floored……..

Shoeless Child is another nicely written story by J.A. Schneider. I love Kerri Blasco and her partner, Alex. Kerri’s character is very relatable. She has a bit of a horrific past herself, which humanizes her and makes her a three dimensional character. Alex, who is also her boyfriend, is the perfect partner for her. The secondary characters are well written and play off of each other beautifully. In typical Schneider style, there are lots of twists and turns, and just when you think you’ve got it figured out, you realize you don’t. I have to be honest though. I’m really funny about how children are handled in the stories I read. What happened to Charlie when he ran for help left my jaw on the floor. The last two paragraphs of the first chapter made me close my iPad and walk away. It wasn’t anything horribly graphic, but, in my humble opinion, was just too much and didn’t add anything to the story, other than more unnecessary trauma to a little boy. I thought about it for a day or two, picked my iPad back up and gave it another go. I’m glad I did. I really liked the story overall. I like Schneider’s style, and as I said before, I love Kerri’s character. If you’re a fan of suspense filled whodunits, you will never go wrong with one of Schneider’s tales. Well done, J.A. Schneider.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Fear Dreams
Her Last Breath
Watching You

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Vickie M