Thank you Netgalley, Nik Xandir Wolf, and Kelp Book LLC for the ebook! This was a fast paced action thriller that had me on the edge of my seat! I really enjoyed how the story was laid out. Never a dull moment! Still can't believe how it ended!

🏜️Shadow Valley by Nik Xandir Wolf 🏜️

Hector Montoya and Lindsay Sheldon love their son, Heath, but the life they’ve chosen - Hector as a hired killer and Lindsay as his former handler who deserted the CIA - forces them to give up their one-year-old child in Panama on March 21, 1968. They’re hopeful Heath will get to The States, where they’ve arranged an adoption plan.

Fast forward twenty years, and Heath, now living on the outskirts of Shadow Valley, California, a “cesspool of crime and poverty with one of the highest murder rates in the world”, never did quite have the childhood his biological parents had in mind.

To say his life isn’t going well would be a massive understatement. He spends his days caring for his ailing adoptive mother and working in local dive bars where he also deals marijuana under the counter to make ends meet, much to the annoyance of a biker gang going by the name of Vamos.

Things go from bad to worse when he meets the charming Rori. Initially, he thinks she just wants out of the Vamos and a safe place to stay - winner winner, she’ll help care for his mom too. But, he quickly finds out she’s an underage runaway, and her police chief abusive father is hellbent on getting her back home, whatever the cost.

After personal tragedy strikes, Heath and Rori go on the run, a la Bonnie and Clyde, where Heath will have to face his shadowy past.

Shadow Valley had the potential to be a gritty crime story, but it was not particularly well written, being very repetitive and stilted at times. This felt like a very early draft, the barebones of an excellent thriller with cracking characters, ready and waiting to be fleshed out.

Reading an uncorrected proof with so many glaring grammatical errors everywhere was hard to look past. 2.5⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy, as always this is an honest review.

This book was just ok for me. I found it hard to really get into and enjoy the characters. I definitely wanted to give this book a higher rating and love it based on the decision, but I just did not enjoy it.

A fast paced crime thriller with a mysterious plot. Well written characters, detailed backdrop and some thrills make for an exciting thriller. This was a great book that can be read in one sitting, it’s that intriguing.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Kelp Books, LLC for this review copy, I received this review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Phenomenal. I liked the flawed characters and had to root for them.
Many thanks to Kelp Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Shadow Valley tells the story of Heath, whose parents left with a foster family because they were in great danger. We get to meet Heath when he’s already a grown up and he does not seem to have his life together. After a while he gets involved with Rori, the chief’s daughter, who is desperately trying to scape from his father. So, the young couple tears away on journey from Santa Cruz communes to cartel territory in Baja and they are willing to do anything for their forbidden love to survive. Meanwhile, Heath carries with him a ring that holds the secrets of his family: the identity of his biological parents.

Personally, I expected something else when I started reading the book. This is a fast-paced book, extremely easy to follow (perfect for those days in which you do not fancy doing mental effort to read something), with short chapters. But I didn’t think the characters were going to be that, maybe Heath is one of the most complex characters, as he is forced to make several decisions to survive. Apart from that, there were parts in which I was more invested and some in which I was eye-rolling a bit. But it kept me entertained for a while, which is what I like about crime thrillers.

Shadow Valley is energetic and exciting with a lot going on, both in the present and the past. It’s rough and violent and unpredictable and so fast paced you have to hang on for dear life.

Heath Walker is immature, impulsive and often infuriating. He knows how to take care of himself, but not really. He’s a street kid with a lot of street smarts, but also with a lot of gaps, and he has a lot to learn. While it is easy to see why the hard knocks of life have made him the man he is, it is not always easy to like him or to sympathize with his hard-headedness and violence and narrow view of life and his possibilities for the future.

But none of that detracts from the exhilarating, heart-pounding dangerous ride this novel takes you on, or for wishing that just for once Heath could catch a break that lasts, that lets him be happy without looking over his shoulder or wondering what next bad thing will pop up; that lets him just relax.

There’s a complicated history at work here. Heath’s parents were an ex-mercenary and ex-CIA agent, who tried to get out of “the game” and wanted nothing more than to raise their beautiful baby boy. Not to be. The plan to get that baby out safely and adopted didn’t work out quite as planned, and Heath was dropped into the system: foster home after foster home, trouble after trouble, some acts he can’t get out of his mind. He resents his parents for abandoning him, he suffers at the hands of not-very-nice foster parents, until the Walkers adopt him out of a group home and he finally knows some love and stability.

But not a lot of success. When we first meet Heath he’s working as a bartender without pay so he can deal weed on the side. His father has died and his mother is dying. He needs money fast to forestall eviction and isn’t picky about what he has to do to get it.

Enter Rori Burke. She’s always had a home, but being the daughter of a controlling, violent, corrupt police chief isn’t the making of a happy family. She runs away, gets caught and dragged back, and runs away again. As with Heath, it is easy to see how her experiences have made her into the young woman she is, but her behavior makes it hard to like her very much.

Heath has seen Rori at the bar and there is attraction there, although he at times suspects it’s manipulation on her part. Things suddenly go bad and they are on the run. A cop dies and Heath’s mother dies, but not before she gives him a ring. And from there the action and suspense are non-stop resulting in a dramatic conclusion you don’t see coming.

Thanks to Kelp Journal & Books for providing an advance copy of Shadow Valley via NetGalley for my reading pleasure. I was not required to leave a review; I am voluntarily leaving this honest review and all opinions are my own. Author Nik Xandar Wolf did an excellent job telling a story full or harsh reality and hard truths, and I enjoyed it very much.

This book would make an amazing film, the action was high octane from page 1 and did not let up for a minute. I was hooked and didn't want the book to end. The action is this book is quite brutal so if you're squeamish please keep that in mind.

I loved the pacing and characters who jumped off the page, I would love to read more from this author in the future.

Heath Walker, spent most of his life in a group home he refers to as hotel dog shit. Yes he can be bitter and rightly so. Now he bartends and sells weed to support him and his ailing foster mom. When Heath meets and quickly falls for the beautiful, out of the box Rori Burke at his bar, the two, Bonnie and Clydeish foster events that leave both his mother and a cop dead. Rori's father, a crooked small-town police chief and child abuser is now on the run to get his daughter, and Heath be dammed!

Their fleeing launches them on a journey from Santa Cruz to cartel territory in Baja, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. Heath possesses a ring that may hold the answers to what he's been searching for his whole life: the identity of his real parents.
Yes, there is plenty of action involved, but this reader became weary of the chase and was ready for it to just end.
It finally ended and the happy little dysfunctional family got off a little too easily in my humble opinion.

Get ready to hold onto your belt...Shadow Valley is definitely a fast paced story with lots and lots of plot twists that you will NOT see coming! I thoroughly enjoyed the plot twists as they left me wanting to read more. The main characters in the book, Heath and Rori, are definitely not the most pleasant people, and I was often left despising them both. I wanted to like them both, but found myself not in the end. As a warning, I will say that the main characters can trigger some feelings for those who have been in similar situations. Overall, I enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by Nik Xandir Wolf!

WOW! WOW!WOW! What a high octane run. I just finished and my stomach is still tied in knots. Like the best rollercoaster ride, I have ever taken. It starts out third gear, faster.. . . .faster,. . .faster. Plenty of twists and turns just like a really great roller coaster. levels out and picks back up fast and hot takes you to the top then leaves you free falling together just Heath and Rori.They definitely cannot trust anyone else, or can they? In the end, time has past by a couple of years or so. Scared to see who, if anyone is left alive . Book that is going to stay with me for a while.yes I will definitely be recommending this book to anyone who enjoys a true thriller.. Special thanks to #NetGalley,#Kelp Book, #NikXsndirWolf, (what a super talented author/writer, I will be waiting impatiently for his next novel.) #ShadowValley, thanks for letting me review early in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I tried to like it. Not particularly well-written, the novel tried to sustain my interest but just couldn't do it. I realize it was an uncorrected proof, but there were glaring grammatical errors everywhere, and it was tough to look past them. Neither of the main characters were likable, and by the end I didn't much care what happened.

On the plus side, I thought the cover was pretty good.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The novel starts off firmly setting the tone of the story with its fast-paced action and definitely grips the reader in those first few pages. However, whilst I enjoyed reading the initial chapter, it unfortunately makes the ending ‘twist’ blatantly obvious as soon the main character, Heath, gets into trouble.

Initially, Heath was a character I could sympathise with due to his troubled background and being flung into turmoil through very little fault of his own, bar him trying to protect someone. This sympathy quickly departed when he attacked an innocent old man and left him for dead, trapped with no way to seek help. From that point on I found it very hard to care what happened to him.
As for Rori, well I didn’t like her at all since she fully knowing brought danger into Heath’s and his mother’s life. I understand that she was abused but that doesn’t excuse her selfish behaviour and the pain she brings on others through her actions. She misleads Heath into committing a crime, gets someone he loves killed, puts him into a position where he has to kill to protect himself from her deadly father and causes them to go on the run, painfully aware of the dangerous bounty hunter that would chase them down.

What becomes incredibly frustrating from all this, is that Heath barely shows any resentment or ill-will against Rori, a girl he only knew in passing at his local bar. Yet he shows clear condemnation against the man he considers his best friend and ‘brother’, Avery, for being forced into being bait for them whilst he had a gun to his head and threat of torture upon him.
This behaviour simply doesn’t make any sense. In fact, it made it hard to continue the story when Avery’s behaviour was repeatedly attacked by both the main character and others when for all intents and purposes he was, for the most part, a victim.

Regrettably, this isn’t where my frustrations with the story end as there are many inconsistencies that crop up throughout the story both in the behaviour of the characters and the storyline.

For example, we’re told Art, the bounty hunter, “usually avoided killing anyone unless there was a paycheck attached”, however it become very clear throughout the story he has no qualms killing anyone for whatever reason, including innocent old men. Then we’re led to believe he has a strong hatred of men who abuse women but despite this has no problem forcibly taking a daughter back to her father, who Art believes has been “beating the hell out of her” for many years.

Heath and Avery both suffer severe facial injuries, which would not have fully healed in the timeframe of events within the story and yet neither seems to draw unwanted attention or suspicion by their bruising and scarring.
This is unlikely, especially when Heath is impersonating a member of the upper class and frequenting posh restaurants where it would indeed draw attention. It is further stretched when the wary Heath doesn’t once question Avery’s injuries when he meets him, despite Avery being beaten so badly he could barely see only a week or so previously. In fact he says Avery “looked like the same beautiful man as before but with some street sense kicked into him with the nose of boxer” – just how does Avery miraculously heal from such substantial injuries in under two weeks?
That leads onto the confusion over timeframe. Bounty hunter, Art, is given a strict fortnight limit to achieve his goal but there are parts that conflict with this, e.g. “His leg was free for the first time in weeks” and “Art hadn’t let Avery out of his sight in weeks”. To myself and to many others, both would suggest a much longer period than a fortnight and jars with what were told.

Another irritation is that Heath is supposed to not recognise a man from a very pivotal point in life, who was at that time very kind to him. This is despite Heath more than once referring to this moment and the man during the story. I’m not sure if the author’s intent in doing this was to build up to a ‘twist’ later in the story but it quite obvious who the man was from the start, especially when his real name and nickname were so similar and it simply wasn’t believable Heath wouldn’t have remembered him.

The ending wasn’t satisfying as those who had blood on their hands, in particular Art, are allowed to saunter off into the sunset with barely any repercussions. In addition, the final ‘reveal’ I mentioned at the start of the review lacked any real impact because one, it was obvious and two, the characters had so little interaction with each other that no tension was created in the lead up to it. Not only that but the tacked on cliché to make them a happy little family just fell flat, but that might be because I really didn’t think any of the characters deserved to be rewarded (in particular the manipulative Rori).

The story is fast paced and full of action but in my opinion, the many inconsistences make the ride jarring and frustrating. I simply couldn’t root for the main character after he crossed the line and the others, well I just didn’t like very much as they were not nice people. Most of all, I was irritated by the unjust condemnation of Avery (with a gun to his head) yet apparent all out forgiveness for Rori, who brought trouble and tragedy into Heath’s life.

NOTE on NETGALLEY only: Whilst I understand this is an uncorrected proof, the book is littered with errors including spelling, dropped capitals and misplaced quotation marks. Some of the spelling mistakes I believe should have been easily picked up by spellcheck. For the most part, these errors didn’t affect my comprehension of the text, however there were a couple of instances where this did occur. However, the level of errors is not reflected in my overall rating and review of this book.

This book sounded really good. But honestly it was just not for me. I read a lot of books very similar to this one.

This book had me on the edge of my seat! Great, character driven dramatic arcs. And, I adore Art. He's the best.