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Shadow Play
Sometimes life seems like a madhouse. And sometimes it’s worse . . . Psychiatrist Grace Rendeau struggles to make sense of her husband’s untimely death. Left a widow with two children, Grace forges a new life for her family, abandoning her private practice and moving to Minnesota to take on a prestigious position at the Rochester Forensic Center for the Criminally Insane, work that will allow her to spend more time with her children. In striving to heal her patients, Grace herself finds healing, a new strength, and a sense of possibilities. Among the possibilities is a budding romance that blossoms into love. Grace goes on a medical mission to Indonesia. She returns home to an empty house—and a chilling kidnapper’s note. Where are her children? What has happened to them? Who is attempting to destroy her? Grace’s riveting story illuminates the hopes and fears of every wife or husband, mother or father, woman or man, caught in life’s turmoil and striving to overcome.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
326 people want to read
About the author
D.A. Lampi
7 books10 followersD.A. Lampi grew up in a Finnish community in Fishkill, New York.
She attended New York University and The New School for Social Research where she earned her Master of Arts in psychology. Her favorite class in college? American Literature.
Ms. Lampi has worked as a psychiatric emergency room nurse, a mental health therapist, a second grade teacher, a yoga instructor and writer. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime.
After living in Puerto Rico for fifteen years and experiencing her share of hurricanes, Ms. Lampi now happily resides in Minnesota where she writes and takes long walks, weather permitting. Her first novel, Shadow Play, was published by North Star Press on June 1, 2013. She has had stories published in Festival of Crime - An Anthology by the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime, published by Nodin Press, 2014 and Brief Grislys - An Anthology of Horror Stories of 1000 words or Less, published in 2013.
She attended New York University and The New School for Social Research where she earned her Master of Arts in psychology. Her favorite class in college? American Literature.
Ms. Lampi has worked as a psychiatric emergency room nurse, a mental health therapist, a second grade teacher, a yoga instructor and writer. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime.
After living in Puerto Rico for fifteen years and experiencing her share of hurricanes, Ms. Lampi now happily resides in Minnesota where she writes and takes long walks, weather permitting. Her first novel, Shadow Play, was published by North Star Press on June 1, 2013. She has had stories published in Festival of Crime - An Anthology by the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime, published by Nodin Press, 2014 and Brief Grislys - An Anthology of Horror Stories of 1000 words or Less, published in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 7, 2013
I have been very lucky to receive some fantastic debut novels to review and I was not let down by Debbie Lampi’s ‘Shadow Play’. This beautifully written novel deserves a lot of praise. Fast paced and not lacking in suspense, I would recommend this novel to any adult who likes quality time with a good mystery.
The characters are strong and well written with air of secrecy about all of them. They each have a past that laces them together even during conflict. Bud appears rough and malicious but is he really? Josie always has an excuse. What is her purpose? Is Alex really who he says he is?
Grace is a psychiatrist healing from the death of her beloved husband 2 years prior and raising her children, Dane the innocent 5yr old boy who loves dinosaurs and Caleigh, the typical moody teenager… or is she? Beginning a new job in a new town, Grace hopes this will be healing for them all as she is finding her place in the world as a widow, trying to put one foot in front in of the other and get to Dane’s ball games on time. Earth shattering events take place that both full her with love and emptiness at the same time. Grace must overcome her fears and doubts if she is to have any future. From Minnesota to Indonesia and Puerto Rico, Debbie Lampi takes us on a journey of self-discovery entwined with the all-enduring mothers love. Can it conquer all?
The characters are strong and well written with air of secrecy about all of them. They each have a past that laces them together even during conflict. Bud appears rough and malicious but is he really? Josie always has an excuse. What is her purpose? Is Alex really who he says he is?
Grace is a psychiatrist healing from the death of her beloved husband 2 years prior and raising her children, Dane the innocent 5yr old boy who loves dinosaurs and Caleigh, the typical moody teenager… or is she? Beginning a new job in a new town, Grace hopes this will be healing for them all as she is finding her place in the world as a widow, trying to put one foot in front in of the other and get to Dane’s ball games on time. Earth shattering events take place that both full her with love and emptiness at the same time. Grace must overcome her fears and doubts if she is to have any future. From Minnesota to Indonesia and Puerto Rico, Debbie Lampi takes us on a journey of self-discovery entwined with the all-enduring mothers love. Can it conquer all?
April 21, 2015
There will be spoilers.
Shadow Play didn't live up to my expectations, for a couple reasons. There were really big plot holes and timeline issues, and the characterization was just plain weird.
REVIEW:
I'm not really sure where to start. The timeline was off, for one thing. Characters who had admitted to something previously are suddenly forgotten until a later time in the novel when it was convenient. The most obvious case of this (although there was one other I don't remember now) was when we realize that the last name of the escaped prisoner was the same as Josie's. Grace realizes this--even has a little inner monologue of "that's Josie's last name too before she changed it to Garrett" kind of thing--and yet nothing happens after that until the last chapter or so of the book. And once we got there, it was like a brand new revelation, like we'd never heard that before.
The characterization was extremely flawed to me. With Bud, for example. He was shown to be just a pig and a cruel man with no regard for anyone else's feelings. I realize this was probably done to make it seem as if he was the one that took the kids--I'm guessing that's also the reason we didn't get any chapters from his point of view leading right up to the kidnapping--because it would conveniently set him up as a suspect. He forcefully came on to Grace, physically restraining her with his body, and then we're expected to believe he's actually just a nice guy who was drunk. I'm sorry, but no. You don't brush off behavior like that like it's nothing; it's definitely NOT nothing. And it truly bothered me that his behavior was seen as okay. He followed Grace and no one seems to find that odd? It's stalker behavior, not to mention just plain creepy.
And Grace just frustrated me to no end. First of all, the way she dealt with adding Alex into her kids' lives was atrocious. It doesn't matter how sure she and Alex were about being in love, it was too sudden of a change to do that to her kids, especially at such trying times. Caleigh is thirteen! Kids are already hormonal and sensitive at that age, you don't uproot everything all at once on top of that, especially for such a selfish reason. Grace's first priority should have been her children, period. Which brings me to my other point: she chose her BOYFRIEND over her CHILDREN. I'm sorry, but that's inexcusable. If my kids were kidnapped and I had to tell me boyfriend to leave until I got them back, then it's a done deal. No questions asked. I couldn't believe she brushed it off like nothing; I was so incensed I had to put the book down. And to put it bluntly: she pissed me off with her stupidity. I realize that I'm the reader and therefore usually get more information than her. But EVERY SINGLE THING I knew about the case she also knew, and I saw it coming from a mile away. Josie conveniently stops being friendly? You see a woman following you? Your boyfriend (who is oh-so important) has never seen any kids, even though she talks about them all the time? But no, it can't be her...
And even if it WASN'T Josie, it was still ridiculous how things were handled. No one thinks to question the supposedly psycho ex-wife sooner? Wouldn't that have been one of the first things to come up, especially since we know that she calls Alex constantly, and then there's suddenly a bunch of calls? And WHY did Grace just brush everything off!? Her tires get slashed and she gets repeated calls with no one on the line and NOTICES someone following her and doesn't think twice about any of it except in some random passing conversation. It was ridiculous, and for someone that's supposed to be observant it was downright laughable.
Also, the final part where Josie has her little meltdown very much reminded me of Scooby-Doo, where the bad guy suddenly reveals his motives all at once in front of everyone despite being totally sane previously.
There were other little things too, like two conversations going on at the same time. Example I made up, but still accurate:
"This food is delicious, how did you make it? Also, how did it feel when your brother died?"
"Thank you! Yes, I got the ingredients down at Trader Joe's, I prefer this brand over the other brand because this one's better. And yes, it was hard when my brother died. I decided to join the police academy and change my life forever after something traumatic happened."
Little typos as well, like "12 o'colock" and "Iwas" and "site" instead of "sight".
New thought I just remembered: What the heck was that thing with the psychic? It did nothing to further the plot and wasn't necessary at all. Same thing with Bud's point of view; if I was meant to believe he was a nice guy, I shouldn't have been allowed in his head. Calling every woman he interacts with a "bitch" does not engender goodwill towards him.
(I received this in a First Reads giveaway.)
Shadow Play didn't live up to my expectations, for a couple reasons. There were really big plot holes and timeline issues, and the characterization was just plain weird.
REVIEW:
I'm not really sure where to start. The timeline was off, for one thing. Characters who had admitted to something previously are suddenly forgotten until a later time in the novel when it was convenient. The most obvious case of this (although there was one other I don't remember now) was when we realize that the last name of the escaped prisoner was the same as Josie's. Grace realizes this--even has a little inner monologue of "that's Josie's last name too before she changed it to Garrett" kind of thing--and yet nothing happens after that until the last chapter or so of the book. And once we got there, it was like a brand new revelation, like we'd never heard that before.
The characterization was extremely flawed to me. With Bud, for example. He was shown to be just a pig and a cruel man with no regard for anyone else's feelings. I realize this was probably done to make it seem as if he was the one that took the kids--I'm guessing that's also the reason we didn't get any chapters from his point of view leading right up to the kidnapping--because it would conveniently set him up as a suspect. He forcefully came on to Grace, physically restraining her with his body, and then we're expected to believe he's actually just a nice guy who was drunk. I'm sorry, but no. You don't brush off behavior like that like it's nothing; it's definitely NOT nothing. And it truly bothered me that his behavior was seen as okay. He followed Grace and no one seems to find that odd? It's stalker behavior, not to mention just plain creepy.
And Grace just frustrated me to no end. First of all, the way she dealt with adding Alex into her kids' lives was atrocious. It doesn't matter how sure she and Alex were about being in love, it was too sudden of a change to do that to her kids, especially at such trying times. Caleigh is thirteen! Kids are already hormonal and sensitive at that age, you don't uproot everything all at once on top of that, especially for such a selfish reason. Grace's first priority should have been her children, period. Which brings me to my other point: she chose her BOYFRIEND over her CHILDREN. I'm sorry, but that's inexcusable. If my kids were kidnapped and I had to tell me boyfriend to leave until I got them back, then it's a done deal. No questions asked. I couldn't believe she brushed it off like nothing; I was so incensed I had to put the book down. And to put it bluntly: she pissed me off with her stupidity. I realize that I'm the reader and therefore usually get more information than her. But EVERY SINGLE THING I knew about the case she also knew, and I saw it coming from a mile away. Josie conveniently stops being friendly? You see a woman following you? Your boyfriend (who is oh-so important) has never seen any kids, even though she talks about them all the time? But no, it can't be her...
And even if it WASN'T Josie, it was still ridiculous how things were handled. No one thinks to question the supposedly psycho ex-wife sooner? Wouldn't that have been one of the first things to come up, especially since we know that she calls Alex constantly, and then there's suddenly a bunch of calls? And WHY did Grace just brush everything off!? Her tires get slashed and she gets repeated calls with no one on the line and NOTICES someone following her and doesn't think twice about any of it except in some random passing conversation. It was ridiculous, and for someone that's supposed to be observant it was downright laughable.
Also, the final part where Josie has her little meltdown very much reminded me of Scooby-Doo, where the bad guy suddenly reveals his motives all at once in front of everyone despite being totally sane previously.
There were other little things too, like two conversations going on at the same time. Example I made up, but still accurate:
"This food is delicious, how did you make it? Also, how did it feel when your brother died?"
"Thank you! Yes, I got the ingredients down at Trader Joe's, I prefer this brand over the other brand because this one's better. And yes, it was hard when my brother died. I decided to join the police academy and change my life forever after something traumatic happened."
Little typos as well, like "12 o'colock" and "Iwas" and "site" instead of "sight".
New thought I just remembered: What the heck was that thing with the psychic? It did nothing to further the plot and wasn't necessary at all. Same thing with Bud's point of view; if I was meant to believe he was a nice guy, I shouldn't have been allowed in his head. Calling every woman he interacts with a "bitch" does not engender goodwill towards him.
(I received this in a First Reads giveaway.)
January 16, 2014
I tried. I really did try.
When I picked up this book at the library I was immediately taken in by the description on the back of the book - a psychiatrist, widowed with two children moves to MN to work at the Rochester Forensic Center for the Criminally Insane. New love interest, takes a trip, comes home, someone has kidnapped the children.
This appealed to me, in part because of the setting in Rochester, MN, near where I live, but also the promise in the word "forensic".
And so, late that night I settled in. And I tried. Through the first four short chapters, I tried to forgive this new author for poor structure, for disconnected paragraphs, for trite phrasing. Then I wondered why, with all the books available in the world, would I feel obligated to finish this one. So, the book was shut and would be returning to the library the next day.
But the next day I thought that perhaps I had been harsh and so I tried again. One and a half chapters later and this book is shut for good.
I support creative license and understand that details may need to be changed to fit a story's structure. However, when the author chooses to set her novel specifically in Rochester and use the names of actual places within the city, it's reasonable to expect that she has more than a passing knowledge of the geography of the city and details of the locations.
Canadian Honker is a actual restaurant. It is NOT "decorated with a Minnesota cabin motif. A smooth stone fireplace, maroon and forest green patterned furniture, and a scattering of "Up North" decor added to the backwoods feel." Smells of sizzling bacon & Bengay? I sure hope the owners of this award winning restaurant don't read this! I don't know where she was describing - maybe Caribou Coffee - but it most definitely is not Canadian Honker. Give the restaurant a fictitious name or represent the actual place.
After the main character & new beau meet at Canadian Honker "coffee shop", they step out the door to go for a walk around Silver Lake. GET A MAP. And a car.
Let me give two, no, three other examples of inexcusably poor writing . In chapter three - written in the first person, Officer Anderson is describing the scenery - "A smallish ragged-looking coyote scavenged in the field searching for carrion, reminding me of the shaggy cattle of his childhood. They'd stand like that, at dirty feeding troughs, with their eyes glazed over." Whaaaaa?? Smallish? Really? That's the best adjective to be found? Whose childhood? First person Officer Anderson or third person? Or maybe it's the coyote's childhood? A scavenging coyote reminds the character of glazed eyed cattle?
Chapter Six - while at Chester's (another actual restaurant in Rochester that deserves better treatment), the main character, Grace, notes "a table full of elderly women" next to hers who "shrieked, "Surprise! Happy Birthday!"" and later "screeched" and yet later "screamed" while opening gifts from the magic table which is now "next door". In Chesters? I don't think so. No screaming, no self propelled tables.
But what final did it for me was a description of the new love interest. On page 32, fifth paragraph, (which takes place in Chesters, the restaurant with candles on the table and screeching elderly women), Alex sits across the table from Grace, who describes his eyes as "the color of cool, sweet waters". Blue, right? Not so fast. Move ahead two pages and his eyes are "as warm as caramel". Maybe the lighting was bad. Or the water suffered sudden pollution.
The author is at work on a second book featuring the same main character.
Here's a tip: hire an editor.
When I picked up this book at the library I was immediately taken in by the description on the back of the book - a psychiatrist, widowed with two children moves to MN to work at the Rochester Forensic Center for the Criminally Insane. New love interest, takes a trip, comes home, someone has kidnapped the children.
This appealed to me, in part because of the setting in Rochester, MN, near where I live, but also the promise in the word "forensic".
And so, late that night I settled in. And I tried. Through the first four short chapters, I tried to forgive this new author for poor structure, for disconnected paragraphs, for trite phrasing. Then I wondered why, with all the books available in the world, would I feel obligated to finish this one. So, the book was shut and would be returning to the library the next day.
But the next day I thought that perhaps I had been harsh and so I tried again. One and a half chapters later and this book is shut for good.
I support creative license and understand that details may need to be changed to fit a story's structure. However, when the author chooses to set her novel specifically in Rochester and use the names of actual places within the city, it's reasonable to expect that she has more than a passing knowledge of the geography of the city and details of the locations.
Canadian Honker is a actual restaurant. It is NOT "decorated with a Minnesota cabin motif. A smooth stone fireplace, maroon and forest green patterned furniture, and a scattering of "Up North" decor added to the backwoods feel." Smells of sizzling bacon & Bengay? I sure hope the owners of this award winning restaurant don't read this! I don't know where she was describing - maybe Caribou Coffee - but it most definitely is not Canadian Honker. Give the restaurant a fictitious name or represent the actual place.
After the main character & new beau meet at Canadian Honker "coffee shop", they step out the door to go for a walk around Silver Lake. GET A MAP. And a car.
Let me give two, no, three other examples of inexcusably poor writing . In chapter three - written in the first person, Officer Anderson is describing the scenery - "A smallish ragged-looking coyote scavenged in the field searching for carrion, reminding me of the shaggy cattle of his childhood. They'd stand like that, at dirty feeding troughs, with their eyes glazed over." Whaaaaa?? Smallish? Really? That's the best adjective to be found? Whose childhood? First person Officer Anderson or third person? Or maybe it's the coyote's childhood? A scavenging coyote reminds the character of glazed eyed cattle?
Chapter Six - while at Chester's (another actual restaurant in Rochester that deserves better treatment), the main character, Grace, notes "a table full of elderly women" next to hers who "shrieked, "Surprise! Happy Birthday!"" and later "screeched" and yet later "screamed" while opening gifts from the magic table which is now "next door". In Chesters? I don't think so. No screaming, no self propelled tables.
But what final did it for me was a description of the new love interest. On page 32, fifth paragraph, (which takes place in Chesters, the restaurant with candles on the table and screeching elderly women), Alex sits across the table from Grace, who describes his eyes as "the color of cool, sweet waters". Blue, right? Not so fast. Move ahead two pages and his eyes are "as warm as caramel". Maybe the lighting was bad. Or the water suffered sudden pollution.
The author is at work on a second book featuring the same main character.
Here's a tip: hire an editor.
August 1, 2013
First and foremost, a disclaimer - I am actually in a writing group and am good friends with the author. (She's an amazing cook, writer, friend, and confidant.) So while that might influence my review, I must also disclose that I'm an ex-journalist - ergo, I can usually put aside friendship to give an honest opinion. :)
So - after that disclaimer - my review: This book kept me guessing until the end and that is truly the mark of a good mystery. One of the surprising things that occurred throughout the course of this book was my total opinion shift regarding one of the main characters (I will not disclose due to potential spoilers) and while that surprising, that was one of the enjoyable parts of reading this book - things are not always what they seem with people.
Finally, I live in Rochester, Minnesota, where this book is set and very much enjoyed the nods to local sites around my community.
I cannot wait to see Ms. Lampi's next installment in Grace Rendeau's ongoing stories!
So - after that disclaimer - my review: This book kept me guessing until the end and that is truly the mark of a good mystery. One of the surprising things that occurred throughout the course of this book was my total opinion shift regarding one of the main characters (I will not disclose due to potential spoilers) and while that surprising, that was one of the enjoyable parts of reading this book - things are not always what they seem with people.
Finally, I live in Rochester, Minnesota, where this book is set and very much enjoyed the nods to local sites around my community.
I cannot wait to see Ms. Lampi's next installment in Grace Rendeau's ongoing stories!
July 11, 2013
I just finished Shadow Play. Awesome story. It was a page turner! I read it in 2 sittings. Laughed out loud at some parts and had a few tears at the end. You did a nice job of stringing clues, forecasting and leaving out just enough detail to move your plot along and keep us wondering if we're anticipating the right outcome or not. Nice job. I really like Grace Rendeau and want to know more about her. I also like the fast clipped chapter lengths. It's the first piece of fiction I've devoured in years.
November 19, 2013
There is much to engage the reader in Deb Lampi's "Shadow Play" - suspense, romance, a kidnapping - and this author also does a wonderful job of portraying the struggles and emotions of a single mother employed in a very demanding profession. I had the privilege of reading this before publication, and enjoyed every page!
June 24, 2013
Finished reading D.A. Lamp's "Shadow Play" this a.m....her first BOOK! Wonderful mystery...she had me suspecting every character in the book, as potential kidnapper of "Grace's" children. Starts off slow, like the little red engine going up a hill, and then, BAM! it is a roller coaster ride!
June 30, 2013
D.A. Lampi probes the psyche of her characters in a voyeuristic and sensual way. Shadow Play is a novel of complexity, beauty, and darkness of the human soul.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews