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Shadows of New York #1
One Small Sacrifice
An apparent suicide. A mysterious disappearance. Did one man get away with murder—twice?
NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex—a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD—got away with murder.
When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case. Sheryn dislikes loose ends, and Cori’s death had way too many of them.
But as Sheryn starts pulling at the threads in this web, her whole theory unravels. Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance.
NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex—a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD—got away with murder.
When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case. Sheryn dislikes loose ends, and Cori’s death had way too many of them.
But as Sheryn starts pulling at the threads in this web, her whole theory unravels. Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance.
351 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2019
8552 people are currently reading
7666 people want to read
About the author
Hilary Davidson
66 books580 followersHilary Davidson was a journalist before she turned to the dark side and started writing crime fiction. Her novels include the award-winning Lily Moore series—The Damage Done, The Next One to Fall, and Evil in All Its Disguises—the bestselling Shadows of New York series—One Small Sacrifice and Don’t Look Down—and the standalone novels Blood Always Tells and Her Last Breath (coming in July 2021). She is also the author of some fifty short stories. Her fiction has won two Anthony Awards, a Derringer Award, and a host of other accolades. Toronto born and raised, she moved to New York City in October 2001. She is also the author of 18 nonfiction books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 649 reviews
January 10, 2020
4.5 stars— I just finished “One Small Sacrifice” by Hillary Davidson, a Kindle first read that I have been meaning to read for quite awhile. I don’t know what I expected, but I really enjoyed it. Davidson is a very talented writer who kept me entertained from start to finish with a very well done plot with numerous storylines that tied up nicely in the end. The book tells the story of Alex Traynor whose girlfriend disappears under very suspicious circumstances. The detective who is assigned to the case, Sheryn Sterling, has always suspected Traynor of being a murderer in the death of a previous girlfriend which was ruled a suicide. This makes the detective more determined to solve the old and new case and to arrest Traynor. The author does an outstanding job of keeping the reader guessing as to what happened and who was involved in both of the cases while going back and forth between Traynor’s and Sterling’s perspectives. Her ability to keep all of this going and to allow you enough insight into the characters where you root for them both was very impressive. I’m looking forward to reading more of Ms. Davidson and hope her other books are just as good.
June 4, 2019
"Instinct's not a superpower. It's made of experience and memory and belief."
Alex Traynor was a famous photojournalist known for capturing pictures of some of the world's most brutal and haunting scenes of conflict and unrest. But after he was kidnapped, he began suffering from PTSD and turned to drugs to help quell the visions he seemed to see whether his eyes were open or closed.
At the end of his rope and high on drugs, he decided to kill himself. Yet at the end of the night, Cori Stanton—his friend and drug-dealer—was the one who wound up dead. Alex doesn't remember a thing about what happened, but while there certainly were signs that something suspicious might have happened to her, the police never were able to prove that Alex was responsible for her death, so it was ruled a suicide.
NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has never stopped believing Alex killed Cori, and she's never taken her eye off him, despite warnings to the contrary. Even one year later, she's the Inspector Javert to Alex's Jean Valjean, waiting for the moment when she can sneak in and snag him.
When Alex's fiancée, Emily, a dedicated doctor, goes missing shortly after having a loud argument with Alex, Sterling is sure that he had something to do with Emily's disappearance. Alex's stories just don't seem to add up, or they have a lot of missing pieces, and Sterling knows all too well how much of a ticking time bomb a person with PTSD can be.
Alex doesn't understand what could have happened to Emily, but he can't understand why she'd leave him. Did she really think he was responsible for Cori's death and could no longer be with him? Was she being intimidated by someone else? Or was she somehow involved in some other scheme, and could that have put her in trouble? The problem is, Alex isn't sure where to turn to figure out the truth behind Emily's disappearance, since he knows the police don't trust him. How can a man with PTSD and a shaky memory find answers?
The more Sterling and her partner investigate Emily's disappearance, the more muddled things become. Could her instincts have been wrong all this time, or is Alex better at hiding his tracks than she thinks? And if Alex wasn't responsible for Cori's death and isn't responsible for Emily going missing, who was?
Hilary Davidson's One Small Sacrifice is a mystery full of twists and turns, as well as fascinating characters. At first I wasn't sure if I liked Sterling's character and what appeared to be her single-mindedness, but as the story picked up I realized there was more to her—and to many of the characters—than I initially suspected.
I don't know if anything in the book really surprised me, but I still really enjoyed the way Davidson teased out the plot, throwing out lots of information that complicated my ability to figure out what really happened.
This is apparently the start of a series (the second book is due out in 2020), and I'll definitely pick up the next book, as well as check out some of Davidson's earlier work, because she created a compelling story. There were a lot of interesting side-plots in the book which made the story even richer.
Thomas & Mercer and Amazon First Reads provided me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!
The book will be published June 1, 2019.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2018 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018.html.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Alex Traynor was a famous photojournalist known for capturing pictures of some of the world's most brutal and haunting scenes of conflict and unrest. But after he was kidnapped, he began suffering from PTSD and turned to drugs to help quell the visions he seemed to see whether his eyes were open or closed.
At the end of his rope and high on drugs, he decided to kill himself. Yet at the end of the night, Cori Stanton—his friend and drug-dealer—was the one who wound up dead. Alex doesn't remember a thing about what happened, but while there certainly were signs that something suspicious might have happened to her, the police never were able to prove that Alex was responsible for her death, so it was ruled a suicide.
NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has never stopped believing Alex killed Cori, and she's never taken her eye off him, despite warnings to the contrary. Even one year later, she's the Inspector Javert to Alex's Jean Valjean, waiting for the moment when she can sneak in and snag him.
When Alex's fiancée, Emily, a dedicated doctor, goes missing shortly after having a loud argument with Alex, Sterling is sure that he had something to do with Emily's disappearance. Alex's stories just don't seem to add up, or they have a lot of missing pieces, and Sterling knows all too well how much of a ticking time bomb a person with PTSD can be.
Alex doesn't understand what could have happened to Emily, but he can't understand why she'd leave him. Did she really think he was responsible for Cori's death and could no longer be with him? Was she being intimidated by someone else? Or was she somehow involved in some other scheme, and could that have put her in trouble? The problem is, Alex isn't sure where to turn to figure out the truth behind Emily's disappearance, since he knows the police don't trust him. How can a man with PTSD and a shaky memory find answers?
The more Sterling and her partner investigate Emily's disappearance, the more muddled things become. Could her instincts have been wrong all this time, or is Alex better at hiding his tracks than she thinks? And if Alex wasn't responsible for Cori's death and isn't responsible for Emily going missing, who was?
Hilary Davidson's One Small Sacrifice is a mystery full of twists and turns, as well as fascinating characters. At first I wasn't sure if I liked Sterling's character and what appeared to be her single-mindedness, but as the story picked up I realized there was more to her—and to many of the characters—than I initially suspected.
I don't know if anything in the book really surprised me, but I still really enjoyed the way Davidson teased out the plot, throwing out lots of information that complicated my ability to figure out what really happened.
This is apparently the start of a series (the second book is due out in 2020), and I'll definitely pick up the next book, as well as check out some of Davidson's earlier work, because she created a compelling story. There were a lot of interesting side-plots in the book which made the story even richer.
Thomas & Mercer and Amazon First Reads provided me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!
The book will be published June 1, 2019.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2018 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018.html.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
June 17, 2019
A promising start to a new series! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Sheryn Sterling is an NYPD detective, and she’s been monitoring Alex Traynor since a friend of his named Cori fell to her death. While it was ruled a suicide, Sheryn thinks Alex is guilty of murder.
Alex is a war photojournalist diagnosed with PTSD from his time abroad. He is engaged to Emily, a well-loved doctor, when she goes missing. Sheryn thinks Alex is to blame…
Sheryn is wrong about her original theory, but as she interviews the witnesses to Cori’s death, she learns a possible key to finding Emily.
Hilary Davidson tells this story in a compelling way. She dangles carrots and throws monkey wrenches at my theories, which kept me off kilter as I tried to solve what happened alongside Sheryn.
I really enjoyed Sheryn as a main character. She’s clever, but fallible, and from the start, she felt genuine. I also kept questioning my feelings towards Alex. He was definitely a well-drawn, complex character.
Overall, One Small Sacrifice is an intriguing and promising start to a new series, one that I definitely hope to continue. I look forward to where Sheryn takes us next with hopefully another gripping mystery!
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog. Www.jennifertarheelreader.com
Sheryn Sterling is an NYPD detective, and she’s been monitoring Alex Traynor since a friend of his named Cori fell to her death. While it was ruled a suicide, Sheryn thinks Alex is guilty of murder.
Alex is a war photojournalist diagnosed with PTSD from his time abroad. He is engaged to Emily, a well-loved doctor, when she goes missing. Sheryn thinks Alex is to blame…
Sheryn is wrong about her original theory, but as she interviews the witnesses to Cori’s death, she learns a possible key to finding Emily.
Hilary Davidson tells this story in a compelling way. She dangles carrots and throws monkey wrenches at my theories, which kept me off kilter as I tried to solve what happened alongside Sheryn.
I really enjoyed Sheryn as a main character. She’s clever, but fallible, and from the start, she felt genuine. I also kept questioning my feelings towards Alex. He was definitely a well-drawn, complex character.
Overall, One Small Sacrifice is an intriguing and promising start to a new series, one that I definitely hope to continue. I look forward to where Sheryn takes us next with hopefully another gripping mystery!
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog. Www.jennifertarheelreader.com
October 17, 2019
I saw Hilary Davidson at Bouchercon in 2011 when she was promoting her first novel. She had some interesting things to say so I made a mental note to get a copy. 8 years later I finally got around to reading her 5th novel.
Hey, I’ve been busy!
Alex Traynor went to a war zone as a photojournalist and came back to New York with a whopping case of PTSD that had him self-medicating with the help of his friend and drug dealer, Cori. Unfortunately, Cori died after falling off the roof Alex’s apartment under suspicious circumstances. NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling is convinced that Alex killed Cori in the midst of a drug fueled freakout, but Alex’s girlfriend Emily provided an alibi. However, now Emily has gone missing while Alex relapsed and had a lost weekend. Sterling is determined to not let Alex get away with it again, but Alex has no memory of what happened to Emily. So where is she?
This is a nice take on a mystery because we’ve got a dogged detective pursuing the truth even as her prime suspect is doing the same, and for a good chunk of the story we’re not sure which one of them we should be rooting for. There’s some good twists, and the ultimate resolution manages the tricky task of not being obvious while not entirely coming out of left field either. I particularly liked one of the bigger revelations we get at the end.
It’s a little repetitive in spots as if Davidson doesn’t entirely trust the reader to remember the characters' histories, but it doesn’t get annoying. It’s also just a shade too long with an extra bit at the end that I didn’t really need, but again, it’s not too much to overlook.
I’d go 3.5 if I could, but I’ll round up to 4 since it took me way too long to finally check out Davidson’s work. Better late than never.
Hey, I’ve been busy!
Alex Traynor went to a war zone as a photojournalist and came back to New York with a whopping case of PTSD that had him self-medicating with the help of his friend and drug dealer, Cori. Unfortunately, Cori died after falling off the roof Alex’s apartment under suspicious circumstances. NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling is convinced that Alex killed Cori in the midst of a drug fueled freakout, but Alex’s girlfriend Emily provided an alibi. However, now Emily has gone missing while Alex relapsed and had a lost weekend. Sterling is determined to not let Alex get away with it again, but Alex has no memory of what happened to Emily. So where is she?
This is a nice take on a mystery because we’ve got a dogged detective pursuing the truth even as her prime suspect is doing the same, and for a good chunk of the story we’re not sure which one of them we should be rooting for. There’s some good twists, and the ultimate resolution manages the tricky task of not being obvious while not entirely coming out of left field either. I particularly liked one of the bigger revelations we get at the end.
It’s a little repetitive in spots as if Davidson doesn’t entirely trust the reader to remember the characters' histories, but it doesn’t get annoying. It’s also just a shade too long with an extra bit at the end that I didn’t really need, but again, it’s not too much to overlook.
I’d go 3.5 if I could, but I’ll round up to 4 since it took me way too long to finally check out Davidson’s work. Better late than never.
October 19, 2025
An interesting police procedural with enough mystery and suspense to keep us wondering what really happened – and who did what and why.
And...I also appreciated that the characters were complex and interesting, with each of the main characters being given a suitable backstory that drives their actions.
This was one I could not put down.
So...I recommend that when you decide to begin reading…
Be prepared…
And...I also appreciated that the characters were complex and interesting, with each of the main characters being given a suitable backstory that drives their actions.
This was one I could not put down.
So...I recommend that when you decide to begin reading…
Be prepared…
May 18, 2019
What a terrific novel One Small Sacrifice is. I picked this as my Kindle First Read book, but still worried I had made a wrong choice. I am so happy to report that I had nothing to worry about.
One Small Sacrifice is mainly told from 2 different POVs: Alex Traynor and Detective Sterling. Alex, is a photojournalist and suffering from PTSD. He is also suffering from guilt over the suicide of his friend, Cori. Detective Sterling worked Cori's suicide case and believes Alex got away with murder - or at least manslaughter. When Alex's fiancee goes missing Detective Sterling once again becomes involved with Alex's life.
As the book progresses we see both Alex and Detective Sterling try to piece together what clues they have to go on, but each in their own way and methods. Typically, we expect detective stories to go along a certain path: go to crime scene, talk with witnesses, establish timeline, etc. It does do that, but what I really came to appreciate is how this book handles Alex's sleuthing journey and how it is interwoven within the detective portions. Alex doesn't automatically become a great amateur detective, or PI. Instead he just took the knowledge he had and acted like a regular human would. As the story weaves in and out of both sleuthing journeys, we begin to see a full picture of who all the players are and what their motives might be.
The story is interesting with the mystery plot well told and constructed - we're always given information, but never enough to fully answer all the questions that we might have. The pace was even throughout the book, never slowing down, but never too frantic. Every character has various shades to their nature and as a result a lot of motive for not always telling the entire truth. In fact, as the story progresses, one theme that seemed to keep showing itself was how each one of them were impacted by the flaws of others.
Final Thoughts: Well-rounded characters, consistent plot pacing, and a story that is entertaining and then ends with a hopeful message.
One Small Sacrifice is mainly told from 2 different POVs: Alex Traynor and Detective Sterling. Alex, is a photojournalist and suffering from PTSD. He is also suffering from guilt over the suicide of his friend, Cori. Detective Sterling worked Cori's suicide case and believes Alex got away with murder - or at least manslaughter. When Alex's fiancee goes missing Detective Sterling once again becomes involved with Alex's life.
As the book progresses we see both Alex and Detective Sterling try to piece together what clues they have to go on, but each in their own way and methods. Typically, we expect detective stories to go along a certain path: go to crime scene, talk with witnesses, establish timeline, etc. It does do that, but what I really came to appreciate is how this book handles Alex's sleuthing journey and how it is interwoven within the detective portions. Alex doesn't automatically become a great amateur detective, or PI. Instead he just took the knowledge he had and acted like a regular human would. As the story weaves in and out of both sleuthing journeys, we begin to see a full picture of who all the players are and what their motives might be.
The story is interesting with the mystery plot well told and constructed - we're always given information, but never enough to fully answer all the questions that we might have. The pace was even throughout the book, never slowing down, but never too frantic. Every character has various shades to their nature and as a result a lot of motive for not always telling the entire truth. In fact, as the story progresses, one theme that seemed to keep showing itself was how each one of them were impacted by the flaws of others.
Final Thoughts: Well-rounded characters, consistent plot pacing, and a story that is entertaining and then ends with a hopeful message.
February 8, 2020
Alex Traynor is a former war photojournalist, back home in New York City, and severely suffering from PTSD. His fiancee, Dr. Emily Teare, seems to be the only one who can keep his nightmares at bay. Emily volunteers with Doctors Without Borders ... and has gone missing.
Detective Sheryn Sterling is absolutely convinced that Alex has had a hand in his fiancee's disappearance. She believes that he was responsible for the death of his friend, Cori. Although ruled a suicide, Sterling thinks Traynor has gotten away with murder once before.
Where is Emily? What has happened to her? Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance.
A tautly women plot, a story line filled with twists and turns, and a cast of credible characters make this an auspicious start to a new series.
Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this suspenseful crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Detective Sheryn Sterling is absolutely convinced that Alex has had a hand in his fiancee's disappearance. She believes that he was responsible for the death of his friend, Cori. Although ruled a suicide, Sterling thinks Traynor has gotten away with murder once before.
Where is Emily? What has happened to her? Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance.
A tautly women plot, a story line filled with twists and turns, and a cast of credible characters make this an auspicious start to a new series.
Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this suspenseful crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
July 11, 2019
3.5 stars
September 15, 2020
I’m not sure how this book has received so many great reviews. Have reader expectations really sunk so low that this barely average book has become a five-star novel?
Don’t get me wrong, the writing was grammatically correct (which should never be a selling point but in this day and age it is), and the overall concept of the storyline was fine, but the execution was average at best.
I’ll be nice and start off with the positives:
I continued to turn pages until the end. There was enough of a story that, despite not having sufficient tension to keep my interest, I was willing to spend the time to find out how it ended.
There were certain parts of the narrative that were compelling and well written.
The novel came to a conclusion and didn’t leave me hanging awaiting a sequel.
Now the negatives:
I felt, from the beginning, that I was reading a sequel.
The character development was lacking to the point that I didn’t really care about anyone in the novel.
The dialogue was unrealistic.
Characters were thrown in somewhat randomly and without purpose. (Examples: the eight-year-old daughter, the husband, and the retired ex-partner.)
There wasn’t enough tension to create a true thriller environment. If you are going create a noir protagonist, then load him up with real obstacles that pose real risks.
The author was careful enough to avoid exploitative violence of the “victim” but in so doing, didn’t add enough to make it feel as if the character was in any real danger until the final few chapters. I’m an author that writes in a similar genre and I understand the fine line one must walk between exploitative violence, purely for shock value, and reality violence that moves the story along and adds to the narrative. It’s a difficult line to walk, but I don’t think the author came close enough to the line to even see where it was drawn. In a crime-based thriller, such as this, a certain amount of vileness has to be displayed by the antagonist, to make you hate him enough to care what happens to him. At the end of the day, there just wasn’t enough reasons to really hate the bad-guy.
The climatic ending was something out of an old Warner Bro’s cartoon. I won’t give any spoilers, but seriously it was ridiculous.
Overall, I can’t say I hated the novel but I certainly can’t say I loved it either. I’ve read worse. I feel generous in giving this a 3 star review, but it doesn’t deserve to be completely thrown under the bus. If you want a short, shallow, and otherwise pulpy read while you are on vacation, or sitting by the pool, this one would fit the bill.
Don’t get me wrong, the writing was grammatically correct (which should never be a selling point but in this day and age it is), and the overall concept of the storyline was fine, but the execution was average at best.
I’ll be nice and start off with the positives:
I continued to turn pages until the end. There was enough of a story that, despite not having sufficient tension to keep my interest, I was willing to spend the time to find out how it ended.
There were certain parts of the narrative that were compelling and well written.
The novel came to a conclusion and didn’t leave me hanging awaiting a sequel.
Now the negatives:
I felt, from the beginning, that I was reading a sequel.
The character development was lacking to the point that I didn’t really care about anyone in the novel.
The dialogue was unrealistic.
Characters were thrown in somewhat randomly and without purpose. (Examples: the eight-year-old daughter, the husband, and the retired ex-partner.)
There wasn’t enough tension to create a true thriller environment. If you are going create a noir protagonist, then load him up with real obstacles that pose real risks.
The author was careful enough to avoid exploitative violence of the “victim” but in so doing, didn’t add enough to make it feel as if the character was in any real danger until the final few chapters. I’m an author that writes in a similar genre and I understand the fine line one must walk between exploitative violence, purely for shock value, and reality violence that moves the story along and adds to the narrative. It’s a difficult line to walk, but I don’t think the author came close enough to the line to even see where it was drawn. In a crime-based thriller, such as this, a certain amount of vileness has to be displayed by the antagonist, to make you hate him enough to care what happens to him. At the end of the day, there just wasn’t enough reasons to really hate the bad-guy.
The climatic ending was something out of an old Warner Bro’s cartoon. I won’t give any spoilers, but seriously it was ridiculous.
Overall, I can’t say I hated the novel but I certainly can’t say I loved it either. I’ve read worse. I feel generous in giving this a 3 star review, but it doesn’t deserve to be completely thrown under the bus. If you want a short, shallow, and otherwise pulpy read while you are on vacation, or sitting by the pool, this one would fit the bill.
May 5, 2019
It was a tough choice for my Kindle First pick for May and I picked the wrong one for me, sadly. I stuck with it till 35% but I had lost interest by then. It jumps around a lot.....which doesn't usually bother me in the least if it's in clearly delineated time-zones, for example, but the way this one is laid out is just baffling.
At one point Sheryn is explaining an idea to Rafael and asks him which theory he wanted to hear first. While she gave us one, she didn't offer up another one that I could find and I did flick back 'n' forth looking for it. At one point, in a passage featuring Alex it said, "When he'd gone to her office, he'd known she was involved in something illegal" and because he hadn't shared this with the reader it just left us floundering, wondering what the hell he was talking about. So she sort of drips stuff out piecemeal like this. Again when he left his pal Will and we get, "He'd figured out the connection between Cori and Diana after leaving Will's place".....did he ?? Again, we weren't told how or why !! Of course, I'm sure an explanation will be forthcoming but I like to be apprised of things as they're happening, if that makes any sort of sense !! I reached the point where again a character was tied up someplace and gave up with this, I'm afraid. We'd already been backwards and forwards with Alex being held prisoner someplace....
She needed to capitalise French and Fentanyl, wrote she'd and not she's and what and not when but that was it for any mistakes.
She did introduce me to the Old City Hall station, which I Googled and it is just beautiful and I really liked hearing about Sid as well but I just found the writing style wasn't for me.
At one point Sheryn is explaining an idea to Rafael and asks him which theory he wanted to hear first. While she gave us one, she didn't offer up another one that I could find and I did flick back 'n' forth looking for it. At one point, in a passage featuring Alex it said, "When he'd gone to her office, he'd known she was involved in something illegal" and because he hadn't shared this with the reader it just left us floundering, wondering what the hell he was talking about. So she sort of drips stuff out piecemeal like this. Again when he left his pal Will and we get, "He'd figured out the connection between Cori and Diana after leaving Will's place".....did he ?? Again, we weren't told how or why !! Of course, I'm sure an explanation will be forthcoming but I like to be apprised of things as they're happening, if that makes any sort of sense !! I reached the point where again a character was tied up someplace and gave up with this, I'm afraid. We'd already been backwards and forwards with Alex being held prisoner someplace....
She needed to capitalise French and Fentanyl, wrote she'd and not she's and what and not when but that was it for any mistakes.
She did introduce me to the Old City Hall station, which I Googled and it is just beautiful and I really liked hearing about Sid as well but I just found the writing style wasn't for me.
June 6, 2023
I love the beginning of a new series - so much promise, so much intrigue and suspense about what the characters will do and where they will go! I really enjoyed this cat-and-mouse story of a cop trying to solve an old murder and a new disappearance.
Hilary Davidson threw twist after twist into the story, really teasing out the plot in such an enjoyable way so I never knew how it would go or who the real bad person was. The pacing was quick, the characters likeable enough. The story is chock full of dialogue without a lot of description, which is obviously good for pacing but meant it didn't have a lot of atmosphere. The multiple POV perspective did ramp up the suspense, though, and I couldn't wait to get to the end to find out what the truth was.
I look forward to reading the next book in this series and finding out what case Sheryn cracks next!
I received an ARC from Thomas & Mercer and Amazon First Reads in exchange for an unbiased review.
Hilary Davidson threw twist after twist into the story, really teasing out the plot in such an enjoyable way so I never knew how it would go or who the real bad person was. The pacing was quick, the characters likeable enough. The story is chock full of dialogue without a lot of description, which is obviously good for pacing but meant it didn't have a lot of atmosphere. The multiple POV perspective did ramp up the suspense, though, and I couldn't wait to get to the end to find out what the truth was.
I look forward to reading the next book in this series and finding out what case Sheryn cracks next!
I received an ARC from Thomas & Mercer and Amazon First Reads in exchange for an unbiased review.
June 12, 2019
This was my Kindle first reads pick. It didn’t really grab me, probably partially because I didn’t have a lot of respect for any of the characters. I could see no logical reason for the actions of Emily and Alex, nor why they were even together.
April 15, 2019
One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson *
Alex Traynor had been a war photojournalist and worked in the world’s most dangerous environments. After being shot during one of his battlefield forays, he came home with a damaged leg, a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a drug addiction, and a fiancé, Dr. Emily Teare, Emily operated on his wound in the field and gave him his single purpose he has to go on living.
It wasn’t always so cut and dried, though. A year earlier, at a low point in his life, a close friend, Cori Stanton, had fallen off the roof of Alex’s building and the circumstances were never clear. Alex blamed himself for not preventing it. Cori’s father and Sheryn Sterling, the investigating detective on the case, believed Alex had a more direct role in Cori’s death.
Now, a year later, Emily has disappeared, leaving behind a type-written note and many questions. Detective Sterling believes that once again Alex is the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance, and she’s determined not to let him slip through her hands this time.
In One Small Sacrifice, Hilary Davidson has combined the best aspects of a police procedural with a suspense novel. As the reader we follow both Alex and Detective Sterling as they try to solve the puzzle of what’s happened to Emily and who is responsible. We see things that each of them sees that the other doesn’t, but never everything, and that helps ramp up the narrative tension.
Davidson’s plot is tightly written, but nuanced, the story seeded with enough alternatives to keep the reader guessing throughout. Characters are complex and interesting, with each of the main characters being given a suitable backstory that drives their actions. Davidson writes with a confidence and assuredness that will convince you that every line was written with extreme care. One Small Sacrifice is a novel written by a writer at the top of her game.
* I received a complimentary copy of this novel to provide a review.
Alex Traynor had been a war photojournalist and worked in the world’s most dangerous environments. After being shot during one of his battlefield forays, he came home with a damaged leg, a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a drug addiction, and a fiancé, Dr. Emily Teare, Emily operated on his wound in the field and gave him his single purpose he has to go on living.
It wasn’t always so cut and dried, though. A year earlier, at a low point in his life, a close friend, Cori Stanton, had fallen off the roof of Alex’s building and the circumstances were never clear. Alex blamed himself for not preventing it. Cori’s father and Sheryn Sterling, the investigating detective on the case, believed Alex had a more direct role in Cori’s death.
Now, a year later, Emily has disappeared, leaving behind a type-written note and many questions. Detective Sterling believes that once again Alex is the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance, and she’s determined not to let him slip through her hands this time.
In One Small Sacrifice, Hilary Davidson has combined the best aspects of a police procedural with a suspense novel. As the reader we follow both Alex and Detective Sterling as they try to solve the puzzle of what’s happened to Emily and who is responsible. We see things that each of them sees that the other doesn’t, but never everything, and that helps ramp up the narrative tension.
Davidson’s plot is tightly written, but nuanced, the story seeded with enough alternatives to keep the reader guessing throughout. Characters are complex and interesting, with each of the main characters being given a suitable backstory that drives their actions. Davidson writes with a confidence and assuredness that will convince you that every line was written with extreme care. One Small Sacrifice is a novel written by a writer at the top of her game.
* I received a complimentary copy of this novel to provide a review.
July 15, 2019
When I saw how many positive reviews
One Small Sacrifice
received, naturally, I was suspicious.
And my suspicions were confirmed.
* Minor spoilers ahead *
When photojournalist Alex Traynor's doctor girlfriend, Emily, goes missing, NYPD Detective Sterling makes the snap judgment that Alex has something to do with it, namely because a friend of his, Cori, plummeted to her death several years ago.
To make matters worse, Alex suffers from PTSD, a result from his time spent in war zones, so he's an unreliable witness, at best.
On the surface, this is a decent, though not original premise.
My main caveat was that the novel read like I had started in the middle.
There's no exposition, no character building.
I have no fecking idea why Emily and Alex are together, why they get along and what they have in common.
Yes, I know, he's got problems and addictions stemming from his lauded career as a wartime photographer, but there's something sketchy about him.
Well, it's not his fault I found him sketchy, it's the author's.
Then, there's Detective Sterling.
I liked the fact that later she realized she had honed in on Alex for prejudicial reasons and owned up to her bias, but I didn't like or dislike her.
In fact, I didn't like anyone.
There was a lack of suspense and urgency, and when there was action, it felt phony, like a scene from a 1980s cop show.
There's plenty of diversity; gay, straight, white, black, but what's the point when there is barely any character development and you don't do any of these characters justice? Sigh.
At least this book was free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
And my suspicions were confirmed.
* Minor spoilers ahead *
When photojournalist Alex Traynor's doctor girlfriend, Emily, goes missing, NYPD Detective Sterling makes the snap judgment that Alex has something to do with it, namely because a friend of his, Cori, plummeted to her death several years ago.
To make matters worse, Alex suffers from PTSD, a result from his time spent in war zones, so he's an unreliable witness, at best.
On the surface, this is a decent, though not original premise.
My main caveat was that the novel read like I had started in the middle.
There's no exposition, no character building.
I have no fecking idea why Emily and Alex are together, why they get along and what they have in common.
Yes, I know, he's got problems and addictions stemming from his lauded career as a wartime photographer, but there's something sketchy about him.
Well, it's not his fault I found him sketchy, it's the author's.
Then, there's Detective Sterling.
I liked the fact that later she realized she had honed in on Alex for prejudicial reasons and owned up to her bias, but I didn't like or dislike her.
In fact, I didn't like anyone.
There was a lack of suspense and urgency, and when there was action, it felt phony, like a scene from a 1980s cop show.
There's plenty of diversity; gay, straight, white, black, but what's the point when there is barely any character development and you don't do any of these characters justice? Sigh.
At least this book was free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
January 15, 2020
I made it halfway. I may or may not finish. Don't really care. The cops are a dumb and dumber team. It must be maddening to be in the legal profession and read this. It's totally unrealistic. I'm a photographer and I call b.s. on the advice about being a great photographer. Seriously, he's saying that photojournalism is all about sneaking into places you shouldn't be. I told my photojournalist husband some of the quotes and he laughed. Books like this do the world a disservice. All you have to do is watch an episode of CSI to know this isn't how the police handle crime scenes. Life is too short to read stuff this bad.
November 17, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed reading. The characters become very real in the problems they are dealing with. You are allowed a personal look and they become more realistic. While dealing with particular problems, they are still trying to function in an every day world. Detective Sheryn and her new partner Rafael are professionals and yet they are also very human, which is demonstrated in various instances throughout this story. Don't forget to read the Epilogue.. a real treat to end with.. Read it! You will like it too.
April 9, 2019
‘The way Sheryn Sterling was feeling, it might not have been the best idea to put a knife in her hand.’
Sheryn Sterling has a new working partner and an old grudge. The partner is Rafael Mendoza, the grudge Alex Traynor.
Traynor is a photojournalist who is doing his best to cope with life on the civilian streets of New York. His previous work in a number of war zones has left him scarred. He’s suffering from PTSD and has struggled on and off with self-medication. Sterling’s beef with him is that she believes he is responsible for the death of Cori Stanton who fell from the roof of his building a year before the story is set. When his current girlfriend, Dr Emily Teare, goes missing, Sterling fears that history is repeating itself and goes out hell-for-leather to pin Traynor down once and for all. When she finds blood on the carpet of Traynor’s house, she’s quick to add the numbers together and the book is well-written enough to have us unsure as to whether two and two will equal three, four or five.
Traynor is confused. Following a PTSD episode, he returns home to find a strange woman in his apartment and making a break for it through the window to the fire escape. He’s quick on his feet and manages to prevent her from leaving. She can’t explain her presence, nor is she able to tell him where Emily is. Whatever her reason, things don’t look right and Traynor realises that Emily is in some kind of trouble.
There are two key strands to this novel. In the first, we follow Traynor as he attempts to find Emily. In the second, Sterling is attempting to nail Traynor before he can harm anyone else. The unfolding of each element is paced nicely and each compliments the other in a way that builds the tension and continually twists and turns along the uneven path of the who-did-what-to-whom-and-why?
There’s a real web of mystery here. There are whiffs of suspicion about everyone we meet. Nobody is quite who they seem at first glance and the ambiguity keeps us on our toes. We can’t be sure about anything that happened on the night Cori died as Traynor was too high to remember. There are dodgy goings on with prescriptions. The superintendent of the building has his own reasons to play his cards close to his chest. Traynor’s lawyer needs to know enough information to help the situation, but not too much to jeopardise his client’s freedom. Cori’s father is unhinged and determined that the law finds justice for his daughter’s death. Sterling realises her own motivations may be clouding her judgement. Friend Will Sipher is still dabbling with drugs and is able to keep a cool head even when the chips are down. And Emily? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.
Davidson does a really nice job of keeping everything just out of focus. At the point at which things begin to sharpen a new dimension opens up and clouds things over once more. It’s a little like wiping the mist from a mirror in a steamy bathroom; for a while you can see your face and then the moment’s gone.
Throughout One Small Sacrifice, you'll grab hold of one red-herring while risking losing your grip on another and it's likely all your theories will be in tatters by the end.
Very entertaining and available for pre-order now.
Sheryn Sterling has a new working partner and an old grudge. The partner is Rafael Mendoza, the grudge Alex Traynor.
Traynor is a photojournalist who is doing his best to cope with life on the civilian streets of New York. His previous work in a number of war zones has left him scarred. He’s suffering from PTSD and has struggled on and off with self-medication. Sterling’s beef with him is that she believes he is responsible for the death of Cori Stanton who fell from the roof of his building a year before the story is set. When his current girlfriend, Dr Emily Teare, goes missing, Sterling fears that history is repeating itself and goes out hell-for-leather to pin Traynor down once and for all. When she finds blood on the carpet of Traynor’s house, she’s quick to add the numbers together and the book is well-written enough to have us unsure as to whether two and two will equal three, four or five.
Traynor is confused. Following a PTSD episode, he returns home to find a strange woman in his apartment and making a break for it through the window to the fire escape. He’s quick on his feet and manages to prevent her from leaving. She can’t explain her presence, nor is she able to tell him where Emily is. Whatever her reason, things don’t look right and Traynor realises that Emily is in some kind of trouble.
There are two key strands to this novel. In the first, we follow Traynor as he attempts to find Emily. In the second, Sterling is attempting to nail Traynor before he can harm anyone else. The unfolding of each element is paced nicely and each compliments the other in a way that builds the tension and continually twists and turns along the uneven path of the who-did-what-to-whom-and-why?
There’s a real web of mystery here. There are whiffs of suspicion about everyone we meet. Nobody is quite who they seem at first glance and the ambiguity keeps us on our toes. We can’t be sure about anything that happened on the night Cori died as Traynor was too high to remember. There are dodgy goings on with prescriptions. The superintendent of the building has his own reasons to play his cards close to his chest. Traynor’s lawyer needs to know enough information to help the situation, but not too much to jeopardise his client’s freedom. Cori’s father is unhinged and determined that the law finds justice for his daughter’s death. Sterling realises her own motivations may be clouding her judgement. Friend Will Sipher is still dabbling with drugs and is able to keep a cool head even when the chips are down. And Emily? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.
Davidson does a really nice job of keeping everything just out of focus. At the point at which things begin to sharpen a new dimension opens up and clouds things over once more. It’s a little like wiping the mist from a mirror in a steamy bathroom; for a while you can see your face and then the moment’s gone.
Throughout One Small Sacrifice, you'll grab hold of one red-herring while risking losing your grip on another and it's likely all your theories will be in tatters by the end.
Very entertaining and available for pre-order now.
May 4, 2019
I’ve been meaning to read Hilary Davidson’s works for a couple years but something always seemed to jump ahead of her in my to-be-read stack. That mistake won’t happen again.
I’ll leave it to other viewers to detail the plot. But, I must say that if you like crime fiction, give this book a shot. There’s an excellent mix of interesting characters, a really crisp story without a lot of fluff, and excellent pacing throughout. 4 stars.
I’ll leave it to other viewers to detail the plot. But, I must say that if you like crime fiction, give this book a shot. There’s an excellent mix of interesting characters, a really crisp story without a lot of fluff, and excellent pacing throughout. 4 stars.
May 13, 2019
Wow from the beginning to the end! LOVED this book! Hilary Davidson, I'm going to go follow you next. Can't wait for your next book!
September 30, 2019
The premise of this novel is whether a man who is found innocent in the death of a female friend when she fell from the top of an apartment building the year before, is now suspected in the disappearance, and possible death of his fiancé. Alex, a well-known photographer who suffers with PTSD, is very much in love with Emily, a physician he met in a war zone of Syria. Now, they are back home in New York but good luck seems to be an elusive commodity for them. Emily disappears on a Friday night and nobody knows where she has gone. The police immediately look at Alex with the suspicion. This novel is full of emotional depth and the reality of suffering that accompanies most of us in our lives. Nothing is cut and dried, nobody is perfectly innocent, and nobody is fully guilty. There is sadness, mental illness, suffering, but all is balanced by the gift of hope, humane justice and the possibility of love.
Want to read
November 21, 2019Pixie Twinkle Toes made my night by gifting me this awesome book. It sounds so good, I can't wait to read, thanks so much!!
May 27, 2019
This is a 4.5 ❤️ book. I was trying to guess who did it until it was revealed. The book has an “I did not see this coming” ending. This is a Mystery/Thriller at is best. Hilary Davidson masterminded a fantastic plot and created awesome characters. This is the first book in this new series called Shadow of New York. I am looking forward to reading the next book.
A big thank you to Thomas Allen and Son for sending me a copy of this thrilling book. One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson will be available at your favourite book store on June 1st, 2019.
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April 20, 2019
Alex Traynor is a war photojournalist who suffers from PTSD. His fiancée, Emily Teare, a doctor who volunteers with Doctors Without Borders, is missing and NYPD Detective Sheryn Sterling is convinced Alex had something to do with it. Traynor has been on her radar ever since Cori Stanton, a troubled woman and Traynor’s drug dealer, plummeted to her death from the roof of Traynor’s apartment building one year ago. He was with Cori when it happened but was too high to remember anything. The story is told from multiple POVs, and Davidson skillfully steers the reader in numerous directions while laying the groundwork for a shocking, satisfying conclusion. Taut, fast-paced, and totally engrossing, this is another standout from Davidson.
May 16, 2019
Not very interesting or well researched
This is a very ordinary crime novel, just like thousands of others; there's nothing interesting or special about it. I took off a star because the author kept using the term "fugue state", incorrectly. She couldn't spend 5 minutes looking it up on Wikipedia? Seriously? Really makes you wonder what else she got wrong. Further, her main characters are white and cis, and adequately fleshed out, but diversity is a must! So the detectives are black and brown and gay, but utterly flat, except one, whose was even less believable. So glad it was free.
This is a very ordinary crime novel, just like thousands of others; there's nothing interesting or special about it. I took off a star because the author kept using the term "fugue state", incorrectly. She couldn't spend 5 minutes looking it up on Wikipedia? Seriously? Really makes you wonder what else she got wrong. Further, her main characters are white and cis, and adequately fleshed out, but diversity is a must! So the detectives are black and brown and gay, but utterly flat, except one, whose was even less believable. So glad it was free.
May 25, 2019
Intricately plotted, like Russian nesting dolls. I couldn't guess the outcome as I was reading, which is a good thing. The book presented a broad array of strong characters. My particular favorite was the oily, nasty Will Sipher. I imagined him played by Philip Seymour Hoffman when he was still a character actor, circa "The Talented Mr. Ripley." The lead detective, Sterling, is certainly worthy of another book too should Hilary Davidson be so inclined.
May 4, 2019
Not bad by any means, but it didn't really grip me
It kept me reading to the end, but not really a thriller. Stylistically I think it would have been better told from just one point of view; the chapters from Emily's point of view in particular didn't help the flow and were unnecessary.
It kept me reading to the end, but not really a thriller. Stylistically I think it would have been better told from just one point of view; the chapters from Emily's point of view in particular didn't help the flow and were unnecessary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2019
Great Procedural (TW suicide/ PTSD)
This was so good I listened to the audiobook–a great ensemble cast–in one day.
The mystery is basically this: there’s a war photographer with PTSD who has been on an NYPD detective’s radar since a woman’s death. Now, with his girlfriend missing, the detective is here to finally nail his ass to the wall. But this was a great procedural so it’s not going to be that easy. I really liked the way the multiple points of view were used, that the detective has a new partner–so her catching him up felt totally natural and not like forced info dumping–plus, I loved their clashing and melding as they settle into a new partnership.
I thought this was a really good start to a series, where I equally liked the detective and the suspect and really look forward to where this may go in the future. It would also make a fantastic series adaptation so someone get on that, please!
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
This was so good I listened to the audiobook–a great ensemble cast–in one day.
The mystery is basically this: there’s a war photographer with PTSD who has been on an NYPD detective’s radar since a woman’s death. Now, with his girlfriend missing, the detective is here to finally nail his ass to the wall. But this was a great procedural so it’s not going to be that easy. I really liked the way the multiple points of view were used, that the detective has a new partner–so her catching him up felt totally natural and not like forced info dumping–plus, I loved their clashing and melding as they settle into a new partnership.
I thought this was a really good start to a series, where I equally liked the detective and the suspect and really look forward to where this may go in the future. It would also make a fantastic series adaptation so someone get on that, please!
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
May 14, 2019
Try to put this book down... I dare you!
Wow! I could not turn the pages fast enough. There are so many facets of this thriller, and it’s told from multiple perspectives which keeps the reader in suspense, begging to know more. I really like how Davidson leads the reader down multiple paths of the story’s maze so that it doesn’t disappoint or feel too easily solved. I‘m so glad I chose this for my free Amazon Prime First Read this month! You should too, while you still can!
Wow! I could not turn the pages fast enough. There are so many facets of this thriller, and it’s told from multiple perspectives which keeps the reader in suspense, begging to know more. I really like how Davidson leads the reader down multiple paths of the story’s maze so that it doesn’t disappoint or feel too easily solved. I‘m so glad I chose this for my free Amazon Prime First Read this month! You should too, while you still can!
May 16, 2019
Sigh...yawn...another female kidnapped off the street and kept in a remote location by an otherwise criminally inexperienced psycho guy...... I understand I am reading fiction and I am ready and willing to let go of a lot of reality for the sake of the story (like the house blowing up and the detectives having no lasting injuries, etc. ) But I am so sick of this kidnapping thing in stories
Really liked all of the book except for this tired cliche plot vehicle.
Really liked all of the book except for this tired cliche plot vehicle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2019
3.5 stars.
I finally broke my reading slump! 😁
rtc.
***
A Dance with Dragons is sending me into a reading slump that's born out of sheer boredom, so this is me trying to fight it
I finally broke my reading slump! 😁
rtc.
***
A Dance with Dragons is sending me into a reading slump that's born out of sheer boredom, so this is me trying to fight it
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