TO CATCH THIS KILLER, SHE MUST BREAK EVERY RULE AND CROSS EVERY LINE.
A picture-perfect Tennessee town has just become a monster's hunting ground. Two bodies are found tortured to death. A third person goes missing. What little evidence is left behind defies all explanation. Is the terror just beginning? Or have the good citizens of Gladstone harbored a dark secret for a long time?
Sheriff Miranda Knight is determined to make her small town safe once more. And she does what she swore she would never do: involve FBI profiler Noah Bishop. He's the one man who knows about her unique abilities, and that knowledge almost destroyed her and her sister years ago. Now, as Bishop arrives with his team of agents, Miranda must learn to trust him and use her abilities once more. For they're about to go on the hunt for a killer whose madness has no bounds, a killer who knows exactly how to destroy Miranda: by preying on her sister.
Kay Hooper (aka Kay Robbins) was born in California, in an air force base hospital since her father was stationed there at the time. The family moved back to North Carolina shortly afterward, so she was raised and went to school there.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
Out of the Shadows is book three of the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit by Kay Hooper. In a small town of Gladstone, someone was murdering young teenagers. Sheriff Miranda Knight after the third teenager goes missing called in the FBI Special Crimes Unit. Special Agent Noel Bishop was in charged of the FBI Special Crimes unit and had a history with Sheriff Miranda Knight. The readers of Out of the Shadows will continue to follow the twist and turns in the investigation. Also, the readers of Out of the Shadows will see what happens between Sheriff Miranda Knight and Special Agent Bishop.
Out of the Shadows is the first book I have read of Kay Hooper and I love it. I will read Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series from the beginning. I enjoy Kay Hooper portraying her characters as psychics. I also enjoy Kay Hooper writing style and the way Kay describe her plots. While reading Out of the Shadows, I never suspect who the murder was.
Readers of Out of the Shadows will learn about the role of FBI behaviour unit to other law enforcement services. Also, readers of Out of the Shadows will learn about working in small-town law enforcement services. Out of the Shadows will start the readers to think about psychics and can they use them in law enforcement investigation.
Having read the first two in the Shadows series by Kay Hooper, I was really disappointed when I'd finished reading Out of the Shadows. This novel was nowhere near the same standard of writing as the first or second. Sheriff Miranda Knight is psychic and has escaped to a small town in America, where she has changed her name to escape her past.
Miranda's past is referred to throughout the book, however the complete story came far too late and after waiting so long to find out, it was almost an anti-climax.
The tension/romance between FBI Agent Bishop and Sheriff Miranda Knight annoyingly detracted from the plot in which young people were being murdered in the town. The snow storm was a cliche and I found myself rolling my eyes at the predictability of certain points.
I read about the hunt for the murderer with interest and the ending was satisfying, however in general this was an average read. I would enjoy reading about further cases featuring this team of FBI Agents made up of psychics and those with special abilities, so I'll leave myself open to reading further books by Kay Hooper in the future.
I've decided that this series is just not for me. I liked the interesting and intriguing plot with its paranormal slant, but I'm just not that engaged and probably won't continue with it. Bishop was a very mysterious character in the first two books and here we get his story and that of the love of his life and what brought them together ant tore them apart.
A small town in Tennessee has a serial killer and the police desperately need help. two teens are dead and another is missing. In this secure town everyone is on edge. The Sheriff, Miranda Knight, is told by the mayor to call the FBI. This brings Miranda face to face with a part of her past she has hidden for eight years.
When Noah Bishop, a top FBI profiler and leader of a special team comes to town he brings all kinds of painful memories, for both him and Miranda, with him. In order to catch this killer Miranda will need to open herself up to Bishop and what they once shared. In order to save her sister, she can no longer hid who she is.
This one is where the story really takes off and I always feel like the first two are unnecessary. This is Bishop and Miranda's story. Since I read these all out of order the first time, the fact that there was a Bishop and Miranda story surprised me.
Eight years prior to this novel Bishop made a Big Mistake that sent Miranda fleeing with her younger sister, Bonnie. After changing her name Miranda becomes a deputy in a small Tennessee town and eventually becomes sheriff. When a serial killer starts killing local teens Miranda has no choice but to call in Bishop's elite FBI team, a team made up entirely of psychics.
One of the things I like about this particular book is that there are multiple stories going on. While there's a serial killer striking frequently there's also some ghostie stuff going on that goes in a really cool direction. I really love the final wrap up in this. It's such a dramatic scene and I love the visuals.
After reading the first two books in the series I really wanted to learn more about Bishop. Out of the Shadows fills in many of the blanks about him. He is an interesting character. Dark and dangerous. In this story we see his failure and pain from past mistakes. Like the first book the events take place in a small town with a lot of interesting characters.
I guessed the killer early in the book then I changed my mind until closer to the end. Kay Hooper does a great job building the suspense. I couldn't decide if the team would find the murderer before s/he finds the next victim. I love a good nail-bitter.
Like the second book the ending is a little fantastical. I didn't drop the rating as much because I found out that Kay Hooper is a Dark Shadows fan. I was a Dark Shadows fan too. Knowing that the last two endings make more sense. However, it didn't keep me in the story like the procedural and the special crimes unit did. I get her intent. It is the execution that didn't work as well for me.
So now we are finally able to become more personal with Agent Noah Bishop and again we are plunged into another small town where a serial killer resides. When Sheriff Miranda Knight reunites with her old lover, Bishop - walls slam up, tensions rise and there is no stopping these two from focusing on the case and ignoring the past. We learn that Bishop has formed a 'team' of extraordinary agents, agents with abilities no less and it was a terrific thriller throughout. The killer is a bit weird though, and I wasn't real satisfied with the ending. Kind of bland. Corpses were drained of blood, eyes gouged out, beatings. the MO was never consistent and the emotions of the killer was confusing.
I seriously thought I was going to have to put this series away, but this novel has opened me up to the possibility of a marathon read on Bishop. Tall, dark, handsome and psychic to boot, but that was all I knew. I enjoyed this one more than the first two because it gives us a bit more information and history about Bishop and his past. This guy actually has feelings and a heart, yes!
Tennessee Sheriff Miranda Knight investigates a string of teenaged deaths. Kerry Ingram, 14, is found drained of blood. Adam Ramsay, 17, is found in a shallow grave. He's identified by dental records but, strangely, his bones equate to those of a 40 year old. Another teenager is missing. Miranda contacts a very special unit of the FBI led by Noah Bishop.
This is another book I needed to read off my bookshelves. It was originally published in 2000. Later books in this series show Bishop and Miranda as married so this one gives readers insight on the start of their life together. I like serial killer books but don't believe in the supernatural or paranormal. This one has given enough of the character's unique abilities to last me for awhile.
“No one had suspected him, no one had felt even a tinge of doubt.“ The first suspect I had was him and I was spot on, I guess reading so many crime thrillers has its effects, so I wasn't shocked. The story was good but not that exciting. Overall a decent read. I guess it would add the shock element for people not in the habit of reading crime thrillers but then not many people who aren't fans of crime thrillers would pick this up. I am looking forward to trying other books in this series however.
3.5 This is one of the books which had been in the pile the longest. I admit I kept ignoring it because that cover wasn't really appealing to make me want to try it but thankfully, the story is a lot better.
I don't think this was the best romantic suspense book I've read and I would change a few things but it was appealing enough to make me curious to know who the villain was. The romance might have been done better too and the protagonist's personalities more engaging but, overall, I was positively surprised.
I'm a big fan of the Bishop Special Investigations series, and I thought I'd read them all, so how I could have missed the book where Bishop's relationship with Miranda is explained, I can't imagine. However, I've read it now and it was really good!!
Kay Hooper always does a great job of using "hide in plain sight" misdirection to distract you from the key pieces of information even as she gives you all the stuff you need to figure out the killers. I admit that I was caught completely by surprise when the killer in this story is unmasked. I didn't see it coming at all.
The other thing Hooper is really good at is humanizing all her characters and getting the reader to strongly connect to, and care about all of them. Without giving any spoilers, there are some shocking things that happen to people you wouldn't expect in the course of the book, and there are moments when you really aren't certain whether all the main characters are going to make it out alive at the end.
This book had a real ebb-and-flow rhythm that wasn't the usual constant build to a crescendo of a climax. Instead startling things happen, then the plot seems to settle a bit to lull you into a false sense of security before dropping you off an unexpected cliff as a new shock hits you.
The eventual climax however, is very exciting and completely in keeping with the paranormal concept of the Bishop series, which is all I'm going to say. If you want more, you need to read the book, and I recommend that you do if you are a paranormal mystery fan.
The other thing I especially liked about this one was the fact that we get to see a lot more of Bishop and learn more about who he was in his early years, and how those experiences, as well as his previous relationship with Miranda, have made him who he is now. In all the other books, Bishop seems just a mysterious psychic wunderkind who knows all and sees all, but you never get any of his back story. Well, his back-story is in this book and I think I will enjoy the other books more now that I know a little more of Bishop's past
okay, this is trash reading, but, jeez, i expected better. kay hooper is a ny times bestselling author and after reading this book i couldn't tell you why.
i only gave the book two stars because i at least finished it. let me tell you why i despised it, even for light reading.
the book is a mystery, but practically every character has some "special ability"--they are psychic, they are mediums, they have visions. whenever a person without these abilities learns of their existence, they just sort of shrug their shoulders and go on about their business. no eyebrows raise, no one ever says "hunh uh!"--no one even gets curious.
well, dammit, i'd be curious. a healthy skepticism might've helped me like the book, might have made the suspension of disbelief possible long enough to make a convincing mystery of the book.
anyway, the ending didn't ring true, either. there was no, "i knew it!" moment, no sudden understanding. in that, hooper cheated, like a lot of bad writers.
all in all, the book isn't worth the paper it's printed on. think that's harsh? give it a try when you have a couple of hours to waste, but remember, you won't ever get those two hours back.
This was one of my favorites so far in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit books by Kay Hooper. I've enjoyed the series extremely. Unfortunately in my research to find more on this author, I think I have read these books out of chronological order. I hate when I do that, but it does explain some of the inconsistencies I encountered.
More about Bishop is revealed including his past and his abilities. Sheriff Miranda Knight is introduced in this installment and she is quite the paranormal. Her talents are extraordinary. Her relationship with Bishop is fascinating to watch unfold. Of course, the relationship started long before this book, so here we are finding out what happens now. That can be quite fun.
I think the dynamic between Miranda and Bishop was very entertaining. I would have liked to know more about their past. There are glimpses, but I was hungry for more details. I guess that's good writing - leaving you wanting more.
The plot which Miranda and Bishop find themselves in is quite interesting. Despite the clues given the reader, I was surprised by the culprit. No spoilers here, though.
All in all a very good read. I want more Bishop/SCU. Now on to the Evil series.
Another good book from Kay Hooper who never disappoints her readers. This book has a good story but also lots of background about Bishop and Miranda's relationship past and present. I am behind on the KH books but will definitely keep reading. Recommended!
I randomly picked this book off the shelf. I later found out its the 3rd in the series. However. I felt that it was a good stand alone. And I really enjoyed the plot and mystery. I had 2 guesses for the end and I liked how it wrapped up in the end. It was perfect
This is book 3 in the series Bishop Special Crimes Unit series. In this book we finally get to learn more about Bishop and his past! Miranda has abilities of her own, abilities that tell her she needs Bishops help. Last time she trusted Bishop something awful happened...something that changed her life and she ran. Now she has no choice but to call Bishop and ask for his help in solving murders that are happening in her town. This book was amazing..the best of the series so far! I loved finding out more about Bishop and seeing Miranda and Bishop interact. I loved seeing them work together to solve the case..and what a case it was! Keeps you guessing until the end! This is one book you do not want to miss!
I read this series out of order so I have met Miranda and seen how she and Bishop are together that didn't take away from this one. It was fascinating to watch these two work out their history and solve the case. There was more emphasis on psychic abilities in this one but it worked because it didn't dominate everything the case was still the main event and was still damn good, it kept me guessing till the very end and I do like it when that happens all too often I guess the unsub before the half way mark of the plot. I am looking forward to learning more about Bonnie I hope she gets her own book!
Where Stealing Shadows and Hiding in the Shadows give you glimpses at the mysterious Noah Bishop, this book finally delves into his past and tells you who he really is. You learn of a mistake made in the past and cost of it, while dealing with a serial killer and more questions than answers. And things just get worse. I loved this story immensely, adored Bishop and Miranda, and I can't wait to learn more about them.
This is my favorite book in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series. For those of you who have read any other Bishop/SCU novels, and haven't read this one, go buy it immediatley! In this book, a lot is explained about Bishop and Miranda, and their past. Wonderful series of books. Although, I am a little biased, Kay Hooper is my favorite author :)
After suffering through two incredibly boring and poorly written books, the third was finally worth reading. The clues seemed to fit naturally with the story and the pacing was subtle.
4.5 Stars! Out of the Shadows is book three in the Bishop/Special Crimes series and the last in the Shadows trilogy. This is one of my favorites because of the history of the MC's, the suspense, and the absolutely fascinating look at psychic ability.
Summary: Noah Bishop is a serious man dedicated to his job of finding the nation's most dangerous killers and rapists. Bishop is also a psychic and uses his gift to catch those that can't be caught by normal police methods. For years, Bishop has worked tirelessly at hunting those that commit such gruesome crimes, even going so far as to starting up a specialized crime unit in the FBI that utilizes other psychic's gifts and expertise. He's been wildly successful, but none of it has helped him find the woman he hurt so badly in the past or given him the chance to right the many wrongs he committed. Sheriff Miranda "Randy" Knight has found the most idyllic little town to raise her teenage sister, and she's content to police the mild offenses of said little town. That is, until two teenagers are found brutally murdered. Randy is also psychic, but keeps herself well hidden on that level due to a very real and murderous threat from her past. When innocent teenagers' bodies continue to be found having been submitted to a variety of horrors, Randy knows she will have to do the one thing she never wanted, call the FBI. Randy and Noah have a history. They used to be close, in more ways than one, but Bishop's actions then, severed the trust she gave him so easily and resulted in a loss so incredible, it's hard to forgive. But she must, for a deranged killer is stalking the town's teenagers, one of which lives in Randy's house, and a vision has told Randy that it won't end without Bishop's help. Unfortunately, neither Bishop nor Randy counted on the reality of their situation. Bishop couldn't have known exactly how much Randy hated him or despised his presence until he arrived and found her shielding completely, almost to the detriment of the case. And Randy couldn't know how she really felt about Bishop until she saw him after so many years and learned how his life has gone, how he's changed. As more bodies pile up, Bishop and Randy will have to navigate their rocky relationship and find their long-lost connection in order to track down a killer mastermind who's been quietly working for decades. If they fail, the teenagers of Gladstone, Tennessee are doomed, Randy's little sister especially, and Randy runs the risk of becoming a victim right along with them.
Miranda was an enigma for me. I liked her alright, but didn't exactly agree with her decisions or actions. She kept herself determinedly closed off for much of the story at the detriment of the investigation. I can understand her wary attitude and untrusting behavior in light of what happened between her and Bishop, but kids were being slaughtered. I think she could have set her issues aside in order to save as many as possible. Still, I admired her strength and her determination to protect her sister, Bonnie, at all costs. She had been through hell, but was still living her life, not without fear, but with tenacity. Bishop was awesome. Before, he had my curiosity going nuts because in previous books, we didn't get much of him other than his skeptical nature and extreme loyalty. But in Out of the Shadows, he rocked my world. He was so strong, intelligent, thoughtful, and sincere all while having a subtle fierceness. It was awesome. He completely had me hooked since the end of the last book when it was hinted his story would be coming up. I adored the history between him and Randy, as I feel that gives e story a little added something. Supporting cast was both entertaining and lovable. I really want a HEA for Alex, though. My heart broke for him, and I think a story about him would be fantastic. Overall, a strong plot line and engaging characters brought this story to life for me. I couldn't put it down, and I'm already ready to crack open book four! <3
This is the third book about Bishop, and the reader following the series can now see the beginnings of a very unique FBI unit. In both Stealing Shadows and Hiding in the Shadows there is mention of something or someone that Bishop has been searching for, for a very long time. In Out of the Shadows, he finally finds her. Miranda Knight is so much more to him than the one who got away. She is the one he let down, the other half of his heart, the one he needs to make amends with, the one who can complete him. If only she would let him in.
What Bishop did to let Miranda down affected not only her, but her little sister, Bonnie. It's immediately clear that Miranda may have been willing to forgive and forget the wrongs done to her, but hurting her baby sister, putting Bonnie's life in danger was unforgivable. So she left. She ran far and fast and then put such a heavy layer of protection around herself and her sister that Bishop had virtually no chance of ever getting to her, until she let him. And it takes a vicious serial killer for her to be willing to let him find her.
The terror stalking her town is like nothing she has ever seen. A monster snatching people and cruelly torturing them, then leaving them on horrific display for all to see. Miranda hasn't been able to find and stop this killer on her own, and knows that she will need additional help. More than that, she's a powerful psychic whose abilities have told her, in no uncertain terms, that it must be Bishop who aids her. Those abilities also tell her, in equally certain terms, that someone will die when he does.
This is a truly masterful tale. The characters are so amazingly real and recognizable. The science behind each person's actions, abilities, attitudes is so honest and real, the story jumps off the page. And just when you think the story has concluded, there's yet more twists to make you hover on the edge of your seat.
Such a fantastic read. Best of all, for me, was the way the story ended, in such a way that creates excitement and anticipation for the next book in the series without doing so with a cliffhanger. I'll say it plainly, I absolutely detest cliffhangers, but Kay Hooper has yet to leave me hanging. :)
This is Bishop's story. Can I tell you how happy I am that I don't have to wait til the end of a huge, long series to get the story of the main, mysterious hero? Bishop has clearly been searching for someone because at the end of the last book, the precognitor tells him he'll meet her and to be careful. With good reason because he's helping out a local sheriff with a serial killer. Turns out that local sheriff is the woman he's been searching for, Miranda (Randy). Bishop betrayed her years before and Randy took her sister and disappeared to protect her (and herself from Bishop's heartbreak). Now they have to work together to find a killer and maybe Bishop can get Randy's trust again. But she'll have to let down her psychic barriers to show him she really does trust in him again and she's not sure she can do that knowing what the future has in store for her.
This was pretty much an awesome story. I loved this as a second chance romance, which I have to say is highly unusual. Bishop knows what he did to hurt Randy and he owns it, he atones for it (not grovelly, but honest to goodness change for her sake) and he isn't the least bit smug about his chances of getting her back. And once they are together, the psychic connection thing just makes their relationship even better (though it did reach levels of borderline cheesy...but I don't mind). The suspense here was also excellent and this author has shown a talent for the suspense. I'm listening to another romance author's suspense story simultaneously as I'm reading these and I can see a clear difference in ability to hold suspense and drop little clues and what not. I'm seriously impressed by how hooked I got with this story and how little I saw that ending coming. For me, the psychic angle of all the characters just sort of enhances the story (mostly because I like that kind of stuff), though YMMV. I'm on board for the rest of this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Out of the Shadows, suggest before reading this book, that one gets the prior book. As I was unaware there was a prior book, I started reading and was totally confused until 3/4 of the way through, when at last the writer filled the reader in what had been going on before. Would have been so much better for the reader if this had been done on the first three pages, so one was not totally confused. Also had to start writing down who the characters were as there were so many. After this said, not a bad book. Of course, it appears there is a continuation, and I will probably order the next one.
Story: A small Tennessee town has a very special Sheriff, Miranda Knight. Miranda, aka Randy, has a lot of secrets, besides the change of her name, and she also appears to have special powers that she and family members have, though they all have a different gift. Sheriff Randy appears to have a very competent team of hard working people, and yet, she is always on the alert of danger. The town has a spat of murders, missing teenagers, and the murders have been brutal. The whole town becomes scared. Randy calls a prior friend in the FBI who now heads a special team of Psychics, all this team have different powers of observation, and they are dispatched to help find out what is going on. Along the way, there is a love story, loss, and sorrow, as well as suspense. Interesting story, I had the killer spotted pretty soon, but never did figure out why?
This is book three in this series and I liked it about the same as the first two books. I have never been one to read a lot of psychic or paranormal fiction but for some reason these books draw me in.
In this one Noah Bishop links up with an old flame named Miranda who is now the local sheriff. But the last time she and Bishop worked together it ended badly and she holds a grudge through most of the book. She also has her own psychic abilities and she takes great efforts to block Bishop from her head. Something he does not like.
But despite this personality crisis, there is someone out there murdering mostly younger people in gruesome ways. We meet the killer early on but we don't get his name until the end. Still, with his mannerisms I had my suspicions who he was and I turned out to be accurate. Once Bishop and Miranda deal with the killer there is one more battle that happens on another plane within the minds of three of the characters.
What intrigued me about this book is that there were at least six characters with special abilities and that fact puts the lives of a couple of them in jeopardy. For a while the books veers off with a distraction featuring a local preacher and I could have done without that
The members of Bishop's team have a good rapport with each other and it rubs off eventually on Miranda. Although the relationships between some characters seem strained. I expect I will go forward with another book in this series.