Focus: An upmarket urban drama thriller about the life of a domestic violence counselor

by Jordan Shore

Sheila Jones works as a counselor at a domestic violence shelter in Englewood, Chicago. As a single mom, Sheila struggles to make ends meet and to provide for her younger daughter. She’s lost touch with her older daughter who recently moved out of the house to live with a man Sheila has hardly interacted with.

Despite devoting her whole life to helping battered women acknowledge the dangers they face; Sheila still fails to recognize the immediate threat that lies ahead of her. A danger so great it could jeopardize her entire family’s future.

On her way home from work one day, Sheila receives a text message. As she reads the message from her daughter, her entire world crumbles in an instance, and she realizes that their lives will be forever changed.

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 24, 2020

About the author

Jordan Shore is best known for his characters' sharp dialogue and for his original, dark, clever and thought-provoking storytelling. Specializing in creating suspense, Jordan has yet to write a script that lacked a profound twist at the end.

Jordan spends most of his days writing, and a disadvantageously large part of his nights reading. He is addicted to suspenseful novels with well-crafted plots and unexpected endings (Jordan is also addicted to coffee.)

Jordan is quite scientifically minded, but at the same time, he loves to explore the artistic and creative side of his brain (the right side.) Jordan is also drawn to the study of psychology and human behavior. He usually doesn’t refer to himself in the third person.

Also, Jordan is not aware that he bears an uncanny resemblance to famous actor Hugh Jackman, and therefore, he finds it a bit peculiar when people bring that to his attention. However, he doesn’t mind being referred to as Wolverine.

Reviews

[Greg Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Focus, by Jordan Shore, to be a complex, thought-provoking examination of the tragic psychological conditions that are far too common in society. This fact-based story exemplifies the need for greater awareness to things like physical and emotion abuse, bias in law enforcement (intentional and unintentional), emotional distress, feelings of inadequacy—things that cause despair to many. I felt somewhat educated by the story, while at the same time disheartened by being reminded of the lack of resources dedicated to helping troubled people. This was my first takeaway, but the end provided a significant twist which I won’t reveal. I’m not sure it was Mr. Jordan’s intention, but my belief that a damaged family unit leads to many of these problems, was reinforced. If you are concerned about some of these matters, you should read this story. I am not a fan of the narrative style that Mr. Shore elected to use for this, his second novel, but it was well-written, and I ran across few editorial errors.

[S.Powers · Rating 1 out of 5]

WTF???

I can't help but ask that question as I finish this book. It was not suspenseful, it was disconnected. The build up of all the life situations of the characters, prefacing the final section with personal anger and blame before continuing on with another piece of the story was a huge let down.

[Meeko Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written…the ending “ehhhh, hilarious?”

Omg this book was so well written (aside from a few spelling/grammatical errors). And when you get to the end…it’s so unbelievable that you may laugh. I’ve never read a book like this before…

[Crystal Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huh

That was all over the place. I don’t even know what I just read. It seems like a really long winded way to get a message across.

[Daphne Mills]

This was a very good read, the urban life jumped off of the pages in this thriller.