A few months back I highlighted a book that author Shawna Seed sent me to read and review called Identity.  I finally worked my way (a little bit) through that massive TBR pile and got to this book.  Wish I had gotten to it sooner!

Synopsis:

Sharlah Webb thinks her luck is finally turning, until her boyfriend, Brian, is jailed on drug charges. Now a hurricane is bearing down, she’s broke, and Brian’s secrets have put them both in danger. Can she trust Brian? The police? Sharlah begins her own search for answers, launching a mystery that will take years to unravel. Identity: A novel of suspense, love and finding your true self.

Review:

I enjoyed this book a lot!  You get to see Brian and Sharlah’s story from teens (17+) to later in life.  The story does have something of an abrupt ending and it leaves you wondering how some things turn out. That can either be a really good thing or a bad thing, guess it depends on how you like the story to end. I think it does leave it open for a sequel should the author choose to follow up and let us know how certain situations were resolved.  I found myself rooting for different characters and hoping that all would turn out well.  You don’t really know until the end how things will truly play out which I think is a good thing.  I couldn’t guess how the book would turn out.

There were a few editing type things that could have made the flow better. At one point the story switches from Sharlah’s point of view to Brian’s. At this point it is 4 years later but it takes a few pages to realize that it is 4 years later. Then it switches to another person’s point of view and that is about 10 years later. Also the chapters were really really long.

Aside from those 2 things, I thought the book was written very well and I was able to feel the emotions of the characters.  We give it 4 paws.

About the author:

Shawna Seed is a writer and editor whose career has taken her to both coasts and several spots in between, working for organizations that include The Dallas Morning News and ESPN.com.

Originally from Kansas, she’s lived in seven states and every continental U.S. time zone. She and her husband now call Dallas home.

When she’s not writing, her interests include cooking, travel and watching college basketball. (Go Jayhawks!)

Identity is her fiction debut. Her next project, Not in Time, is a suspense novel about looted art.

Visit her website, where the goodies include her blog and a discussion guide. You can also listen to a playlist based on the record collection of Sharlah Webb, the heroine of Identity, and see Sharlah’s bookshelf.

Find her on Facebook

Buy the book:

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

The eBook is $3.99 from both retailers