The Shimmer by Carsten Stroud is a book that will have you hoping it never ends. A tale of redemption. A mystery of time and murder. How can you stop a killer that can step through time? How do you save the woman you love from being murdered over and over again?

"....Could be, but I don't think so. I think this locket comes from southern Louisiana. Probably New Orleans. I looked up the name 'Mammaloi' and it's a Gris-Gris word for a witch, a priestess of Gris-Gris magic. And 'Marraine' means Godmother in Creole Patois. And then we have 'Minou' which means cat, and the letters FWC.' Pandora was considering the locket...."

Sergeant Jack Redding is out with trainee Julie Karras when they come across a swerving vehicle. They think this will be a normal pullover, someone who has been drinking a little too much. But instead it ends with a shoot-out, one girl dead and one girl in handcuffs and the driver gone. Redding continues hunting the driver and the glimpse of the woman he saw. The woman who looked exactly like the woman his grandfather, a cop in Jacksonville, was hunting in 1957.

"....It's her,' he said. 'It's the same woman.'
Pandora picked the shot up, looked from one to the other, and again. She sighed.
'I'll admit there's a...resemblance...'
'Pandora. Come on. They're twins. Identical.'
'So...her mother? A relative?'
Jack was shaking his head, as unwilling as Pandora to accept what he was seeing...."

The Shimmer is a doorway. An opening across time that can be stepped through. A doorway a serial killer has been using for decades. Jack is now trailing the killer, beginning in modern day Jacksonville, then to St. Augustine in 1957 and to New Orleans in 1914. The stakes are great when Jack teams up with his grandfather to catch the killer, risking the lives of his wife and child.

The Shimmer is a tale that works on so many levels. It is crime noire with fantasy and the paranormal all mixed into a book that takes itself seriously. Stroud has been writing paranormal crime stories for some time now and they are among some of the best novels to be found. He blends the genres seamlessly and creates a tale that is riveting and filled with twists and turns. There is a desperation The Shimmer; a hopelessness that each character faces as they battle not just evil but the sense of power that transcends what they can comprehend.

Stroud has written a tale that will keep you reading into this story long after you have turned the last page.

After reading the Niceville trilogy, I was extremely interested in reading The Shimmer. Mr. Stroud seems to enjoy playing with time travel, with some interesting twists. Unfortunately, I felt The Shimmer was not as tightly written as the Niceville books, and the ending was rather abrupt and unsatisfying.

Review: THE SHIMMER by Carsten Stroud

To date, I have never met a Carsten Stroud novel I haven't adored. Each one steals my breath and provides the most important criterion in reading: total engrossing absorption. In THE SHIMMER, he takes on time travel, metaphysics, serial killing, and body thievery, and renders it all completely believable.

An extraordinary Florida Highway Patrol sergeant tracks a suspicious SUV, opening a case that will literally result in life and death and time travel. You won't know what's next, but you won't be able to stop. Prepare for a couple of sleepless nights!