LitPick Review
The first in its series, Intent: In the Shadows follows Raylee Johnson through her last two years of high school. Uniquely, Intent offers a female protagonist with a strong Christian Faith. In the small town of Silver Canyon, Raylee feels trapped by the same experiences and bullies year after year. When a scary prank goes a bit too far, Raylee finds herself fearing for her safety and relies on the support of her two best friends and God to get through a trying time. Raylee seeks answers, but at what cost? Will her future be shaped by her intuition and fear?
Opinion:
Intent: In the Shadows is a novel with multiple plots and a unique protagonist. Krista Wagner delivers a mystery geared toward a teen audience. Touching on multiple plot lines, she develops relatable conflict within a “cozy mystery” that leaves the reader with questions until the very end and beyond. While detail is plentiful throughout, I found Raylee a bit complex with some details suggesting she is inferior and others a confident, well-adjusted teen. However, as an adult reader, I found Raylee’s Christian Faith to be agreeable and the small town feel to be refreshing. Occasionally, what is seemingly the main conflict of the story becomes moderately lost; an emphasis is placed on secondary events that don’t directly affect the plot. Yet, I found the book hard to put down and look forward to reading book two!
