April 4, 1994
Katie and her mom have come to Kluney, Tex., to escape trouble for a while, but trouble seems to be lurking around every corner. In her career as an investigative reporter, Katie's mom has run afoul of those who don't appreciate her efforts to bring to light the illegal dumping of certain toxic wastes, and now Katie, missing her city friends and ballet lessons, unwillingly finds herself involved in a puzzle of her own--the disappearance of the only girl to have befriended her. In her usual taut, thrillingly grim style, Nixon merges mystery with moral outrage and stand-taking; she develops parallel mother-daughter investigations deftly, allowing the mysteries to intersect momentarily and then dart off on separate paths. Strong female characters deliver a mandate to question authority and to adhere to personal convictions, even in the face of threats and ridicule. Affecting and fast-paced, this mystery delivers just the right amount of shivers to satisfy without eclipsing its message. Ages 12-up.
May 1, 1994
Gr 7-10-Eve Gillian takes a leave of absence from her job as an investigative reporter to write a novel, and she and her teenaged daughter, Katie, settle temporarily in a small, Texas seaside town. Threatening letters and spooky nighttime visitors keep mother and daughter on edge; the local sheriff isn't sympathetic; Katie begrudges leaving her Houston high school; and the townspeople fear for their jobs at the local waste disposal plant once Eve starts poking around. Then two people are murdered, and Katie uncovers a cabal of teenaged boys dedicated to petty and not-so-petty crime. A few scenes are suspenseful, but overall the mystery just isn't very mysterious. The characters are flat, except for the pitiful murdered girl so desperate for attention, and the villain isn't very ominous. The workings of the plot are too transparent and the red herrings too red. The setting is surprisingly generic and lacks a convincing sense of place. Nixon has a long string of suspenseful page-turners, but Shadowmaker is, unfortunately, not one of her stronger efforts.-Kathy Fritts, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
March 1, 1994
Gr. 7-9. Katie Gillian's mother, a famous investigative journalist, is taking six months off to write a novel. In order to afford the leave, she and Katie move away from Houston (and Katie's performing-arts high school) to live in an inherited house on the Gulf Coast. Locals, young and old, aren't friendly, dance classes for Katie don't exist, and prowlers harass the isolated house at night. When Katie's mother is brought evidence of toxic waste dumping, she can't refuse to investigate. Katie finds that what's going on at the high school is related, and she struggles to understand her mother's passion for probing. Nixon deftly weaves the ordinary difficulties of a new kid in school into a suspenseful mystery. The conclusion to the waste-dumping plot comes too easily, but some of Nixon's characters are interestingly complicated. ((Reviewed Mar. 1, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)
January 1, 1994
Sixteen-year-old Kate and her mother move to a small town and become the center of controversy and mystery. Kate attributes the murder of a teenage girl to a charismatic high-school classmate, and her mother threatens the local economy when she challenges a toxic-waste disposal company. The suspenseful novel is a fast, absorbing melodrama.
(Copyright 1994 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)