IN THEIR SHADOWS

With a nod to classic noir, the second in Cole’s Pseudo series imagines what happens when a scam artist's past catches up to her future.

April Garrett is a fake and a conniver. The daughter of a scam artist mother who’s constantly on the lookout for the next grift, April has always been playing a part, walking in the shadow of her counterfeit selves. Married off to a much older man when she's a teen so she and her mother can steal his fortune, April, now in her 20s, is married to two other men she's manipulating. This isn’t her mother’s doing—it’s just that she doesn't know any other way to be. In one life she’s Michelle Evans, married to Carter, an architect. She’s also Erin Duncan, married to restaurant owner Ramsey. As easily as she swaps out her beachy wave wig for one with braids or styled in a pixie cut, she switches identities. But her pretend lives crash into her hidden-away April persona when she meets a man she believes knows her secrets and may be plotting to kill her. Cole, author of the erotic and edgy Unconditional series about strong Black women who get what they want, dishes up a moody story about an abusive mother-daughter relationship, a woman carrying the burden of too many secrets she wants to keep buried no matter the cost. Like Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo and Patricia Highsmith in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cole combines suspense and mystery and creates a propulsive tale about the toll false identities have on the people who wear them. Visceral dialogue that lands like punches and gasp-worthy last-minute shocks will please fans of escapist stories filled with dark deeds and enigmatic characters.

Multiple identities take their toll in this dark tale of deception.