The Shadow

A Reed and Billie Novel

By: Dustin Stevens

Narrated by: Scott R Smith

Do you remember Halloweens when you were a kid? Every year from about the age of five until you stopped trick-or-treating, the same thing.

“Ghost? Hobo? Even Superman? You wouldn’t think of anything else. Always, you had to be a policeman.”

Roughly a month after going head-to-head with the copycat killer who had singled Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner Billie out in an attempt to capitalize on their recent success, the duo is still reeling. Faced with uncertainty over where they are and what they are doing for the first time since partnering together years before, they retreat home to Oklahoma for the holidays to regroup.

A vacation that is at once cathartic and therapeutic, right up until the moment Columbus Police Chief Eleanor Brandt calls informing them they are needed back in Ohio for a case.

Judge Warren Steele has been a fixture in the Dayton legal community for almost thirty years. Fast approaching his seventieth birthday and the final days of his tenure on the bench, he is murdered outside of his home, his body left dressed up as a snowman on the front lawn of the very courthouse he has presided over for the past three decades.

A brutal public display that is only the beginning as Reed and Billie are pressed back into action. Forced to unravel secrets in the city going back years, their hunt takes them through the local police departments, churches, courthouses, and even universities, all in the name of deciphering the motivation of their newest target.

“Sometimes all you need is to be reminded why you fell in love with something in the first place...”

©2024 Dustin Stevens (P)2024 Dustin Stevens

Pronunciation Errors

I love this series and I love the narration. However, this is at least the third novel with the same pronunciation mistake. Misshapen( formed or shaped wrong) pronounced as Miss Happen . Then today, he pronounced crocheted (stitched with yarn). As croc heted ( 2 words)
Can someone give him a heads up? Otherwise, great story!

Rapport between Reed and Billie

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I paid for this book. Why should I have to work?

Really enjoying this series, but......

Can someone please, please teach Scott how to pronounce misshapen??? Mis-SHAPE-en, not miss-happen! Omgosh! :/ This is book 13, and I really thought by now he would have gotten some feedback on this. Not to cast too much shade, I really like his narration. He has a wonderful voice and does a great job, but that one word mispronounced over and over is driving me crazy. lol As for the series, these have been truly enjoyable. I love the characters and the storylines. Reed's love and care for his canine partner, Billie, is especially touching.