Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Illumined Shadows

SERIES: Treble and the Lost Boys #3

AUTHOR: G.R. Lyons

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 295 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 28, 2018

BLURB:

When Victor Lucius was sixteen years old, a few cruel words out of his mouth led to a brutal tragedy, one that Vic has been trying to make up for ever since. Now, working as a missing persons expert, Vic tracks down and rescues people from abandonment or abuse, trying to alleviate the guilt constantly weighing him down.
His latest case—a boy who was kidnapped at the age of two and then held captive for nineteen years—is by far the darkest of his career. If there’s any chance of Vic finally redeeming himself, helping this boy might be it.
But rescuing Colby from his basement prison is only the beginning, and brings a whole new struggle to Vic’s life:
Temptation…

REVIEW:

Ok first and foremost, TRIGGER, TRIGGER, TRIGGER. This is probably the worst as far as triggers in this series. Well, no probably about it. It is. This are issues of rape, torture, imprisonment, etc. So please if any of this is a problem for you, do not read. However, for me, the was my favorite out of this series. Each character in this series has just touched me in some way, but none more so than Vic. And now, little Colby. That sweet little man.

The story starts out with Vic and his own tragedy. That was hard enough to read, because you finally get to know the real story of Vic and why he does what he does. Vic’s job is to rescue children in bad situations. And usually they’re extreme. Very rarely does he have one that’s not. When I first started this series, something about Vic grabbed me from the beginning. They all did, but Vic the most. There was always something there. And now I know why. And bless him, guilt has a way of making things rough. But at least it put him in a profession that does good. The problem is, it’s a rough job. He just wants to make up for what he feels he did wrong years ago. And this new case, it’s a Whopper.

Police found a dead man in a house. Nobody really thought much after they got him out. But when they found DNA evidence of someone else, they found something unbelievable. They found what they thought was a boy, and in very bad shape. (No, I’m not going into details in case someone reading may have a trigger. Plus I don’t want to give anything away.) Vic and Ryley got little Colby out of there and end up finding out he’s actually 21. Not a boy at all. And he’s been missing for years. The more he gets to know little Colby in the hospital, the more he feels like he can’t send him anywhere else. He needs to bring him home. That’s what his home is going to be for anyway, to help kids get a new start after stuff like this. But Colby is a special case, and it’s going to take a lot for him to recover.

Gah. I had to walk away for a bit and settle myself before I could write this. I’m still reeling over this. This is another one that just, BAM, right in the heart. Colby. Little, sweet Colby. I love this book for many reasons. Vic had, several times in this book , opportunity to take revenge, and he didn’t. Oh, he got off his chest what he needed to. No doubt about that. But mostly he just supported. In a lot of ways he wasn’t ready to face things, but after seeing little Colby and what he went through, and that of someone else close to him, he knew he had to face his demons. And he did. But most importantly, Colby started to. Now going through any tragedy, it doesn’t mean it’s ever going to go away. But facing your demons to free yourself…..it’s brave, courageous and so much more. And I love that. Colby fought. Many times he didn’t want to, but he fought anyway. He learned it was ok to trust again. He learned to face his fears a little at a time. And so much more. He’s a brave little guy and he stole my heart from the get go.

Yes, this book has a lot of tragedy. And it’s brutal. But there’s so much more. It’s about hope, facing your fears, redemption, freedom and more. It’s about learning there’s life after. And maybe love. Maybe not. But there’s the dream of. This book hit me on so many levels and to be honest, if I could, I’d give it more than 5 stars. It’s that good. And I will be reading this for years to come.

RATING:  

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