GRR Reviews Shattered Witness by Anna DeStefano

Shattered Witness managed to creat a psychological thriller mixed with romantic suspense while giving it a soap-opera worthy twist, and made gaslighting an effective plot tool.

To recap, CEO of Cassidy Enterprises, "Shaw" Cassidy was shot in the head and lost her memory. All she can remember was being attacked by a faceless man, hiding from unspeakable terror. She retreated to her family Victorian estate, hoping to recover, but eerie shadows and sounds are driving her mad, and into the arms of one man whom she instinctively knew would never hurt her, but she can't remember his name... FBI Special Agent Cole Marinos is running out of time. Shaw was his childhood sweetheart, and he tried to protect her from her brother who was always out to torment her. She saved her from the fire that killed her brother, only to be forced to leave her behind to attend school. Now he's back in his family cabin adjacent to her estate, keeping an eye out on her well-being... and her sanity. Someone had been leaking Cassidy Enterprise's technical innovations to some very bad people, and Homeland Security suspects Shaw engineered this "breakdown" to divert attention from herself. Can Cole trust Shaw's innocence? Can Shaw trust Cole to keep her safe?

Gaslighting is not often seen in romantic suspense thrillers, and this one really did manage to blend the genre. All the scenarios actually make sense, even though some require a bit more incredulity than others. (The setup for the gaslighting was incredibly elaborate and the alleged endgame is like "what?") Still, this novel is enough to keep you reading until the very end.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: CEO unsure of her sanity ran to a protector she may or may not able to trust; who had hurt her and still wanted to hurt her?

Tropes: protector, conspiracy, law enforcement, woman in peril, childhood sweetheart, evil enemies

Overall Rating:  5/5 (rounded up)