First, full disclosure, Marta Perry is a go-to author for me. If she puts out a book, I can always be guaranteed a good read. Shattered Silence is no exception. I loved the Amish connection, and how loving the family is portrayed.

Rachel Hartline's ex-husband's irresponsibility is part of why he's her ex. All she needs is his signature so she can sell the house - the one he left her paying the full bill for - and she can consider him out of her life. Agreeing to meet her at his office, Rachel arrives only to find Paul up to no good. Leaving her to deal with the night watchman, he runs out the back, assuring her, "It's not what you think." When she's confronted the next day with the news that her husband stole something valuable from one of his business partners, she tells the PI, Clint what she saw, but when strange incidents start to occur, including one at the school where she works, she flees to take the danger away from her kindergartners.

Clint Mordan and his partner have been hired to provide security for a high-tech think tank. Days into the job, an apparent case of industrial espionage hits their docket. The only clue they have comes from innocent-looking Rachel, who identifies the perpetrator as her ex-husband. Can she possibly be as innocent as she appears? Does she know more than she's saying? When her house is broken into, and Rachel is threatened, can he keep her safe until her ex comes out of the woodwork he apparently crawled into?

As Clint steps in to save Rachel time and again, can they remain impartial to each other, when everything they learn about each other says they are meant to be together?

This story takes readers around some pretty steep, sharp curves, to get to the exciting finish. Suspense readers will love the nail-biting action, and romance readers will love the love story. And, it's Marta Perry. While not specifically a Christian fiction book, it is a clean read, so I don't have a problem recommending it to CF readers.

Shattered Silence is the third novel in the Echo Falls series, a series I've been following since its inception, and to date, it's my favorite novel in the series, and it gets a 4-star rating from this reader.

The heroine in this novel is divorcee Rachel Hartline, a kindergarten teacher and co-founder of a small, private elementary school. Her husband Paul's gambling addiction and his lies about it are what led to their divorce, but she still needs Paul's signature on a document that will allow her to sell their home and split the proceeds, since she can't afford the mortgage payments on her teacher's salary. When she drops by the company he helped found with his college friends, she finds him after business hours, not in his own office, but in the office of the tech genius at the center of the company's innovative success, secretly downloading files onto to a flash drive. He begs her not to say a word, and she reluctantly agrees, but the next thing she knows is that Paul is nowhere to be found, neither is the flash drive, and when the janitor who let her into her husband's workplace, and the video security footage shows her entering the building, suddenly she's considered a suspect in both the theft and Paul's disappearance, by both the authorities and a company-hired private security agency.

After her home is searched and ransacked, she flees to the only real home she's ever known, a place where she feels safe, at the farm of her Amish grandparents in rural Pennsylvania, but trouble follows her there. Is there no safe place for her? Is there no one she can trust? Paul had her buy an untraceable cell phone, but why isn't he answering her calls or responding to her text messages? What does he plan to do with the information he stole? Use it to pay off his gambling debts? Selling the innovative program he stole to the highest bidder?

Private investigator, Clint Mordan, one-half of the private security agency that's has been hired to find Paul, Rachel and that flash drive, is determined to track down Rachel, Paul, find the flash drive and get to the bottom of this mystery. A former police officer, injured in the line of duty, and still feeling survivor guilt, he finds himself slowly coming to believe that Rachel had no part in the theft, and he also finds himself attracted to her and trying to fight that attraction and do the job he was hired to do.

Shattered Silence works on many levels. At first, it's just a mystery, but as Paul disappears and Clint gets involved, this complex story moves into the romantic suspense genre, and by moving the setting to Amish country, as Ms. Perry has done in a number of her previous novels, she gives us added insight into the daily life of the Amish, and further insight into why Rachel, who spent her childhood summers there, was so trusting and naive when it came to the man she married, why she believed his lies and evasions until she could no longer do so, and it gave us the reason why she was still willing to give him a chance to come clean about what he'd done, return the flash drive and make things right.

As the novel progresses, at a slower pace than I'd have preferred, the mystery deepens and Rachel becomes even more of a target, but who's to blame for the break-ins at her home and her school? Who's behind the physical attacks on her person? Why would anyone want to harm her? And where's Paul? What does he plan to do with the information he stole? Why is he letting her take the fall for his misdeeds? Has she been set up? Who can she trust?

For the answers to all the aforementioned questions, you'll just have to read this engaging and well-written novel. While it's the third in a series, it works quite well as a standalone read, and I give it a G-rating, as it's suitable for mystery and romantic suspense readers of all ages.

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Shattered Silence by Marta Perry is the third book in the Echo Falls series. I related to this book in many ways. I ran from my ex husband just not because of the same reasons. Finding someone to rely on and help you when no one else will is very important. Rachel and Clint are both very likeable and believable characters. I loved them.

Wrong Place Wrong Time? Indeed.

Bestselling author, Marta Perry, is skilled at weaving a complex thriller filled with both mystery and suspense. Shattered Silence is no exception. With finesse the author builds the tension then settles us into a sense of peace in the isolated Amish community. But is anywhere really safe?

All Rachel Hartline wants is her ex-husband’s signature on a paper. What she gets instead is stalked, her house ransacked, questioned by security and the police and attacked by a stranger.

Why? The Ex, of course.

Rachel’s ex husband, Paul Hartline, is missing, along with a flash drive supposedly containing company secrets. The company has hired security expert Clint Mordan and his partner to find Paul and what he has taken. Yet the the company is keeping secrets from them as well. Can you properly find answers when key facts are left out?

Caught where she shouldn’t be, Clint suspects Rachel’s involvement. Even though they’ve been divorced awhile, she appears to be their main suspect. A kindergarten teacher, the attacks leave her alone and frightened, needing both to protect both herself and her students.

Home To The Amish

Combining mystery and charm, author Marta Perry takes us between the big city and a small Amish community where Rachel spent summers with her grandparents and relatives.

Add to that the possibility of a romance. The pleasure of seeing the Amish, with their simplicity and their tradition, as well as the way Clint adapted when there, both gave the story an edge.

The mystery of who and why was equally well done. Where is Paul? Is he guilty? Why won’t the searchers leave her alone now that he appears to be gone?

As Clint comes to believe her innocence, instead of suspecting her he feels the need to protect her—and with good cause.

Marta Perry so often takes us to the Amish community, comfortably and enthusiastically. Her knowledge of the community is clear. This one gives you the feeling that you would enjoy spending time there. The family relationship, the caring for one another, the understanding of the world outside even while they hold to their lifestyle, all contribute to the enjoyment of the book.

Ms. Perry is currently on a virtual book tour hosted by TLC Book Tours. You will find the author and her book at various sites with other reviews and posts. Check it out. You will be pleased with the writing and the story.

I liked this book. The change of location to Amish country is what I enjoyed the most. Rachel may have been away a long time from her family but I didn't feel like she was an "outsider". She fit back into her family and their ways pretty easy. Although, it did help that she knew the language. Clint on the other hand was the "outsider".

Yet, I do have to say that I wished that Rachel was more assertive. If felt as if she would not have been able to take care of herself, if Clint was not around to save her. However, on the other hand; Rachel did help Clint to solve the case. Despite these elements, I did enjoy reading this book. It moved along at a good steady pace with not a lot of downtime.

With the ascended tension of the investigation and the sweetest love story developing in the shadows of it, the Shattered Silence captured my mind, vastly entertaining and holding my interest with the frantic search for the truth and near escapes from the potentially deadly attacks.
I loved how the graceful homecoming for Rachel Hartline to her Amish roots made me smile and brought so much joy to the story, while the intensifying suspense put me on the edge, only hoping for the best.
Rachel is a strong and capable, smart and independent heroine who was easy to like, admire and relate to. From a young age, she has learned not to trust easily, being let down by the ones who should love and care for you the most. But that has not made her bitter or hard, quite the opposite, she is kind, resilient, considerate, generous person, all the trades she learned during her summers at the Amish farm with her grandparents.
Clint Mordan is a complex, wounded hero. What at first seemed like a cold and hard man, goal oriented with no sympathy, turns out to be a considerate, kind, gentle, fiercely protective hero, who would do anything and risk everything to keep Rachel safe, and alive.
I enjoyed how the story was built, how the moments of fear, dread, and tension take turns with the adorable times with the family at the farm. The tale is well written and had such an easy flow to it, the development of the plot was so effortless and smooth, going from fun and enjoyable to frightening and even deadly without missing a beat.
The characters were well thought out, the protagonists had depth and stood out, they had a tangible chemistry in between them, while the story held in the clean and sweet category when it comes to the romance.
Shattered Silence is an entertaining, dramatic, and thrilling story, suitable for all suspense as well as romance readers. It has an intense, arresting investigation, splendid and touching romance, and a homecoming that will remind the readers of the importance of a family, of the people who will always be there for us, a life-lesson of trust and forgiveness served as a side dish.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

Shattered Silence is the third book in this series, and while each can be read alone, they are all equally good.
This story the author has given us a divorced woman who soon finds herself in trouble, and this is all due to her ex-husband, and because of what happens is thrown into the company of a private investigator, and back to Echo Falls, her sanctuary and home to her Amish Grandparents.
There are so many bombshells here and most you won’t see coming, so be on alert, and hope for justice to prevail.
Once you turn the first page you will be hooked and looking for answers, just what is going on, and how will this impact an ex-wife?

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review.

A face paced romantic suspense novel that is a great beach/pool read. While I wasn't a fan of the insta-romance between the Hero and Heroine, I did love the heroine didn't blindly follow everyone. She thought through everything and made decisions based on her gut and not out of fear. I also loved the Amish aspect of this story, however this aspect of the book was too brief and felt the author really missed out on a great story involving the Heroine family.

This story opens with Rachel Hartline trying to get her ex-husband to sign off on the documents to put the house they still jointly own on the market. He’s promised to sign off, but he’s made plenty of promises throughout their marriage, and seems to have kept very few of them.

But then, as Rachel tells herself frequently throughout the story, addicts lie. And her husband is addicted to gambling. He’s also always expected her to believe him and cover for him, so when she finds him in his boss’ office copying files from his boss’ computer, he expects her to believe him and cover for him one more time.

And he still doesn’t sign the damn papers. But he does leave her holding the bag, so to speak, when his theft is discovered and everyone wants to retrieve the documents he copied – especially his ex-friend and extremely antisocial boss.

That’s where Clint Mordan comes in. Said boss has hired his private investigations firm to discover the stolen documents – and Rachel is the first and best suspect. If not for the theft itself, then certainly for helping out her ex. She seems strangely protective of the man – more than seems logical to the initially skeptical private investigator. Most ex-wives wouldn’t piss on their ex-husbands if the men were on fire, so Rachel’s reluctance to cooperate seems suspicious.

At least until her house is broken into and she’s attacked. Whatever is going on, someone seems determined to get something out of Rachel that she doesn’t have – and not just Clint.

But in the process of following Rachel from Philadelphia to her grandparents’ home in the tiny Amish community of Echo Falls, Clint figures out that whatever loyalty Rachel might still feel, it doesn’t including lying or covering up for her ex-husband.

And while Clint may indeed be paranoid, there is certainly someone out to get Rachel. And it isn’t her ex.

The longer the case goes on, the more that Clint and his partner realize that their client is keeping them in the dark. And the more protective of Rachel Clint becomes. And the more she trusts him, in spite of her fairly awful track record with trusting men.

But can either of them trust the feelings that have arisen in the midst of so much terror?

Escape Rating B+: I seem fated to read the final book in one of Marta Perry’s trilogies without having read the first books first. And to those books turning out to be the right book at the right time each time.

I was interested in Shattered Silence because of its ties to the Pennsylvania Dutch community without being fully set in that world. My husband grew up English in and around Lancaster Pennsylvania, so the Amish background always piques my interest. This story felt like it did a particularly good job of opening a window into that world without pretending to tell a story that is part of it. The times that I’ve read Amish-set books out loud to him he usually finds the descriptions pretty laughable, but that wasn’t the case here.

Just as I read and enjoyed How Secrets Die without having read the first two books in the House of Secrets trilogy, I read and enjoyed Shattered Silence without having read the first two books in the Echo Falls trilogy. In this case, the series seems rather loosely connected, sharing Echo Falls as a location without sharing other elements of the stories.

Shattered Silence turned out to be great romantic suspense. The danger reaches out and grabs the reader from the very beginning, with an exasperated Rachel discovering her ex in the middle of something highly questionable, and moving on from there as Rachel is forced to jump out of the frying pan into the fire.

I also liked the way that while she ended up in trouble over and over, she did not come off as too stupid to live as is so often in the case in “heroine in jeopardy” type romantic suspense. The mess is not her doing, and the mistakes she makes seem realistic. She lets her guard down repeatedly, but only when she thinks she’s in a safe place or that the danger seems over.

The interlude at grandparents’ farm provided a marvelous break in the tension while showing more interesting facets of all the characters. That she and Clint turn to each other in the midst of all of the drama, but also feel reluctant to trust and worried that the heightened tension of the situation is causing them to act out of characters felt right.

The resolution to the mystery felt right, as did their earning of their HEA. And while Rachel bore part of the responsibility for ending up in that final confrontation, she was equally responsible for helping to rescue herself. And that’s the kind of HEA I always love!

Rachel goes to Paul's office to see her ex-husband and finds him in the office of his boss looking very guilty. He leaves before she can question him. Clint, a security officer, visits Rachel looking for Paul. When Rachel's house is searched and she is accosted, she leaves for her grandparents house looking for safety in Amish country. Clint finds her wanting to keep her safe while he continues to try to figure out what is going on.

Shattered Silence is a well written story that will immediately catch the interest of readers, Realistic and likeable characters make it a fast and interesting mystery with some romance thrown into the mix. The backdrip of Amish country also helps make the tale thoroughly enjoyable..

Thanks to Net Galley for providing the ARC for this fascinating tale.

Shattered Silence is a slow paced mystery that readers find themselves more interested in the characters than the mystery as the story moves from character development, mystery, excitement and back to story and character development.

While the story is very slow as Rachel Hartline is trying to figure out what her ex husband is up to readers are introduced into the would of Amish Farm that will bring readers into a new world where languages are different and life moves slowly.

Shattered Silence is a stand a long novel with a Happy Ending that readers will love.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Books for the advance copy.

This is the third book in this series and I have loved each and every one. I really like how Amish everda life is incorporated into these storyies. These books have wonderful characters and story lines. I hated to see this series end

Marta Perry has me hooked. Her story line draws you in from the beginning. She has a way of making you not want to stop reading.

Rachel’s ex-husband is a snake and now she’s caught him in the middle of committing a crime that puts her life in jeopardy. She goes on the run, heading to the Amish friends she has always been able to count on. Hot on her trail is P.I. Clint Mordan, who thinks Rachel is involved in her ex’s crimes, but when she becomes a target of her ex husband’s enemies, Clint decides that he must protect the woman he’s come to care for, even though he may not trust her