I didn’t get into this one very much. Maybe my senses are numbed bc of oversaturation of this genre, but I just couldn’t like the people in this book and it just didn’t have sense to it. Illogical and unbelievable and silly in too many ways.

This book had just enough surprises around each corner. With each chapter told from a different perspective, you’re constantly drawn to each character. You finish each chapter wanting more, wondering what happened to Emily and who’s responsible for her disappearance. Quick read that keeps your attention until the very end.

I really enjoyed this book. It starts out with you believing that the “bad guy” is one character and then there are many twists in the story. I got all wrapped in him being the one who “did it”. But the more you read, the more secrets are uncovered. So many shockers into Emilys past! In the end it is a surprise how it ends for sure. I really enjoyed it!

One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson is the 1st book in Shadows of New York mystery series, and my first book by this author. New York Police Department Detective Sheryn Sterling, has suspected Alex Traynor of murder since his friend Cori fell to her death. Alex suffers from PTSD, and claims he can't remember what happened that night. When Alex's fiancee, Emily, a local doctor goes missing, Detective Sterling suspects him again. This book has a lot of suspects along with many twists and turns, which kept me reading page after page. I found this book to be a quick read with well developed plot and characters. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing. Thank you.

Alex Traynor’s girlfriend Emily is missing, a fact that he didn’t report to the police because based on her returned engagement ring he thinks that she left him. Detective Sheryn Sterling finds out about Emily’s disappearance from one of her colleagues and is immediately suspicious about why Alex failed to report it. Sheryn believes that Alex got away with the murder of his friend Cori, who fell off the roof of his building a year earlier. It doesn’t help that Alex has a history of substance abuse. The various supporting characters are all shady in different ways, ranging from drug dealing to violence. As Sheryn tries to find Emily, she also has to use the testimony of this parade of unreliable witnesses to figure out what really happened to Cori. We know that things are not as simple as they seem, but there are so many creepy people in this book that it becomes hard to be particularly shocked at the plot twists that are supposed to be shocking. This is a solid, well-done story, but I like to be able to root for somebody, and that wasn’t easy for me to do in this book. I do look forward to further investigations involving this detective and her team.

4.5 STARS - I came across Hilary Davidson back in 2014 with her book, Blood Always Tells which was an amazing, non-stop suspense read about revenge, murder and deceit. The Suspense novel trifecta.

Now, Davidson is back with the first book in her new series which continues to combine a well-paced, twisty suspense read with an engaging main character in NYPD Detective Sheryn Sterling. Sterling is a strong protagonist (I kept picturing actress Viola Davis) who shares narrator duties with Alex Traynor, a man she's convinced murdered a woman years ago.

The stories of these two characters balance nicely with each other making Alex much more of a main character than you'd expect. Sheryn and Alex are both interesting and complex characters who aren't without their flaws, giving them depth and believability. The only thing stopping me from giving a full 5-star review is one scene towards the end that felt too implausible to be believable.

With the addition of several well-placed twists to keep readers guessing and characters readers will connect with, One Small Sacrifice is a compelling, smart, non-stop and unputdownable read that is an impressive start to a new series from an author readers should keep their eye on.

Note: The second book in this series is due out in 2020.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Thomas and Mercer for providing me with a complimentary digital copy, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

This story, told from multiple perspectives, definitely keeps the reader guessing. Detective Sheryn Sterling has been keeping tabs on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death a year ago. She thinks he got away with murder; he claims he doesn't remember the night in question. When Alex's fiancée goes missing he becomes the prime suspect. But as Detective Sterling and Alex dig deeper they discover a much more sinister explanation for both crimes. Hilary Davidson is definitely a worthy read.

A solid, smart thriller that will keep you guessing until the last few pages. The pacing is taut, the characters are all relatable, and the twist is terrific.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Sheryn is a detective and she is determined to solve the death of woman name Cori and she believes the person who is responsible for is Alex who is a photographer who suffer PTSD.

She has a opportunity to do just that when Alex girlfriend Emily who became his fiancee just disappear as she tries find evidence against him she realize that Emily disappear may be link to Cori death and that not everything appear to be what she thought it was.

I like that this author kept me guessing because at first I'm like I know what happen then another twist thrown in. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author and I hope we get more of Sheryn Sterling.

Nice start to a new series with a good protagonist in Sheryn and a just twisty enough mystery of what happened to Cori. Thanks for the ARC. This one has had lots of reviews so all I've got to say is that I recommend to fans of the genre and those looking for a new detective to follow. Looking forward to the next one!

A thrilling mystery and read. I will watch for more work by this author. Recommending for library purchase.

One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson was a page turner from the very first paragraph. I am so excited that this is going to be a series, and can't wait for the second book!! Alex Traynor is a war photographer who is suffering from PTSD. In the very beginning we learn that his friend Cori died when she fell from the roof of his building, but Alex can't remember what happened and he was accused of killing her. Now his girlfriend, Emily is missing and her case is being investigated by the same detective that investigated Cori's death. I almost always predict the ending of a book by page 50, this one kept me guessing for a long time. I just kept narrowing it down, as each plot twist was revealed.

NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling is out to get her man. In this case, that would be photojournalist Alex, whom she believes killed his friend Cori. Cori’s death may have been ruled a suicide, but Sheryn believes Alex is to blame. When his fiancee, Emily, disappears a year later, Sheryn doesn’t like the coincidence. She believes Alex is trying to get away with murder, again. But as she investigates, Sheryn learns that Alex is not who he seems and Emily’s disappearance may be linked to Cori’s death in a way she could never have imagined. Davidson creates a strong, imperfect and utterly likable character in Sterling

There are so many reviews for this already, I can't add any value with a review other than to recommend it for fans of thrillers.

I really appreciate the complimentary copy for review!!

Ready for summer reading?
May 23, 2019
What are you looking forward to reading this summer? There are so many great books coming out. Here in the Boston area alone, we’ll be celebrating Hallie Ephron’s Careful What You Wish For, (Aug. 6), Hank Phillippi Ryan’s The Murder List(Aug. 20), Julia Henry‘s Tilling the Truth and Edwin Hill‘s The Missing Ones (both Aug. 27). On the cozy side, former Sisters in Crime president Leslie Budewitz has her Chai Another Day coming out June 11, and many others are due soon too. But recently I was asked by an editor to compile a list of summer mysteries and in my desperate attempt to pull together books that weren’t by friends or that haven’t been recently profiled on my own blog, I came up with the following. (Then I found out I had misread the assignment – he wanted books that were already out! Oops!). Anyway, here’s a small sampling of what I’m looking forward to, with an eye to every taste. Please let me know what you’re looking forward to – we’ve got time, at last, to indulge!
1. “One Small Sacrifice,” Hilary Davidson (out June 1)
Author of the Anthony award-winning Lily Moore series launches a new police procedural series with NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling unraveling a complicated possible murder.
2. “Conviction,” Denise Mina, (June 18)
Newly single Anna McDonald tunes into a true-crime podcast for distraction only to realize that she knows what really happened – and she’s involved – in the latest grim psychological suspense from a Scottish master of the genre.
3. “Big Sky, ” Kate Atkinson (June 25)

After an eight-year hiatus, Yorkshire ex-cop turned private investigator Jackson Brodie (with dog) surfaces in a quiet seaside village where a routine domestic case turns into something darker.
4. “Paranoid,” Lisa Jackson, (June 25)
Decades after Rachel Gatson accidentally killed her half-brother, her high school reunion – and a string of new murders – make her doubt her sanity in this bestseller’s latest psychological suspense.

5. “A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder,” Dianne Freeman (June 26) The follow-up to the series’ multiple award-winning debut, this frothy, fun historical cozy once again has the American-born Countess of Harleigh solving a murder in Victorian London’s high society.
6. “The Paper Bark Tree Mystery,” Ovidia Yu (June 27)
The steamy Singaporean summer of 1937 smolders when private detective Su Lin’s ex-boss is murdered in a case involving diamonds, race, and political unrest in this third evocative Crown Colony mystery.
7. “The Whisper Man,” Alex North (June 27)
A widowed father and his young son move into a strange house in a town haunted by the memory of a serial killer in this truly creepy debut thriller.
8. “The Chain,” Adrian McKinty (July 9)
To ransom her kidnapped daughter, a mother must kidnap another child, whose parents must then do the same, in this fast-paced, nightmarish thriller from the award-winning suspense author.
9. “Lady in the Lake,” Laura Lippman (July 23)
Having bolted from a stale marriage in 1966 Baltimore, Maddie Schwarz has transitioned from housewife to crusading journalist, heedlessly seeking the truth about a missing woman in this New York Times-bestselling author’s latest standalone.
10. “The Hounds of Justice,” Claire O’Dell (July 30)
In O’Dell’s second strikingly engaging dystopian Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Dr. Janet Watson once again joins covert agent (and fellow queer black woman) Sara Holmes in infiltrating an extremist group.
11. “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead,” Olga Tokarczuk, (Aug. 13)
This Man Booker International Award finalist veers from straight mystery into fantasy as Janina, the local crank in a Polish resort town, takes a break from astrology to investigate a murder.
12. “The Swallows,” Lisa Lutz, (Aug. 13)
Best known for the humorous Spellman Files books, Lutz follows up her thriller “The Passenger” by going very dark with this tale of revenge and secrets at a New England prep school.
13. “Play With Fire,” William Shaw (Aug. 13)
In his fourth series outing, Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen can’t get into the swing of 1969 London, but with his pregnant partner Helen Tozer’s help he tackles the murder of a high-society call girl.
14. “Thirteen,” Steve Cavanaugh (Aug. 13)
Conman-turned-defense attorney Eddie Flynn uses the crooked system against itself, but he’s out manipulated when he’s brought into a Hollywood star’s murder trial in this legal thriller.
15. “The Long Call, ” Anne Cleeves (Sept. 3) With her usual stunningly deft prose, Scottish master Cleeves (“Vera” and “Shetland”) debuts Detective Matthew Venn, who returns to the North Devon evangelical community he once fled when a body washes up on the beach.

Alex Traynor is a war photojournalist who suffers from PTSD. His fiancée, Emily Teare, a doctor who volunteers with Doctors Without Borders, is missing and NYPD Detective Sheryn Sterling is convinced Alex had something to do with it. Traynor has been on her radar ever since Cori Stanton, a troubled woman and Traynor’s drug dealer, plummeted to her death from the roof of Traynor’s apartment building one year ago. He was with Cori when it happened but was too high to remember anything. The story is told from multiple POVs, and Davidson skillfully steers the reader in numerous directions while laying the groundwork for a shocking, satisfying conclusion. Taut, fast-paced, and totally engrossing, this is another standout from Davidson.

One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson

Alex Traynor had been a war photojournalist and worked in the world’s most dangerous environments. After being shot during one of his battlefield forays, he came home with a damaged leg, a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a drug addiction, and a fiancé, Dr. Emily Teare, Emily operated on his wound in the field and gave him his single purpose he has to go on living.

It wasn’t always so cut and dried, though. A year earlier, at a low point in his life, a close friend, Cori Stanton, had fallen off the roof of Alex’s building and the circumstances were never clear. Alex blamed himself for not preventing it. Cori’s father and Sheryn Sterling, the investigating detective on the case, believed Alex had a more direct role in Cori’s death.

Now, a year later, Emily has disappeared, leaving behind a type-written note and many questions. Detective Sterling believes that once again Alex is the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance, and she’s determined not to let him slip through her hands this time.

In One Small Sacrifice, Hilary Davidson has combined the best aspects of a police procedural with a suspense novel. As the reader we follow both Alex and Detective Sterling as they try to solve the puzzle of what’s happened to Emily and who is responsible. We see things that each of them sees that the other doesn’t, but never everything, and that helps ramp up the narrative tension.

Davidson’s plot is tightly written, but nuanced, the story seeded with enough alternatives to keep the reader guessing throughout. Characters are complex and interesting, with each of the main characters being given a suitable backstory that drives their actions. Davidson writes with confidence and assuredness that will convince you that every line was written with extreme care. One Small Sacrifice is a novel written by a writer at the top of her game.

‘The way Sheryn Sterling was feeling, it might not have been the best idea to put a knife in her hand.’

Sheryn Sterling has a new working partner and an old grudge. The partner is Rafael Mendoza, the grudge Alex Traynor.

Traynor is a photojournalist who is doing his best to cope with life on the civilian streets of New York. His previous work in a number of war zones has left him scarred. He’s suffering from PTSD and has struggled on and off with self-medication. Sterling’s beef with him is that she believes he is responsible for the death of Cori Stanton who fell from the roof of his building a year before the story is set. When his current girlfriend, Dr Emily Teare, goes missing, Sterling fears that history is repeating itself and goes out hell-for-leather to pin Traynor down once and for all. When she finds blood on the carpet of Traynor’s house, she’s quick to add the numbers together and the book is well-written enough to have us unsure as to whether two and two will equal three, four or five.

Traynor is confused. Following a PTSD episode, he returns home to find a strange woman in his apartment and making a break for it through the window to the fire escape. He’s quick on his feet and manages to prevent her from leaving. She can’t explain her presence, nor is she able to tell him where Emily is. Whatever her reason, things don’t look right and Traynor realises that Emily is in some kind of trouble.

There are two key strands to this novel. In the first, we follow Traynor as he attempts to find Emily. In the second, Sterling is attempting to nail Traynor before he can harm anyone else. The unfolding of each element is paced nicely and each compliments the other in a way that builds the tension and continually twists and turns along the uneven path of the who-did-what-to-whom-and-why?

There’s a real web of mystery here. There are whiffs of suspicion about everyone we meet. Nobody is quite who they seem at first glance and the ambiguity keeps us on our toes. We can’t be sure about anything that happened on the night Cori died as Traynor was too high to remember. There are dodgy goings on with prescriptions. The superintendent of the building has his own reasons to play his cards close to his chest. Traynor’s lawyer needs to know enough information to help the situation, but not too much to jeopardise his client’s freedom. Cori’s father is unhinged and determined that the law finds justice for his daughter’s death. Sterling realises her own motivations may be clouding her judgement. Friend Will Sipher is still dabbling with drugs and is able to keep a cool head even when the chips are down. And Emily? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.

Davidson does a really nice job of keeping everything just out of focus. At the point at which things begin to sharpen a new dimension opens up and clouds things over once more. It’s a little like wiping the mist from a mirror in a steamy bathroom; for a while you can see your face and then the moment’s gone.

Throughout One Small Sacrifice, you'll grab hold of one red-herring while risking losing your grip on another and it's likely all your theories will be in tatters by the end.

Very entertaining and available for pre-order now.

From the onset, we are led to believe that Alex is somehow involved in two incidents, a murder and a disappearance. It’s what the author does with the narrative that had me enthralled in what the main protagonists had to say, illustrated by the chapters focused on their verbiage. The more I read, the more the author delivered a compelling drama of intrigue, suspense and down-right anxiety because all the pieces, separately do not completely tell the tale – a complex tale of deceit.

The author does a great job in telling this story that kept me guessing and every time I thought I knew what was going on or who was responsible. . . the author twisted the corkscrew in this gem with another facet left to consider, advanced the storytelling – only to let me be consumed by what the author was dictating, until it all came to fruition by all that transpired, including the aftermath. From Alex to Sheryn to Emily to Cori to Kevin to CJ to Rafael to Will – the consequences of their action propelled this tightly woven drama to a thrilling finish.