[Review] - Shadows in the Mind's Eye by Janyre Tromp

About the Book

Charlotte Anne Mattas longs to turn back the clock. Before her husband, Sam went to serve his country in the war, he was the man everyone could rely on—responsible, intelligent, and loving. But the person who’s come back to their family farm is very different from the protector Annie remembers. Sam’s experience in the Pacific theater has left him broken in ways no one can understand—but that everyone is learning to fear.

Tongues start wagging after Sam nearly kills his own brother. Now when he claims to have seen men on the mountain when no one else has seen them, Annie isn’t the only one questioning his sanity and her safety. If there were criminals haunting the hills, there should be evidence beyond his claims. Is he really seeing what he says, or is his war-tortured mind conjuring ghosts?

Annie desperately wants to believe her husband. But between his irrational choices and his nightmares leaking into the daytime, she’s terrified he’s going mad. Can she trust God to heal Sam’s mental wounds—or will sticking by him mean keeping her marriage at the cost of her own life?

Debut novelist Janyre Tromp delivers a deliciously eerie, Hitchcockian story filled with love and suspense. Readers of psychological thrillers and historical fiction by Jaime Jo Wright and Sarah Sundin will add Tromp to their favorite authors' list.

My Review

I have a bad habit of judging a book solely based on its cover, and if the artwork doesn't appeal to me, I'm less interested in reading it. That was the exact situation with Shadows in the Mind's Eye. The cover didn't grab my attention. What did get my attention was the title, which reminded me of an old Star Wars tie-in novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Yes, these two books have nothing in common, and that was more than obvious to me after I read the blurb, which sparked my interest in reading this novel.

I'm not the biggest fan of WWII-era stories, but the setting didn't bother me. To be precise, Shadows of the Mind's Eye is set post-war, well, at least it is for the character Sam Mattas. Sam fought for his country overseas, and he comes home a changed man. Like other soldiers who returned from the Pacific, Sam has PTSD. Out of nowhere, he claims to have seen men (possibly criminals) on the mountain, and nobody believes him, not even his wife.

  

Overall, I loved reading every word of Shadows in the Mind's Eye. Janyre Tromp is an excellent storyteller, and her writing chops shine in her debut full-length novel.  

Giveaway

• A copy of Shadows in the Mind's Eye
• A custom-made silver peach tree necklace, inspired by the book. 
• A "Light speaks through the broken places" t-shirt, also inspired by the book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Janyre Tromp (pronounced Jan-ear) is a historical suspense novelist who loves spinning tales that, at their core, hunt for beauty, even when it isn’t pretty. She’s the author of Shadows in the Mind’s Eye and coauthor of It’s a Wonderful Christmas.

A firm believer in the power of an entertaining story, Tromp is also a book editor and published children’s book author. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband, two kids, two crazy cats, and a slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog.

You can find her on Facebook (@JanyreTromp), Instagram (@JaynreTromp), Twitter (@JanyreTromp), and her website, www.JanyreTromp.com where you can download a free copy of her novella, Wide Open.