SHADOW IN SERENITY BY TERRI BLACKSTOCK

SHADOW IN SERENITY by TERRI BLACKSTOCK is the story of an ex con artist, Carny, and Logan Brisco, who has all the characteristics of a con man, and the people of the peaceful town of Serenity.

Carny grew up with her con artist parents going from one carnival to another, helping them ply their trade from an early age.  She breaks away from carnival life and moves to Serenity where she gets married and has a son, Jason.  Her husband dies and she lives happily in Serenity surrounded by loving friends.  She is especially close to her in-laws and is very worried when they fall prey to Logan's charm and join the other citizens of Serenity, investing their life savings in the multi-billion dollar amusement park he is promising to build.

Carny found peace in Serenity when she gave her life to Christ and put her old life of petty crime behind her, but the people in the little town feel she is overly suspicious of Logan because of her shaky upbringing.

Carny is a pilot and owns a small airfield.  She gives flying lessons and rides a Harley and has an adventurous spirit.  She is totally devoted to her son and they are very close.

Logan loses his mother at the age of five, never knew his father, and lived in foster homes until he ran away.  He had learnt how to swindle his opponents at pool from his last foster "father" and was plying his trade when he was taken in by a big time swindler called Montague.  Their scams got bigger and bigger and when Montague died he carried on alone.  

Logan has done his homework well and he knows that the citizens of Serenity have fallen on hard times and the town needs an injection of capital.  He gets them all excited about how much money their investments into his company, King Enterprises, are going to be worth one day.

Carny is desperate to uncover the scam, but he is very clever and has his past well covered up.  When he isn't acting there is something almost lovable about him and she is quite confused about her feelings for him.  Things are made more difficult by his friendship with Jason.

The characters in this book are very real and the theme is an interesting one.  Are we going to see Logan exposed and run out of town, or is he going to come clean and allow the Lord to make something good out of his life?  Is Carny over-reacting because of her childhood, or is the Lord going to use her in bringing Logan to the truth?  Are the people of Serenity going to rub off onto Logan, or is he going to ruin them and go on to his next scam?  I can highly recommend this book.