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Theresa MacLean #5
Blunt Impact
“Quite simply, one of the best storytellers around” Tess Gerritsen
Called out to examine the body of a female construction worker at a Cleveland building site, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean soon discovers that what she initially assumed to be an industrial accident may be nothing of the kind. For why was the dead woman smartly dressed? And what would she be doing on the 23rd storey of an unfinished building in the middle of the night?
Then it turns out there was a witness to the a young girl nicknamed Ghost due to her habit of slipping silently and watchfully around the neighbourhood. Ghost saw the woman fall. Except Ghost says she didn’t fall – she was pushed by someone Ghost can only identify as the Shadow Man.
Soon Theresa finds herself in a race against time to protect Ghost from an unknown killer before he is able to find the little girl and silence her for good.
Called out to examine the body of a female construction worker at a Cleveland building site, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean soon discovers that what she initially assumed to be an industrial accident may be nothing of the kind. For why was the dead woman smartly dressed? And what would she be doing on the 23rd storey of an unfinished building in the middle of the night?
Then it turns out there was a witness to the a young girl nicknamed Ghost due to her habit of slipping silently and watchfully around the neighbourhood. Ghost saw the woman fall. Except Ghost says she didn’t fall – she was pushed by someone Ghost can only identify as the Shadow Man.
Soon Theresa finds herself in a race against time to protect Ghost from an unknown killer before he is able to find the little girl and silence her for good.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
55 people are currently reading
479 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Black
316 books578 followersLisa Black spent the happiest five years of her life in a morgue. Strange, perhaps, but true. After ten years as a secretary, she went back to school to get a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Cleveland State University. In her job as a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, she analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes.
She had her life sorted out just the way she liked it until her husband got fed up with Cleveland snow and moved them to Florida, 1400 miles away from her family and her career. Not that she’s bitter or anything. Now she works as a Certified Latent Print Examiner and Certified Crime Scene Analyst for the city of Cape Coral, Florida, police department.
Lisa has lectured at writer’s conventions and appeared on panels. In her life as a writer she’s a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. In her life as a forensic specialist she’s a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts. She has had over 1050 hours of instruction in forensic topics and has testified in over 60 trials.
Her book Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Her That Darkness is a #1 Amazon bestseller and Evidence of Murder is a NYT bestseller. Lisa was a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
She had her life sorted out just the way she liked it until her husband got fed up with Cleveland snow and moved them to Florida, 1400 miles away from her family and her career. Not that she’s bitter or anything. Now she works as a Certified Latent Print Examiner and Certified Crime Scene Analyst for the city of Cape Coral, Florida, police department.
Lisa has lectured at writer’s conventions and appeared on panels. In her life as a writer she’s a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. In her life as a forensic specialist she’s a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts. She has had over 1050 hours of instruction in forensic topics and has testified in over 60 trials.
Her book Perish was shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Putnam and Mystery Writers of America. Her That Darkness is a #1 Amazon bestseller and Evidence of Murder is a NYT bestseller. Lisa was a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 11, 2019
I have a like/dislike relationship (not quite strong enough to be love/hate) with this author's writing. I like how the characters are written, the dialogue tends to be funny and clever at times, and so far I have always found the plot to be pretty interesting. What I personally don't care for is the long drawn out descriptions of a forensic examiner's process. I'm sure many who are interested in this kind of thing probably find this to be of great merit. However, for those of us just in it for the crime thriller/mystery aspect, these frequent descriptions are quite tedious and I'll admit that I skim through most of it to get back to the story at hand.
July 29, 2016
Too much description of two violent murders dragged the book down for me.
January 6, 2013
The discovery of the body of a young woman found at Cleveland building site early one morning looks initially to be a suicide, but forensic scientist Theresa MacClean, has her doubts. A number of unexplained anomalies raise questions that she wants answered before she is sure.
Eleven-year-old Ghost has a habit of nocturnal wondering when she can’t sleep, and had learned to exit and enter her home by the window silently. On one of her night rambles she is witness to the sight of someone being pushed from a high building under construction.
The young woman was in fact one of the construction workers and Theresa along with the police detectives assigned to the investigation
Angela and Theresa’s cousin Frank have many lines of enquiry – the one the construction company would prefer is suicide, but could the victim have discovered something fraudulent that someone didn’t want known, or did she fall? Ghost says the woman was pushed, but cannot provide a description, but only identifies as a shadow man! But the killer is already aware that there was a witness, and is determined that she will not live to identify him. Will he catch up with Ghost?
As the investigation proceeds I tried in vain to work out whodunit! There are several threads running through the story and quite a cast of characters. Along side the investigation I also enjoyed the personal relationships, but nothing prepared me for the nail-biting climax.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes
Eleven-year-old Ghost has a habit of nocturnal wondering when she can’t sleep, and had learned to exit and enter her home by the window silently. On one of her night rambles she is witness to the sight of someone being pushed from a high building under construction.
The young woman was in fact one of the construction workers and Theresa along with the police detectives assigned to the investigation
Angela and Theresa’s cousin Frank have many lines of enquiry – the one the construction company would prefer is suicide, but could the victim have discovered something fraudulent that someone didn’t want known, or did she fall? Ghost says the woman was pushed, but cannot provide a description, but only identifies as a shadow man! But the killer is already aware that there was a witness, and is determined that she will not live to identify him. Will he catch up with Ghost?
As the investigation proceeds I tried in vain to work out whodunit! There are several threads running through the story and quite a cast of characters. Along side the investigation I also enjoyed the personal relationships, but nothing prepared me for the nail-biting climax.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes
July 12, 2013
It started out pretty good but kind of lagged at the end... But I did enjoy reading it.
April 17, 2018
I enjoy this series. Theresa is doing her job forensically covering a death of a female construction worker from a high rise when she meets the woman's daughter and the roller coaster of mystery begins. Who done pushed the woman, the foreman, a sicko killer who enjoys the fear & watching the fall, the asst. DA who evidently is so plain people think he's a pedo. But are spark flying between Theresa and the DA Ian Bauer? hmmmmm......another quick fun beach read.
April 29, 2023
An 11 year old girl looking for her father is plunged into a dangerous world of theft and murder. I learned some things about construction that I hadn't known. The protagonist is forensic scientist Theresa MacLean who turns out to be quite courageous in this outing. I've never read any other books in this series, but I'll probably try another.
September 12, 2019
Very good story, in my opinion. Kept me guessing the whole time! The only problem is that I think she was a bit unclear, as opposed to clever, in her writing to keep the twist surprising at the end. I definitely enjoyed the ride though, and I was glad that the 'obvious' choice was not the correct one.
July 24, 2023
An enjoyable listen. Whether it was intentional or unintentional, the description of Samantha’s killer by Gost and the killer himself seemed to make him one of the drug dealer thugs because of the similarity in one the dealer-turned-construction worker’s names (Daemon) and the description of the killer.
April 11, 2025
I really enjoy the main protagonist, Teresa McLean, in this series. But I hate the way that I have had to read this series. piecemeal. There are so few of Lisa Blacks books offered as audiobook, not even through Amazon’s Audible collection. I recommend this book and any others that you may be able to read without resorting to audiobooks.
February 18, 2023
With the subject matter this book should have been interesting but it just wasn’t. The internal dialogue of the bad guy especially was almost painfully hard to read because it was so poorly written. All things procedural were boring and descriptions were lacking. Just not good.
August 11, 2023
Didn't realize this was set in my hometown. In reality, we have had way worse things hapoen here. I did enjoy the book and was nice to go through and be able to visualize the areas the author talks about since I know where they are.
March 19, 2018
Just ok. The narrator is excellent which is a good thing or I would have quit
April 3, 2018
Completely satisfying story with interesting police and criminal characters, engaging plot, surprisingly sympathetic resourceful victims.
May 24, 2018
THis was an okay murder mystery.
April 14, 2020
Quick and easy read predictable in some parts very detailed in others. It has been a while since I read the last book in the series
August 1, 2020
Good book. Definitely had me on the edge of my seat.
May 11, 2021
Really boring. That's about it, boring.
August 15, 2021
Good and holds your interest
November 1, 2022
The first Theresa book but I was not as enthused as some of her other series .
March 25, 2025
The best one yet. Love this heroine!
October 2, 2016
Forensic detective Theresa MacLean is back. She's called to the scene of a crime. A dead body has been found at a construction site. The victim, Sam Zebrowski worked for the company building the new jail. She was apparently pushed or thrown from twenty-three stories up. So what was she doing on site in the middle of the night? Why was she all dressed up? Had she been meeting someone? A co-worker, perhaps? And what about the child who found her? A child with the nickname Ghost? Theresa discovers the young girl is the victim's daughter which raises a whole lot more questions. Had Ghost come there with her mother? Did the girl witness Sam's fall? Did she see what actually happened? Can Theresa believe Ghost when she says the Shadow Man was responsible for the crime?
Slowly but surely Theresa gathers clues as to what took place that night and in the process comes to realize Ghost is in danger. If what she says is true and she did see the killer then whoever he is, he will want to keep her quiet. When Ghost's grandmother is attacked and Ghost, herself, is almost kidnapped, Theresa races to uncover the truth while doing her best to keep Ghost alive.
This was a fast paced thriller that kept me engaged throughout. Ghost was such an interesting character. It was obvious that she had some issues. She and her mom lived with Ghost's grandmother and Ghost was constantly sneaking out of the house by climbing down the tree outside her window. She'd roam about town at night, oblivious to the idea she could possibly be in danger. She stuns Theresa by trying to investigate her mother's death herself, even going so far as to go into some bars and show her mother's picture around. And she's taken quite a liking to Theresa and vice versa. So when Ghost goes missing its difficult for Theresa to concentrate on the case due to her worry for Ghost.
While the plot was simple and easy to follow, you still don't know who did it and why until the end. Will definitely continue with this series.
Slowly but surely Theresa gathers clues as to what took place that night and in the process comes to realize Ghost is in danger. If what she says is true and she did see the killer then whoever he is, he will want to keep her quiet. When Ghost's grandmother is attacked and Ghost, herself, is almost kidnapped, Theresa races to uncover the truth while doing her best to keep Ghost alive.
This was a fast paced thriller that kept me engaged throughout. Ghost was such an interesting character. It was obvious that she had some issues. She and her mom lived with Ghost's grandmother and Ghost was constantly sneaking out of the house by climbing down the tree outside her window. She'd roam about town at night, oblivious to the idea she could possibly be in danger. She stuns Theresa by trying to investigate her mother's death herself, even going so far as to go into some bars and show her mother's picture around. And she's taken quite a liking to Theresa and vice versa. So when Ghost goes missing its difficult for Theresa to concentrate on the case due to her worry for Ghost.
While the plot was simple and easy to follow, you still don't know who did it and why until the end. Will definitely continue with this series.
August 4, 2013
I started this book and never listed it as currently reading because I wasn't sure I'd finish it. I felt like I had to finish a book set in my hometown and since I've read the others in the series. As much as I enjoy all the references to familiar places, I'm not sure I'd read any more of the books in the series.
This one was dry and confusing despite three bloody, grizzly murders at a construction site. The first victim was a woman working in a man's world so you had a great many male suspects. All those characters were hard to keep track of and differentiate, I still am not sure I fully remember meeting the murderer.
The other thing that bothered me was the victim's daughter, a child who lives a shadow life and becomes an unknowing witness. She is targeted and violence against children is not anything that makes a book more appealing to me.
There are the usual cast of characters along with another potential love interest who apparently is so unattractive he scares people.
One other disconcerting note, author Lisa Black has a new publisher. The company is British so the quotation marks are single, not the double set standard in American publishing. That bothers me when I'm reading a story set in my city though I'm sure there's no way around that.
This one was dry and confusing despite three bloody, grizzly murders at a construction site. The first victim was a woman working in a man's world so you had a great many male suspects. All those characters were hard to keep track of and differentiate, I still am not sure I fully remember meeting the murderer.
The other thing that bothered me was the victim's daughter, a child who lives a shadow life and becomes an unknowing witness. She is targeted and violence against children is not anything that makes a book more appealing to me.
There are the usual cast of characters along with another potential love interest who apparently is so unattractive he scares people.
One other disconcerting note, author Lisa Black has a new publisher. The company is British so the quotation marks are single, not the double set standard in American publishing. That bothers me when I'm reading a story set in my city though I'm sure there's no way around that.
May 4, 2013
Lisa Black knows how to keep you in suspense. Its been awhile since I read a Theresa MacLean book. I hope I don't have to wait too long for the next one. Theresa is a forensic detective called to a crime scene in a construction site. As usual no one was around when it happened and no one knows anything. The boss wants everything cleaned up quickly so he can get his men back to work as soon as possible. Then Theresa finds an 11 year old at the crime scene who says the body is her mother and she saw what happened, but the only description she can give is "he's a shadowman". But Mr Shadowman saw her, doesn't know she never saw his face and now he wants to shut up the only person who can identify him. Black doesn't reveal who the killer is until near the end, so it keeps you guessing especially after another body is found the next day at the construction site.
July 7, 2014
This was my first experience with this series/author. The first few chapters were boring, but just as I was thinking about quitting, it improved a lot. The villain is deducible but not easily! It was a little hard keeping all the characters straight, especially the construction workers, but the skyscraper milieu was interesting. I'd prefer a little more action and a little less graphic violence. I may try some more of this series later.
July 7, 2013
Enjoyable fifth in a mystery series featuring forensic scientist theresa, set in cleveland, with a nicely assorted and multi-faceted cast of characters an especially touching relationship between theresa and the young girl called Ghost, who witnesses her mother's death at a construction site...quite a few implausible coincidences, but lots of interesting construction industry background to compensate, and well-propelled suspense
December 30, 2013
Dreadfully boring book with factual inaccuracies which ought never have gone into print. Referring to a "distilled water supply" for the canteen is ridiculous. It's filtered water, not distilled!!! You can't drink distilled water as your regular water supply. It stuffs up your electrolytes. Can't recommend this book.
February 16, 2015
Good book. Absolutely no romance at all, which is refreshing when so many decide gratuitous sex is necessary to carry the story along. I can't imagine that a construction site could possibly stay open after a murder took place. Ghost, a nickname for a very quiet 11 year old, is anxious to help with the murder investigation surrounding her mother's murder.
October 18, 2020
My first foray into Theresa MacLean, and I have mixed feelings. While I liked the story and the character, I feel that the story should have involved more forensics. This murder could have been solved by any detective as forensics only played a small role overall. It was decent though. Just felt that the aspect of the character that makes her special should have had more of a role.
May 10, 2013
I have been reading this author since she first wrote under the name Elizabeth Becka---this book fell so short of her initial suspense and action in her first Theresa MacLean books that I just skipped thru it until I found how whodunnit.
April 8, 2014
loved it!!!! it was a surprise like. Never read Lisa Black before!!! If u like mystery... suspense..... forensic evidence... with a bit of romance and believable characters... with minimal cursing ... you will like This book. gonna try to get to the library for the next book... Enjoy!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews