The Edge of the Shadows

Whidbey Island Saga #3

by Elizabeth George

The much anticipated third installment of the Whidbey Island saga.

Whidbey Island, a place of secrets and mystery, is home now for Becca King, still in hiding from her criminal stepfather. But Becca and her friends have new worries, as a series of fires are being set, the latest causing a fatality. Is one of the newcomers to blame? Perhaps it’s Isis Martin’s brother, just back from a school for troubled kids, or Parker, a musician fired by his bandmates. Meanwhile, Becca herself continues to slowly explore her own paranormal abilities under the tutelage of Diana Kinsale.

Elizabeth George, nominated for an Edgar and an Agatha award for The Edge of Nowhere, her first book set on Whidbey Island, proves once again that she is a suspense novelist without peer.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural, Romance

464 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain. Eleven of her novels, featuring her character Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

She was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was eighteen months old. She was a student of English, receiving a teaching certificate. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed an advanced degree in psychology.

Her first published novel was A Great Deliverance in 1988, featuring Thomas Lynley, Lord Asherton, a Scotland Yard inspector of noble birth; Barbara Havers, Lynley's assistant, from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of noble birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James.

This Elizabeth George is distinct from the other author named Elizabeth George (Christian author).

Series:
* Inspector Lynley

Reviews

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 sterren - Nederlandse paperback

Toeval bestaat gewoon niet. Toch?

Een spannend vervolg dat ik miste in het vorig boek. Een nieuw thema. De branden die onze vrienden die we kennen van deel 1 en de samenleving niet onberoerd laten.

Het plot is hier niet het belangrijkst vind ik. Het accent ligt meer op de relaties tussen de drie nieuwe bezoekers op het eiland en onze vrienden.

Parker, onze vriend uit Canada, kan Becca misschien info bezorgen over haar moeder.
Becca volgt nog steeds haar stiefvader want de partner zou nog leven en gevonden zijn in Mexico.

Ook de dader van de branden is gevonden door het zoekwerk van onze vrienden.
Spijtig krijgen we ook slecht nieuws.
Hayley zusje heeft een maagzweer en moet geholpen worden. De centen?

Seth zijn grootvader heeft een beroerte.
Gelukkig zou Derric zijn zusje terug gevonden hebben met de hulp van Becca.
Becca haar geheim komt onder druk daar er posters geplaatst worden over haar moeder.

Jenn verdwijnt naar de achtergrond.
Onze vrienden worden steeds meer volwassen mensen en niet meer de pubers.

Een goede afsluiting van deze trilogie

[Laural · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Ms George's, I've read and genuinely enjoyed most everything she's done. But the verbal tics given the characters in this book -inconsistently, even - were incredibly annoying. I hope her future editors discourage the constant unnecessary use of contractions in speech ('F, c'n this, c'n that.) It's not particularly diagnostic of Whidbey Island or rural Washingtonian speech. Even if people were to actually speak that way, there is no reason for showing that in prose for a North American audience.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eindelijk had ik het 3e deel in de fluistereiland serie te pakken in de bibliotheek. Ik aasde er al weken op, aangezien de bibliotheek deze in bestelling had. Plots zag ik dat het boek er was en raasde ik naar de bibliotheek, maar daar aangekomen bleek er nog iemand op dit boek te azen, helaas moest ik dus nog even wachten. Toen ik dit boek eindelijk had en er in begon, lukte me het ineens niet meer om verder te lezen. Achteraf wel logisch, want ik zat echt een beetje in een leesdip en ik wilde niets liever dan Versplinterd verder lezen, maar dat ging nou eenmaal niet. Tot ik een vrije middag had en ik dit boek weer zag liggen. Ik herinnerde me hoe ik genoten had van de vorige 2 delen en ik wilde ineens niets liever dan verder lezen in dit boek. Zo gezegd, zo gedaan, want toen was dit boek binnen no-time uit.

In het derde deel opnieuw een losstaand mysterie, buiten het mysterie dat er toch al rust op Becca. In dit deel worden er branden gesticht op Widbey Island. Wie zou er achter zitten? Die nieuwe muzikant uit Canada, die nieuwe, vreemde jongen Aiden, of toch een oude bekende?

Opnieuw genoten van het heerlijke mysterie in dit boek. Ook weer een stukje verder gekomen in het mysterie rondom Becca en Rejoice, maar het is weer duidelijk dat er zeker nog een 4e deel aankomt. ELIZABETH laat eindelijk weten in het 4e deel hoe het in elkaar zit, please? Volgens mij gaat het 4e deel alleen nog heel lang duren.. Want er is nog niets over bekend. Jammer, want ik zou niets liever willen dan gelijk in deel 4 beginnen.

De Whidbey Island Saga is een van die series, waar je geen terugblikken in nodig hebt. Van veel boeken vergeet ik vrij snel hoe alles in elkaar zit, maar in deze serie vergeet ik dat helemaal niet. Pluspunt! Deze serie houdt je echt in zijn greep.

[Anna Bubolz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review
I thought this book was good. I liked the book because it kept me interested the whole time. There were some parts that I could call boring but eventually the boringness would fade into action. A good book to me needs a balance of both otherwise it gets too overwhelming. This book has a combination of both.
Plot
Things are "heating up" on Whidbey Island because there is an arsonist on the loose. More secrets are revealed and even more are being hidden. Haley Cartwright's dad is getting sicker each day, she has mixed feelings about a Canadian boy she likes, and to top that off her sister is acting super strange. Her friend Isis is no help because she is hiding the fact that her brother is/was an arsonist which could help stop the fires. Isis's brother is being super creepy to Becca so Jen and her find out about his past. Then eventually they start to investigate and find evidence which ties Isis's one night stand and Haley's new boyfriend to the scene. In the end someone dies.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book to highschool girls. I think this book isn't good for middle schoolers because of the context. The book is also a little girly.

[Venessa Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noch immer sitzt Becca auf Whidbey Island fest und wartet darauf, dass ihre Mutter zurückkehrt. Nachdem bei einem Fest ein Feuer ausbricht und sie auf der Titelseite der Lokalzeitung landet, macht sie sich Sorgen, dass ihr Stiefvater sie finden könnte. Doch das bleibt nicht ihr größtes Problem: Wer ist der Feuerteufel, der auf der Insel sein Unwesen treibt?

Ich hatte großen Spaß dabei, dieses Buch zu lesen und könnte es kaum aus der Hand legen. Elizabeth George schafft es, den Leser vollkommen zu fesseln, sodass man die Gefühle der Charaktere teilt und es kaum erwarten kann zu lesen, wie es weitergeht.
Die Auflösung am Ende hat mich zwar nicht völlig vom Hocker gehauen, aber das lag vermutlich auch daran, dass es mir ein wenig übereilt vorkam.
Nichtsdestotrotz bin ich jetzt sehr gespannt, wie der letzte Teil der Reihe sein wird und wie die Geschichte um Becca King ausgehen wird.

[Janneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik vond dit boek het beste tot nu toe uit de serie van het Fluistereiland. Het ging over een op zichzelf staand mysterie, maar wel een mysterie dat ik interessant vond om over te lezen. En daarnaast was er toch ook nog veel ruimte voor het verhaal van Becca zelf, iets wat ik miste bij het vorige boek. Het verhaal van Becca is nog niet ten einde, dus ik ga vast het vierde deel nog wel eens lezen.

[Connie53 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leuk boek in deze Young Adult serie van Elizabeth George. Ik geef het een 7,5, maar dat wordt hier dus een 8 = **** want een 6 = *** is te weinig. Dat het geen volle **** sterren krijgt komt omdat ik het hier en daar een beetje rommelig vind.

[Joany Vries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deze serie wordt beter met elk nieuw deel. Geweldige personages en veel spanning.

[Sarina Morrhaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

opnieuw een vlot lezend deel in deze reeks. Laat dat vierde deel maar op de wereld los Elizabeth!!! Ik wil nu wel eens weten of Becca haar mama terug vindt

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my only attempt at checking out this series by a favorite author, but I found I am not interested in reading any of the other books in Whidbey Island Saga. Just not for me.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Whidbey Island Saga

[Lonna Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third novel in the Whidbey Island Saga (Set on Puget Sound, near Seattle, WA.) does not compare to the power of "The Edge of Nowhere,"the first book introducing Becca King. Still in hiding from her larcenous stepfather, and worried about her missing mother, Becca can hear the "whispers" of others' thoughts and is confused about her growing psychic abilities. Mystery, paranormal, & romance mix as Becca loves Derric, an adopted Ugandan orphan, and is friends with Seth, a local musician. Secrets abound as fires are set on the island and the causes are unknown.

[Jovdb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped that this would be the last in the series but the story continues.

Living in a small community, some of the book resonates - how the community pulls together, how it seems “word” gets around, and how difficult conflict can be.

I still find the author’s contraction of words tedious and can’t understand the reasons for them.
It’s an okay book but certainly not the best by her.

[Chelsie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book I felt was somewhat of a disappointment compared to the first two. I felt that the writing was rushed and it was choppy with jumping between all the characters. Hoping the fourth book will be written like the first two.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book three in the series. Now on to book four.

[Mark McTighe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wouldn't have bothered finishing the book but I was stuck at an airport. I'd read every scrap of newspaper I could find; spent hours studying the departures board. In reality I'd have been better off reading the labels on other peoples suitcases BUT, no, I stuck at it. Elizabeth George had written it so I was going to finish it. I started day dreaming, hoping, that a stray plane would shoot off the end of the runway crash through the terminal buildings and pin me to the wall. Anything seemed better than reading this weak, dribbling, nonesense of an excuse for a story. Yes, she can write good English, yes, the words flow and the characters move about from A to B. But, I can't say anything else good about it.

I love the Inspector Lynley books because they have a good plot. Why oh why didn't you give this one. Perhaps you didn't write it at all. That's what it is..... It's not written by Elizabeth George but by George Elizabeth. The printer just got the name mixed up....

[Stacey Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fires are happening, small ones at first but they're getting larger. Could there be a person intentionally starting the fires? When the kids throw a party at an abandoned home on the beach things get out of hand. Then a fire breaks out and things get even worse. So many kids were there, many of them drunk, any one of them could've been involved. A few new people to the island throw suspicions on them. Parker, the fiddle player sitting in with Sean's gypsy band. Isis and Aidan are troubled teens with issues. Aidan went to a private high school for troubled teens. Isis can't shut up, she talks constantly. Besides the fires, Hayley's family is going through tough times but hiding it from everyone. Secrets are running rampant. Becca still has her secret life worried about her mother. In this book it seems like a lot is going on with each of the kids. And they seem to be dealing with it alone.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this third in the Whidbey Island series our hero, Becca King, is once again fearing that she will be discovered. Posters with her mother's name on them are being distributed around the island. Whose idea was that and why?

But she's otherwise distracted by new friends and by fires. Becca is among a gang of teens present when a cabin goes up in flames and a person dies. So is Hayley and Seth and Derric and pretty much everyone involved in this series so far. The newcomers include the boy with the mad fiddling skills, Parker Natalia, Isis Martin, and her little brother Aidan, who has been a bit of a thorn in Becca's side. There are many candidates for the role of firestarter but the suspicion falls on two in particular.

A dramatic event ends the search and sets the many teens off in different directions.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series. Wish the 4th one was on ebooks. Guess I will have to wait until the library opens....

Whidbey Island, a place of secrets and mystery, is home now for Becca King, still in hiding from her criminal stepfather. But Becca and her friends have new worries, as a series of fires are being set, the latest causing a fatality. Is one of the newcomers to blame? Perhaps it’s Isis Martin’s brother, just back from a school for troubled kids, or Parker, a musician fired by his bandmates. Meanwhile, Becca herself continues to slowly explore her own paranormal abilities under the tutelage of Diana Kinsale.

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first two, but I still liked it. Found myself picking nits like: Is Elizabeth George on a mission from God to teach the entire book-reading YA population the meaning of comprised? Because if there is one word she is using in this book/these books, that's certainly it. And: Is it some weird verbal tic of teenagers in the great Northwest to say "I got" instead of "I've got"? Or is it all of these kids today, and I'm just not around enough of them to know? Ahem. Such aside, I'm torn about reading the last book -- dying to know how things end, but don't want them to!

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm trying to get through my unread shelf at home and this book has been there for a while. The actual story isn't terrible -- I'm really actually intrigued by Becca's "whispers" and what that means for the island. BUT the author is working from such a stereotyped notion of teenagers, and she's got a lot of idiosyncrasies in both her writing and her attitudes that really annoy me, which ends up detracting from the story being told. I'm gonna stick it out for the final book, though, because I want to see how this whole thing wraps up.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I have read many of Elizabeth George's books. This is the first one I have read set on Whidbey Island. I was not expecting a YA book. As I was reading I realized all of the primary characters were high school age youth. Terrific characters. Youth who learned lessons from mistakes. Youth who really cared for one another and parents and grandparents. There is a mystery to be solved about the fires. There are a couple of other mysteries too.

I will definite read more of this series.

[Wellington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the book ended, but it was a ride. Most of the characters were dealing with some heavy issues, but it was handled really well. The reactions of the characters to their situations was believable and real. I like all of the characters and am very interred to see where the author takes the story in the next book.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit last fantastical than the last one. Except for the mind reading. But there was always that possibility that some of what was reality was actually fantastical. The characters continue to change a little bit at a time. And some plot lines get at least somewhat wrapped up. A little bit more sex but still fairly tame. And still a certain amount of darkness. And Whidbey of course.

[Amy B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, and the questions posed throughout kept me guessing about each character, their actions and motivations. The ending felt a little disappointing, maybe it’s because it’s a middle book...and yet there just was too much tie-up regarding relationships and not enough regarding the arson for me to be fully satisfied. :)

[alice 𓆉 ⋆｡˚𓇼 ⋆｡˚𓆟 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - 3.75
cette saga est vraiment chouette, j'adore retrouver chaque personnage, chaque lieu sans qu'ils changent
je suis en train de la lire depuis 3 ans, mais c'est fou, je me rappelle de tout, on peut reprendre sa lecture à n'importe quel moment
ce livre n'est pas parfait, et je pense que je le note au dessus de son vrai mérite, mais je me suis bien évadée en le lisant

[Larissa Yossefi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Edge of Nowhere Series . Book number 1.
The book is for parents and teenagers, the writer recalls how teenagers fall in love at the age of 14. The plot is about the paranormal "gift " .
I really liked the description of the healthy relationship of one of the heroes to his grandfather. There would be more books on exactly how to be not only a parent, but a grandfather.

[Yvette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot better than the first book in the series. Still, a number of actions by the kids were a bit 'dumbed down' imo.
My mistake for buying a series of books on the basis of the writer's name without checking what they're about.
A nice enough read anyway.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third in the series, the characters just keep developing. Becca is still the main character, but she's changed as she's matured. She is more comfortable in her skin and is now thinking of how to help others. A good story about several families in a small community in Washington State.

[hugo van der wildt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deel 3 in de serie fluistereiland.
Weer zeer sterk.
Voldoende spanning.
Becca haar geheim komt stilaan in het gevaar.
Een nieuw thema, de branden op het eiland die onze vrienden niet onberoerd laten.
Het einde ook familiedrama´s. Zeer aangrijpend.