After collaborating with James Patterson on three novels, Peter de Jonge debuts with his own mystery introducing Darlene O'Hara, a New York cop with lots of attitude and a weakness for drink.

The brutal killing of a charismatic NYU student grabs the media's attention, and although O'Hara and her partner begin the investigation, it is soon take out of their hands and turned over to Homicide.

Now determined to continue following her leads unofficially, O'Hara is on a trail that leads from NYU to Brooklyn tattoo parlors, and from a cheap strip club to a "boutique" overseen by a Korean madam.

The introduction of this attractive but flawed heroine will delight those readers who like characters who operate "outside the box." Darlene O'Hara is quirky and certainly doesn't always play by the rules. She'll probably continue to irritate her colleagues in future novels in this new series, and that's exactly what we want her to do.

A richly atmospheric thriller, Shadows Still Remain is a riveting read by an accomplished writer who has been in the shadows for too long. Now that he's out of the literary "closet," you'll be hearing Peter de Jonge's name more and more.