DANGEROUS SHADOWS

DANGEROUS SHADOWS
Friday, April 10, 2026 by GAIL PALLOTTA

Categories: Friday's Fiction / GUEST AUTHORS

PLEASE WELCOME

GAIL PALLOTTA

FICTION FRIDAY

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Over the past few years, a sentiment I’ve often heard—we need disciples for Christ —has made an impression on me. When a subject rattles around in my head and won’t let go, I usually end up writing about it. Sometimes it’s a blog or an article, but this time the noise that wouldn’t stop in my mind ended up as a Christian Romantic Suspense Discipleship Series. Dangerous Shadows is Book 3. The other two are Hidden Danger, Book 1, and Dangerous Detour, Book 2.

I wanted to weave the importance of Jesus’ messages of discipleship and forgiveness into these stories. He waits with open arms for all who reach out to Him, accept Him as their Savior, and ask for forgiveness, barring none. We know it’s important to spread His Gospel because the Bible tells us in several places. For one, in Mark 16: 15, Jesus tells the apostles to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

My grandfather planted churches in the far reaches of the mountains in Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina. I grew up in the foothills of the North Carolina Mountains and know the area well. Combining my grandfather’s legacy and my youth, the mountains of North Carolina seemed the perfect place to set my discipleship stories.

For book 2, Dangerous Detour, I used a cover from a picture in a magazine from my alma mater, Western Carolina University. In Dangerous Shadows, I set most of the book at a small college in the hill country. Since I have a pair of earrings made of quartz from the area, I knew the mineral was plentiful there. In further research, I learned Spruce Pine, North Carolina, has the purest quartz in the world, so I dug deeper.

Seldom talked about, quartz has many uses. The crystals vibrate at a precise frequency when an electric field is applied. They’re used in watches, clocks, computers, radios, televisions, and GPS devices. The list goes on, so I decided to have the mineral play a part in Dangerous Shadows.

My husband and I used to meet one of my college professors for lunch at a casino in North Carolina, because they had the best food around. I’d never been to a casino before and haven’t been to one since, but the memory of my time in the mountains at the casino sparked the role of the gamblers. After a visit to a casino, Nick, the hero in Dangerous Shadows, ends up in a tense scene playing poker with illegal gamblers. I had to do quite a bit of research about poker.

Because I’m a fan of mystery and romantic suspense, I wrote the Discipleship series, including Dangerous Shadows, in that genre, putting the heroine Emily in constant danger along with Nick, her ex-fiancé, who’s a private detective. Since I once worked for an Associated Press reporter in a public relations department, I borrowed from my ex-boss’s know-how and made Emily, a crime reporter. She gets her first taste of danger when someone assaults her at the library.

Now, Emily has a good reason to contact the hero, whom she misses terribly, but can’t commit to. Nick, who still cares for Emily, wants to help, especially as Emily continues to experience threats and near misses. Wrapping up the story, I wrote scary situations for Nick and Emily to wade through. The puzzle they had to put together involves connecting a thief, gamblers, a college athlete, a murderer, and a stalker.

I worked on a plot to give the book a strong faith presence in a setting that portrayed ordinary people coping with their daily lives, as all of us must. Sweet love stories touch our hearts, so I wanted one of those to unfold amid danger, on-the-edge suspense, and mystery. Then, I looked for interesting objects and facts to lead Emily and Nick to the criminals.

ABOUT GAIL PALLOTTA

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta is a wife, Mom, swimmer, and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets, and getting together with friends and family. She’s a former Grace Awards finalist, Reader’s Favorite Book Award winner, TopShelf Book Awards Finalist, and a Top Author pick. She’s published nine books, poems, short stories, and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies, while two are in museums. She enjoys connecting with readers.

Connect with Gail:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3226220.Gail_Pallotta

Pinterest link – https://pinterest.com/Gwrt781/

Author Website: www.gailpallotta.com

ABOUT DANGEROUS SHADOWS

Shaken from an assault in the library parking lot at Hilltop College in Western North Carolina, crime reporter Emily Hanover contacts her ex-fiancé, private investigator Nick Lancaster. When the college hires Nick to recover quartz and ancient maps stolen from the library, Nick insists there’s a connection between the theft and Emily’s attack. As Nick and Emily face danger from an elusive stalker, their romance rekindles. Nick’s sidekick, Hucklesford, spots two suspects, so he and Nick go undercover. While Nick’s surveillance points to illegal gambling and murder, Hucklesford’s investigation leads him to the college cross-country team. Can Nick and Hucklesford, along with Emily, connect the stalker, theft, college student, and gambler’s murder to solve this baffling mystery? Will Nick and Emily find true love?