Thursday, July 8, 2021

The Scarlet Pen



Oh, watch out Emma! The nice, sometimes bullied boy that you remembered from your childhood is not the same man you have fallen in love with. Emma is drawn to Stephen Dee Richards because of his charming personality, the attention that he gives her, and her sweet and rescuing nature.  Their whirlwind courtship is suspect as Stephen does not ask her father’s permission to marry her and seems to be in a rush to set the date. Promising to Emma and her father that he will return with income to support her, Stephen leaves on a westward journey where he leaves a deadly trail of people who were unfortunate to have met him.  

The latest in the True Color series, Jennifer Uhlarik takes the difficult and chilling story of a serial killer and lets you see into the mind of Stephen Dee Richards. The way in which it is written shows us how under the charming and affable veneer of this man lies a callous, ruthless, and brutal murderer. Weaving the story of writing mundane details to his sweetheart, Emma, of his travels after he commits heinous acts was an excellent way of showing his blatant disregard of life and his truly evil nature. 

The relationship that Emma develops with Clay Timmons, a Secret Service agent, shows the contrast between the two men and provides light in this dark tale and gives the balance of a selfless godly man. He only wants the best for Emma and to keep her safe as he uncovers clues of Stephen’s activities.  He writes her encouraging scriptures as he tracks the killer and offers her the opportunity to choose between two very different paths. If you have read any of the other True Color series books, you don’t want to miss this one! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publications for an arc of the book. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. 

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