Reviewed by Susan Sewell for Readers' Favorite

Shadow Love by Inge Borg is a fabulous suspense novel. It is a story about a year in Monika Lenz's life that has an Alfred Hitchcock-like twist. Monika is one unlucky woman when it comes to relationships. She makes poor choices every time. After ending another bad relationship, Monika leases out her townhouse in Southern California for a year and moves to the Sierra Mountains. She rents an isolated cabin in the woods in a remote area. For an income, Monika is translating books from her native German language into English. On one of her hikes through the forest, Monika meets a man while she is in a rather compromising position. She is unable to see him clearly, he is a man in the shadows. He claims that she is trespassing and unceremoniously sends her away. Not too long later, on a wet, stormy day, Monika stumbles onto a cabin on the side of the mountain, hidden among the trees. She discovers the elusive man is staying there. After meeting him again, she becomes enamored with him and can't stop thinking about him.

Later, when Monika mentions the cabin to her friends from the local grocery, they are surprised and a little concerned for Monika. They insist that Monika's cabin is the only cabin up there. A short time later, when the ranger stops by to check on her, Monika asks about the stranger. He is a little startled and states that there isn't anyone staying in that area other than herself. Who is this man Monika longs for? Where does he come from? Has Monika become a lonely, desperate, inebriated woman with an impaired mental capacity? Is she imagining people that are not there and incidents that are not happening, or is something otherworldly occurring?

Shadow Love by Inge Borg is a spine-tingling suspense novel that keeps you wondering all the way through to the end. The setting where Monika's cabin is located is beautiful, but somehow gives off an uncanny vibe. I was just waiting for something spooky to happen; the whole story has an unearthly feel to it. The shadows on the mountain are elusive and negligible, yet present in the subconscious, lending to the eeriness of the story. As the story progressed, I began asking what is real and what is shadow? The conclusion definitely reminds me of a Hitchcock thriller. This is a book that I would recommend to Hitchcock fans and readers who are at least sixteen years of age or older as it contains some mild sexual content.