Wednesday, April 8, 2026

The Cost of Secrets by Tyson Abaroa - OPTIONAL

The Cost of Secrets by Tyson Abaroa, 213 pages. Covenant Communications, 2021. $12.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13 (alcohol use, illegal activity, and mentions of drugs, prostitution, and trafficking); Violence: PG13 (corpses, mentions of gangs and terrorism, assault, gun use, and murder)

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: SOME

Myths and legends help keep some of Ramon’s family’s secrets, but he could do without adding more secrets to his cache. Unfortunately, his mother doesn’t care, and she stops by to drop a dead body at his house and leave. Again. Ramon (38yo) calls his detective friend for help, but this one incident is about to stir up a lot more than Ramon wants to cover up. Again.

For more than half the book, everything felt too vague. It was as if I had started in the middle of a series rather than at the beginning of the story. Advertised as a suspense novel, I assume that was the vibe Abaroa was going for, but I felt more out-of-the-loop than in-suspense. Despite having as many questions at the end as I had at the beginning, I enjoyed the reading well enough, though I’m not going to chase down the sequel. Ramon is half Native American.

Reviewer: Carolina Johnson

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