In looking at Isaacs' first four novels, some interesting patterns begin to emerge. Perhaps "non-patterns" would be a better description, because two are patterns of surprise rather than predictability.

Shining Through draws on a variety of genres to put together a unique story, a technique Isaacs used successfully in her previous books. With each new novel the surprise lies in which genres' traditions are used and how they are combined to come up with "something different" from other works in the various categories.

A second attribute found in at least one of Isaacs's other novels is a somewhat eccentric pattern of pacing or story structure. In Almost Paradise (1984) the female protagonist dies unexpectedly just when a happy ending seems to be foreshadowed. Shining Through devotes the first two-thirds of its pages to office politics and domestic drama before shifting tone and pace...