Shades of Dark
by Linnea Sinclair
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Book Summary Information
Author: Linnea SinclairEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN: 0553589652
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Shades of Dark
Book Review: A Hard Yet Wonderful Read
Summary: 5 Stars
*If you're reading this before Gabriel's Ghost, stop, turn around and go get Gabriel's Ghost first. Then come back and read this one. Seriously, folks.
In retrospect, after everything Sully and Chaz go through, Shades of Dark is the perfect descriptor for the evolution their relationship endures. It's been three months since they infiltrated the jukor-breeding lab on the Marker space station. Now it's time to go after the big guns, the brains and monetary brawn behind it all and the mobile ship lab coasting across the universe, breeding even more jukors. The continued kidnapping of Takan females to use as breeding machines is quickly escalating a desperate situation towards open war.
Sully and Chaz are adamant as ever in their resolve to stop the bloodthirsty creatures from getting loose as well as annihilating those behind it. Their mission has never been in question. What is though is their relationship. Sully's powers grow stronger everyday, yet do not become easier to bear. Chaz is his firm support, however he needs it, but when a new crew member comes aboard, another with powers like Sully's, their love will undergo the ultimate test of wills and survival. No one ever said saving the universe was easy, but no one ever warned them it would demand - and take - so much of them personally either.
Sully and Chaz are one of the most passionate couples I've ever had the pleasure of reading - and this isn't even a romance! We learn a lot more about the two in terms of how they came to be a couple. I thought I was already as invested in their relationship as I could get. Wrong, I was so wrong in that regard. This may not be a romance, but a lot of other romance couples could learn a thing or two from Chaz and Sully. The conflict between these two was HUGE! Again, Sully's powers are a major contender for foremost villain. But it was stepped up quite a few notches in this sequel to Gabriel's Ghost, where it seemed as though they'd at least come to an understanding, a compromise in terms of Sully's powers effecting them as a couple. Wrong again - at least somewhat. Sully, despite a willing and wonderful partner, still feels very much alone as he struggles to control the darker instincts of his Kyi-Ragkiril nature. He's not had the benefit of growing up learning and adapting to his skills and therefore perfecting them into something usable and at his whim rather than him at the power's whim. It was heart wrenching at times to read, the uncertainty and self-doubt he goes through.
The third that steps in, takes the scales that are trying to balance and throws them into the outer reaches of space is another Kyi-Ragkiril, one Cordell Delkavra, Captain Regarth - or Del, as he is preferably called. it is hard to talk too much about him without giving everything away. He is the core of it all, the igniter to not only Sully and Chaz's relationship, but the main plot as well. At first, it's very hard to ascertain his motives and I wanted to know them right away, very much. Something about him fascinated me from the get go, but also a thread of unease crept in and refused to go away. He definitely makes the book more interesting. It had lagged a bit in pace till he shows up. But when he does show up, hold on to whatever you can because he is the engine, the creator behind the roller coaster that engages the moment he steps into the picture.
And then we have Admiral Phillip Guthrie, who will be getting his own book in the future, titled Hope's Folly (Feb.24, 2009). He becomes a valuable asset, as well as a solid friend, to Chaz. There were moments where I had to chuckle or sigh, when he and Chaz clearly show they've come to an understanding and forgiven where they ended up with each other. Phillip's sporting major whispers of hero duds and I can't wait to see how he handles his own full length story.
This book had me by the throat and more times than I could count, my heart leaped up there too to join in. I really needed time after finishing to come down from the cliff it put me on. A somewhat sad thing for me is I still feel like I'm on that cliff, hoping, heart pounding and dread escalating. But to me, this also speaks powerfully of how well the story engaged me. With Gabriel's Ghost, I became so enamored of Chaz and Sully and their slightly awkward, painfully wonderful love story and in Shades, I'm so torn for them, literally aching at some points and in tears others. But there were also truly beautiful moments, flickers of romance and passion that could make any reader feel their connection. I was reserved by the ending and wished for a bit longer resolution, but not sad in the least for having read the book. I enjoyed it, I was moved by it and I feel as if I have read something realistic in terms of the situations, complications and the hopes, needs and longings of these characters. Ms. Sinclair definitely gives them their due in a powerful way and I came, ultimately, to respect how far she is willing to take her characters. Four and a half stars, almost a perfect read. Based on an Advanced Review Copy.
Summary of Shades of Dark
Can love alone save the day? Award-winning author Linnea Sinclair returns with a vibrant interstellar thriller of romance and adventure in which two lovers are tested in the crucible of deep space, where there are only?Before her court-martial, Captain Chasidah ?Chaz? Bergren was the pride of the Sixth Fleet. Now she?s a fugitive from the ?justice? of a corrupt Empire. Along with her lover, the former monk, mercenary, and telepath Gabriel Ross Sullivan, Chaz hoped to leave the past light-years behind?until the news of her brother Thad?s arrest and upcoming execution for treason. It?s a ploy by Sully?s cousin Hayden Burke to force them out of hiding, and it works.
With a killer targeting human females and a renegade gen lab breeding jukor war machines, Chaz and Sully already had their hands full of treachery, betrayal?not to mention each other. Throw in Chaz?s Imperial ex-husband, Admiral Philip Guthrie, and a Kyi-Ragkiril mentor out to seduce Sully, and not just loyalties but lives are at stake. For when Sully makes a fateful choice, changing their relationship forever, Chaz must also choose?between what duty demands and what her heart tells her she must do.
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