Shadows to Light Shadows of Justice Book 5
Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance
Getaway Reads, LLC
August 28, 2013
231
Dual Review
Shadows to Light – a Novel – Regan Black
Reviewers: She Said – Gloria Lakritz / She Said – Penelope Adams
A supernatural healer, Mira escapes a trial of her peers only to be sent on an impossible mission: Rescue her scientist father from a madman who’s using him to create bio-weapons. But she’s no spy. On her own, with no real clues, she isn’t sure where to turn.
Part of a covert task force searching for a missing government scientist, Jameson is tasked with staring at a laboratory building day in and day out. The boredom is overwhelming until Mira, a woman he cannot forget, shows up in a place she should never be.
Forced together by circumstance, Mira and Jameson enter an adventure that will push them to their limits – and quite possibly beyond.
3rd Place: Best Paranormal Urban Fantasy – PRG 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards
Gloria Lakritz – She Said:
Thank you Regan Black for another formidable book in the JusticeSeries, Shadows to Light blew me away. I have been a fan of your writing for quite a few years now, as you can see by my reviews of this series. You never cease to keep me holding my breath to see what new nuances you can tempt me with that bring your books to a new level.
Where do I start? Again this book starts in the future the year 2094. Mira is a healer, daughter of a famous healer in her world, doctor in ours. It is wartime, and Mira tries to keep her powers secret by being a nurse for our troops. She is a “shadow” not really making friends, not even conversing with patients, for fear she will be found out. She meets a soldier, they share a kiss…
Flash to the year 2096 and Mira is before a tribunal, just barely escaping with some help from her mother, to be taken to a place of safety. It is here Brent Jameson, an ex Special Forces soldier, is on a surveillance job outside a building on a college campus in Chicago, looking for something that will tie it into a case they are working on. He sees Mira and does not believe his eyes… It was all about “that Kiss”.
Regan Black has assembled the whole gang, Slick Mickey and all, to help Mira and Brent solve the mystery. There are kidnappings, murders, plotting, and a dynamite ride for all the wonderful characters we have come to love during the series. It was great seeing them and hearing from them, like seeing old friends.
Mira has battles to overcome both physically and emotionally. The time shared with Jameson is both sizzling and tender. Jameson is a war tired young man, indisputably tall and handsome, who has to decide what is more important to him, and that is hard when they both cannot keep their hands off each other.
The search for her father and the thought of him being a traitor to the country and himself plays heavily on Mira’s decisions, and her ability to trust these new people who want to be called friends. It is a strange feeling to her, having never had any.
Ms. Black’s stories are fast moving, page turners, filled with concise descriptions and lots of action when needed, and lots of banter between the characters. After the last book I read, I thought Slick Mickey’s story was the greatest book in the series that I read, but again Ms. Black has pulled another rabbit out of her hat. They keep getting better and better. Mira who when we began this book believed by her own feelings that she was a mouse. By the end we saw the Mouse Roar!!!
Okay Regan, must say I am addicted to Chicago 2090 something. Your books are a rare treat for someone that reads many books a week for reviews and for pleasure… Your books are pure pleasure. Cannot wait to see what you have up your sleeve for us next.
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Review Chair and Sr Reviewer for the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Penelope Adams – She Said:
The fifth book of Ms. Black’s JusticeSeries, opens in the year 2094, in a combat zone of North Africa where Mira Luther is working as a triage nurse. When a group of soldiers bring a wounded man in, she recognizes technology that is unmistakably her father’s work.
Fast forward to 2096 Chicago where Brent Jameson and his special forces team is in the middle of a very boring surveillance detail watching a building hoping for proof that someone was using it illegally. Mira and Jameson had met for a brief heart stopping moment years earlier and fate will once again bring them together.
Enforcers are after Mira for openly using her healing powers, a notorious mobster has kidnapped her father, the US military wants to reinstate her back into service, and she and Jameson can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Strap on your seat belts folks; once again Ms. Black is going to take you on a bumpy ride.
Right now I’m supposed to be reviewing the writing style and character development, the heck with that, just let me say WOW, WOW, and WOW. O.k. I’ve got that out of my system, on with the review.
After the above statement, I don’t think I really need to say anything more about Ms. Black’s writing style, it’s tight and entertaining. On to the characters then. Mira is a healer who just wants to do her job. She doesn’t consider herself as particularly brave or strong, or anything else that would make her a threat to anyone. She gets involved with the gang from the previous Justice books, and her self-confidence really goes out the window. Truth is, she really is brave, strong, smart and one kick butt healer. I liked her and was rooting for her from the beginning before I really knew her.
Jameson is, well, every girls dream really. He’s a big strong Special Forces, good looking, body that won’t quit, good natured hunk of a guy. He is obsessed with Mira since they shared their first kiss years ago, and that obsession turns in something stronger as the story progresses. He is a loyal as you would want a guy to be to his buddies and his friends, but in the end, knows where his priorities lie. Let me just say, he can disappear and shadow me any day he wants to.
There is a bad guy pulling strings, but we don’t really know who he is until the very end and Ms. Black did such a good job I certainly had no clue that he was, and was surprised when he was revealed. We get to hang out with all our good friends from the previous books again, which is fun since I missed them.
I didn’t know how Ms. Black was going to build a whole book around Mira, who was just a line or two in a couple of other books, but once again she surprised me. I wasn’t really interested in reading Mira’s story, she didn’t seem all that exciting the few times we met her before, but I’m glad I did. I think this is by far the best book in the series so far. It just keeps getting better and better.
I read all the big name author’s of urban fantasy, and for my money, Ms. Black is as good if not better than all of them. She builds a story that is never boring or predictable, and leaves us satisfied yet anxious for the next installment when we are finished. She doesn’t give us the frustrating cliff hanger, thank you very much; she sets us up and leaves us begging for more. This is me, begging for more please Ms. Black.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and hunky men and kick butt women.
Review by Penelope Adams
Member the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Now that the reviewers have read each other’s thoughts…
Hi again Penny. Hope our readers and “fans of Dual Reviews” aren’t getting bored…
I’m certainly not after some of the most fabulous reads we have been getting to review. Regan Black’s series seems to hit a nerve with both of us. What is it with her series as to the story, the characters that you most enjoy?
OHHH, tough question, I’m torn on that one. I’m not much of a fan of the future stuff normally, but Ms. Black doesn’t make it too futuristic, so I love that about this series. Her characters are real for me, they have faults and more importantly, most of them have a sense of humor. I don’t like people who take themselves too seriously and the people in this series don’t seem to. Her writing just flows so well that before I know it, I’m done and then I’m disappointed because I was enjoying myself so much.
I have to admit, I did have a moment or two of confusion with this book, there are references to when a serious kiss was shared, and I just don’t remember it. I was tempted to go back and re-read a couple of the books to see if I just wasn’t paying attention. I got over it fast enough, since there was enough action taking place to pull me.
I know you are not a futuristic fan. I don’t feel that way, but with Regan’s books, you have to admit there are no hover crafts or futuristic lifestyles likethe Jetsons, yet there is a ‘little’ more than we have. Ms. Black has built a world with one stone at a time, tying each story together in a wish for more. I agree, I read her books so fast I am almost annoyed I am at THE END and want more… It’s not that the book is not fulfilling, I just want to hang out there with the gang. I still have a thing for Slick Mickey.
I also wondered about the infamous kiss, and since it made such an impression on both of them, I was sorry I missed it. To get back to the story for Jameson and Mira it was definitely a pleasure to have a man just in love with a woman and vise versa with no big emotional baggage to overcome. The story was kick ass, and I loved the mystery that surrounded her father and Mira’s powers.
I agree, I was totally surprised by the who-done-it at the end. That doesn’t happen often, which is another reason I love to read Ms. Black’s books. Now my little mind is busy trying to figure out if we are going to have another installment, and if so, who is going to be the star? I’m sure it’s someone we’ve met in passing, and I think I may have a guess, but I’m keeping it to myself for now. Once again, bravo Ms. Black, this series just keeps getting better and better. You keep writing them and I will most definitely keep reading them.
Good night Gracie.
I am wondering who the next ‘star’ will be as well. Okay Regan will be looking for your next as well…Cannot wait
Good night George.