Queen of Shadows (A Novel of the Shadow World, #1)

by Dianne Sylvan

[Kim Deister]

Queen of Shadows is the first novel in Dianne Sylvan's new Shadow World series. Set in contemporary times in Austin, Texas, the story opens with the heroine, Miranda Grey, a tortured musician convinced that she is on the brink of insanity. The recent onset of strong empathic abilities has left her overwhelmed and feeling isolated. Seemingly overnight, her life has turned upside down. In the midst of personal tragedy, she meets David Soloman, a computer geek,... and vampire Prime of the South. Her world once again turns upside down. He helps her heal from her tragedies, both physically and mentally, even helping her to get her empathic ability under control with the help of his Second, Faith. She eventually goes back to her life in Austin as a musician, ready to face life with her head up once again. But this is just the beginning of their story,...

I had read some of Sylvan's nonfiction, so I was ready for her debut fiction novel. The story drew me and ensnared me, which I is something I truly love in a book. I like to be lost in a story, and this novel definately gave that to me. The descriptions she used were vivid and made you feel as if you were there. The characters were very well developed and that made them very real and very relatable to the reader. There were some very dark and disturbing elements throughout the story that kept me guessing and fully involved. Too many times, supporting characters are not as fully developed as the main characters, leaving the story seem somewhat unfinished. This was most definately not the case here. As I neared the end, I found myself avoiding it, just because I knew I wouldn't put it down without finishing and I wanted to make it last as long as possible!

The second book, ShadowFlame, is due out July 26, 2011 from Ace Urban Fantasy.