Shadow Born is the first book in the new urban paranormal series written by Rebecca Hamilton and Jasmine Walt. Shadows of Salem is the name of the series.
Brooke Chandler, lately of Chicago PD, finds herself transferring to Salem to be their newest detective. But Brooke has her own motive for the transfer. Her fiance, Tom, went to Salem to investigate the disappearances of some boys from the orphanage he was raised at. After dying in a mysterious fire, Brooke leaves for Salem to do some investigating of her own.
The police department in Salem is decidedly unhelpful to Brooke, doing their best to thwart her at every turn. But her partner does introduce Brooke to his brother, a priest with some knowledge he’s not sharing. But Brooke has a huge secret too. She’s got the power of psychometry, the ability to “see” the past by touching objects. It comes in handy quite a bit. Especially when hunting vampires.
Brooke was raised by her uncle, and taught that there are vampires. She learned their strengths and weaknesses, and the best way to eliminate them. Which comes in handy in Chicago with Tom, as he hunts them too. However, once Brooke arrives in Salem after Tom, she soon realizes she’s in way over her head. There are more supernatural beings than just vampires. Beings that want to kill Brooke, and she has no idea how to defend herself.
Shadow Born was fun. There were some plot points that were quite predictable, but the book was engrossing enough that those points weren’t distracting. I read quite a bit of paranormal and urban fiction, and the writing style is refreshing. It doesn’t rely on the trope of a damsel in distress, needing to be saved. Brooke is quite capable of that herself. But she does know and admit when she needs help. There’s a bit of romantic tension between Brooke and Maddock, the fae club owner, but it’s not overwhelming, and it’s not glaringly obvious that they’ll wind up a couple.
If you’re a fan of these books, or authors like Karen Marie Moning, Carrie Vaughn, Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc, you’ll enjoy Shadow Born, and the Shadows of Salem series. And if you’re not, give it a shot anyway. It’s engaging, funny, and filled with action. Rebecca Hamilton, one of the authors, was kind enough to give me an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Shadow Born
Rebecca Hamilton & Jasmine Walt
Shadows of Salem series, book 1
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 8, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1535185538
ISBN-13: 978-1535185530Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 8, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1535185538
ISBN-13: 978-1535185530
Robin is a semi-coherent, almost sentient being. She has some strange ideas, and some even stranger friends. Disabled, queer, agnostic, accident-prone & other adjectives.
She loves music, and talks about new releases from bands frequently. She also enjoys going to shows to recap them, and listening to albums by bands that "mainstream" music isn't interested in, because they're often the best music out there.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram as @wyrdrobin to see what other things I have to say!