Firstly, a warning to those of a prudish disposition. This
book does have an adult content, but more ribald than overtly
pornographic. Kiss of Shadows is a fast, frenzied and humerous book of
sex, magic and violence. Fantasy stories have never been like this before.
It is a fairy story for grown ups. Laurell Hamilton writes with an
excellent gripping style. She has memorable characters and the book is a
thoroughly entertaining adventure. This is a heady roller-coaster of a
book.
The story is set in a modern day Los Angeles, in a parallel universe where
the world of Faerie has 'come out of the closet', and is an accepted part
of the population alongside Humanity. The Court of the Queen of Air &
Darkness is located in Missouri, and some of the more extrovert characters
are stalked by the paparazzi. At the start of the book, the heroine, Merry
(Meredith) Gentry after assassination attempts at the Court, is in hiding,
working as a private investigator in Los Angeles for the Grey Detective
Agency : Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions. After three years away,
Merry's aunt, the Queen, has requested her presence back at Court.
The bad news is that with her re-appearance, the paparazzi and the
attempts on her life start again. The good news is that she is just coming
into her magical powers. Since she is descended from a long line of
fertility gods, it is no surprise that her powers are related to sex. One
of the reasons for her ostracism from the Court was that previously her
magical abilities had been minor, pedestrian and basically ignored by
everyone. They were only impressive to humans. However with her return to
Court with enhanced magical abilities, she quickly starts to become a
major political force with potentially fatal consequences to herself and
those around her.
The book is not perfect, it does have some minor flaws. The Detective
Agency at the beginning is essentially a distinct and separate story from
the rest of the book. But this is justifiable if only because it contains
a superb eight page description of fitting a wire (hidden microphone)
inside her bra. Some might feel that Laurell has a fetish about clothing,
as she does go on a bit with descriptions of clothing. But I felt that on
balance, it contributed to the atmosphere. Also, I do have a problem with
the last chapter. Not wanting to spoil the story, I cannot go into
details. But Laurell's attempt to tie off the threads served only to tease
and frustrate. Either she shouldn't have included the final five page
'chapter', or else she should have given us another fifty pages. I have
not read any of Laurells' earlier work, such as the Anita Blake Vampire
Hunter novels (there are eleven listed on the inside cover), but will
certainly be giving them a try while I eagerly wait for the sequel to Kiss
of Shadows. Too many of the plot lines are left unresolved for there not
to be a sequel. Please! |