Shadow Touch [Mass Market Paperback]

Elena Baxter is a freak. She can heal with her touch. When she gets abducted for her abilities, of course it's a terrible thing, but the silver lining is she finds out she's not alone. There are others out there with extraordinary abilities. People who can read minds, people who can shape-shift, and people who can sense things by touch. This information totally rocks her world, but before she can explore the possibilities further, she has to escape from her prison.

Artur Loginov knows there are others out there like him; he works for Dirk & Steele, a top-secret psychic detective agency. He, too, has been abducted for his abilities - his mysterious and sadistic captors want to extract information about Dirk & Steele from him. Artur needs to get out before they take over his mind, and, preferably, stop whatever other plans these people have for his kind.

Elena and Artur meet in a corridor in their prison, and with one healing touch, embark on one of the most unusual courtships I have ever read. The way Liu can build up such fire and sympathy with just one touch is incredible, and the way she can sustain it through a frantic chase across Russia speaks to her strength as a writer, particularly in character development. I know these people as well as they know each other, and I am fully committed to going the distance with them on this adventure. I am not usually a believer in love that crops up in the midst of a dangerous situation, but Liu made me believe it. After all, two people who can see deeply into each other's psyches really can know each other inside and out in a short period of time.

The love story was terrific, chock-full of chemistry that definitely made good on all its promises. The action was kick-a$$. The skeins of the story were very strongly woven together, with any loose ends being hints of future plots rather than dropped elements or holes in the writing. Readers are left wanting to know more about the other members of Dirk & Steele, more about the founders of the firm, and more about Amiri and Rik, the shape-shifting fellow prisoners. This reader in particular is dying to know more about the mysterious Rictor: is he a guard, a captive, something not even remotely human?

There was a small tie-in to TIGER EYE, but SHADOW TOUCH stands alone very well. There's enough romance to satisfy the pickiest of romance readers and enough action to attract non-romance fans to the genre (Rachel Caine, Jim Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and X-Men fans come to mind).

Marjorie Liu returns to the world she created in TIGER EYE where shapeshifters, healers, telepaths, and more exist. Artur Loginov has the power to know other's thoughts and actions through the sense of touch. Elena Baxter has the power to heal. The Consortium wants to understand, control, and use these powers to take over the world so therefore both Artur and Elena are drugged, kidnapped, and taken to a lab in Russia. In the lab where they are being examined, they meet two shapeshifters, Rik (a dolphin) and Amiri (a cheetah), as well as Rictor who isn't human or shapeshifter but can instantly vanish and read minds. Artur and Elena bond when Elena heals his mind and they join together with Rik, Amiri, and Rictor to escape the Consortium's clutches. Unfortunately, Artur discovers that the Consortium's head, Beatrix Weave, intends to unite all of the Russian Mafia crime lords and begin her conquest of the world. Artur finally manages to contact the agency he works for, Dirk and Steele, and Beatrix's plans are stopped. Liu has numerous twists and turns throughout the novel that kept me anxiously turning the page to discover what would happen next. This is the second book in the Dirk and Steele series and I am already eagerly looking forward to the next addition to the series.

Elena Baxter heals with her hands. Artur Loginov has killed with his, but most importantly sees into the minds and memories of others with a simple touch. After finding themselves kidnapped, tortured, and held captive in a secret facility, Artur and Elena forge a bond that helps them escape the facility their being held in. However, they escape to find out that the people who held them have set sinister plans into motion. I loved this book!!!! Marjorie Liu managed to pull me into her story with her wonderful writing skills and characters that are well developed and endearing in their own ways. I commend Marjorie Liu in creating a book that does not fall into a 'cookie cutter' mold. Shadow Touch (the second book in the Dirk and Steele series) is very different from Tiger Eye (the first book in the series), but just as well written. I also enjoyed the way Marjorie has introduced characters and bits of information that make you ask the question ' what will come next?'. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action and the paranormal with some romance along the way.

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