Shadowlight (Kyndred Series #1) by Lynn Viehl

Shadowlight - A Novel Of The Kindredby spitzlady

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November 25, 2009: From Back: With just one touch, Jessa Bellamy can see anyone's darkest secrets, thanks to whoever tampered with her genes. What she doesn't know is that a biotech company called GenHance has discovered her talent, and intends to kill her and harvest her priceless DNA. When GenHance is poised to strike, Gaven Matthias is forced to take action. After months of tracking Jessa, he abducts her himself so he can protect her in his underground fortress. Matthias tries to explain what she is and how she can protect others like her, but Jessa has a hard time believing the one man whose secrets she can't read. She senses he's hiding a terrible truth, and yet his touch ignites a passion she's never known. As a monstrous assassin closes in and forces them on the run. Jessa will have to find another way to discover whether Matthias is her greatest ally...or her deadliest enemy.

This book confused me for the first few chapters, but I soon got into in and couldn't put it down. I have loved Ms Viehl's Darkyn series and this is an offshoot of that. I totally loved the villain, Bradford Lawson, he became so evil.. This is another series that will stay on my keeper shelf.

A Wonderful New Series Beginsby Margaret_McGaffey_Fisk

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October 06, 2009: In Shadowlight, the first novel of the Kyndred series, Lynn Viehl gives an edge-of-the-seat tale with trouble at every turn and people who learn that everything they thought true just isn't. Oh, and along with this, she gives characters that are three-dimensional to the extreme so you can simultaneously see the story from more than one angle, and understand and sympathize with all the heroes, even when some of them think others are the villains. Lynn doesn't deny you a true villain though. The Kyndred have forces arrayed against them that offer both immediate danger and hint at a greater scenario that will become clear as the series develops.

Shadowlight focuses on a group of people gifted with special strengths. They were mentioned in the Darkyn series, were somewhat crucial to it, but this is not just a continuation of Lynn's take on the vampire legends. Where those books focused on an ancient war between Darkyn and their enemies at the same time as exploring the strife within the Darkyn population, Shadowlight starts out in a place of isolation. The Kyndred are not some secret society that both supports and fights among itself. The Kyndred are an experiment gone wrong and scattered to the winds only to recreate faulty memories bit by bit.

And that's not the only difference. There is no ancient evil here. If this book is characteristic of the new series, the dangers are much more immediate and driven by modern aims rather than only inherited hatred. Here you have kidnappings, corporate espionage, and the FBI rather than grudges held over the centuries. It's a fresh start in a known world for Darkyn fans, with some familiar faces making appearances. For newcomers, though, Lynn weaves in the necessary details so that this series can act as a standalone as long as readers come in with an open mind. Things in Lynn's world, though they cross over with the traditional, are unique enough that suspension of disbelief is crucial, and giving her that leeway pays back threefold. New readers are likely to discover a world, a series, and an author to delight them for years to come.

Powerful, absorbing, and compelling.

I'm a long-time reader of Lynn Viehl's novels, and each one seems to push the envelope just a little more with an end product that is exceptional. Though Shadowlight is listed as a dark fantasy, it reads with the rush of an action thriller, a touch of romance, and of course, paranormal, with a dash of science fiction. I can't wait to see what she does next with this world and this new cast of characters.

P.S. FTC disclosure: I was given the E-Arc by Lynn Viehl to use as a review copy. My hardcopy has already been preordered.