Shadow Touch (Dirk & Steele, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Marjorie M. Liu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2006

Elena Baxter can work miracles with her hands. She can coax bones to knit, flesh to heal. She can mend the mind. She has been doing such work for almost all of her twenty-eight years. That is why she will be taken.

The media called it a rampage of terror, the recent murders. But fighting crime is why Artur Loginov joined Dirk & Steele. The international detective agency specializes in the impossible, and their creed is simple: Help those in need, no matter how difficult, and no matter what, keep the secret safe. For the agency helps its employees, too; people like Artur -- the gifted, the tormented. Dirk & Steele gave the Russian emigre purpose, protection, community...and refuge from his past, for who can trust a man who can start a fire with his mind, or shape-shift, or read others' thoughts as easily as drawing breath? For his similar talent, Artur will be taken.

Into the darkness Elena and Artur will be drawn, into the clutches of evil. Cornered, isolated, caged, they will fight for their very souls. But salvation awaits. it exists in a form least expected: a dream of a face, a brush of a mind, the hint of a kiss, and finally, at long last, a SHADOW TOUCH.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. When selecting a book, readers often face the unfortunate choice of exciting story versus vibrant writing. Not so those who snatch up Liu's paranormal romantic thriller (the second in a series after Tiger's Eye), which fuses the best of both into a novel that raises the bar for all others competing in its league. A private detective who picks up people's memories through touch, Artur Loginov isn't entirely surprised when he's kidnapped and imprisoned in an asylumlike facility; his former days as a Russian mobster taught him to believe he'd come to a bad end. But he's surprised to find the other prisoners are paranormally gifted as well—including Elena Baxter from Wisconsin, able to perform miraculous healings and now stunned to realize she's no longer alone in the world. Aided by a pair of shape-shifters, Elena and Artur escape only to discover their captors' sinister goal—and that they are the only ones who can thwart it. Liu's screenplay-worthy dialogue, vivid action and gift for the punchy, unexpected metaphor rockets her tale high above the pack. Readers of early Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris and the best thrillers out there should try Liu now and catch a rising star. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Elena Baxter, a psychic trying to do good in her local hospital, has a healing touch. Literally. And her life is forever altered when she's kidnapped by an organization out to exploit her powers. She learns that she's not the single irregularity she believed; others have been captured. Shape-shifters, fellow psychics, and Artur, an ex-Russian Mafia agent now working for the secret detective agency Dirk & Steele and a man who can see into a person's soul. But what she sees in him is far more precious, something she is willing to risk her life for. One can sum up Liu's sequel to herTiger's Eye (2005) as X-Men meets James Bond, but that shortchanges the lyricism and emotional sophistication of her prose and doesn't hint at the larger story she's just beginning to tell. Artur and Elena's relationship is one of the smartest and most mature love affairs to grace the pages of romance. If you have yet to add Liu to your must-read list, you're doing yourself--and your patrons--a disservice. Nina Davis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (February 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505526301
• ISBN-13: 978-0505526304
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marjorie M. Liu is an attorney who has lived and worked throughout Asia. She hails from both coasts, but currently resides in the Midwest, where she writes full-time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enter the Fascinating World of Marjorie M. Liu, February 2, 2006

By 

Riley Merrick "jperceval" (Southampton, PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow Touch (Dirk & Steele, Book 2) (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).

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liu delivers another winner!, January 23, 2006

By 

Deborah Wiley (Winter Haven, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadow Touch (Dirk & Steele, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great continuation to a great series!, January 18, 2006

By 

Adriana E. Sample "Lover of Paranormal books" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow Touch (Dirk & Steele, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.