Customer Reviews

Shadow Watch (Silhouette Intimate Moments)

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Dr. Victoria "Tory" Sommer is trying very hard to fit into the Navajo culture. She has been warned not to travel the reservation alone at night, but her medical obligations compel her to attend a high school wrestling match. Tory never expects to intervene for another doctor, but the unsettling events at the wrestling match bring her in contact with Dr. Ben Wauneka. Ben is both a medical doctor and a traditional medicine man. As a member of the Brotherhood, Ben knows what is going on with the Skinwalkers, but will Tory be able to understand?

Linda Conrad's second book in the series is a hit! SHADOW WATCH is easily a stand alone as only minor references are made to events occurring in the first book. I haven't yet read the first book, but I was able to follow the story quite well. My only disappointment in the story is my own fault- having already read the third book, SHADOW HUNTER, I was aware of one of the big surprises in the story. Luckily, the strength of the story wasn't diminished by my awareness of one of the major spoilers of the plotline.

The Navajo culture is fully embraced in SHADOW WATCH. Tory is a white woman, a bilagaana, but her determination to understand the Dine people and traditions is commendable. Through Tory's eyes, the reader obtains glimpses of the beauty of the culture and the mysticism surrounding the Navajo Way. Harmony is an important piece of the clash between the Dine and the Skinwalkers, and Ms. Conrad smoothly incorporates this into her storyline. SHADOW WATCH is yet another stunning tale from the talented Linda Conrad. Easily recommended!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Dr. Victoria "Tory" Summers is working at the medical clinic on a Navajo Reservation to pay off her school loans and learn more about the People. Just a few short months after she started, trouble breaks out at the high school when a student seemingly high on some kind of drug goes crazy in the middle of a wrestling match. Then tension grows even more when she come face to face with the most handsome man she has ever seen.

Dr. Ben Wauneka is a local Medicine Man for the People, who also happens to be a member of a secret brotherhood of Medicine Men sworn to fight the evil shapeshifting Navajo witches, the Skinwalkers. The incident at the high school screams of Skinwalker influence and Ben will do anything he can to put an end to the latest scheme. He never counted on the beautiful white woman he can't get out of his mind after one brief meeting.

Tory and Ben agree to work together to get to the bottom of what is happening to all the teenagers on the reservation. They have many more problems to deal with since it appears the Skinwalkers have made Tory their next target. Now Ben finds it even harder to resist the temptation Tory provided but how can he give in to his passion when he must uphold the mission of the Brotherhood... and that doesn't involve falling in love.

Linda Conrad once again draws readers under her spell with Shadow Watch. Who can resist a strong sexy man who's sworn to protect those who need him but yet comes completely undone upon meeting the one woman who can set his spirits to soar? His life is his work and his people and he will let nothing stand in the way of doing what he feels is right. As strong as he is, he has his own weaknesses, not the least of which is the fact he's losing his vision to a rare disease. As his eyesight continues to fail, he is forced to rely more and more on Tori for aid, yet he can't let the People know because they would lose all faith in a "crystal gazer" (Ben's strongest ability as a Medicine Man) who cannot see. This provides for some very powerful scenes when he gives his weakness over into Tori's care. This plays a huge role in these two lovebirds coming together as more than just colleagues.

Tori has her own struggles to face as well. Upon coming to Dinetah, she discovers some latent abilities of her own, and an affinity for the care and protection of the local plant life. This gift helps to balance the relationship between Tori and Ben as it makes her even stronger in his eyes, and brings her even deeper into the world and ways of the Navajo. I was fascinated by what I learned about desert plant life alongside of Tori. This ability comes to play a greater role as the story progresses.

Of course, the mystery abounds in Shadow Watch as well. A strange cult is growing in popularity among school students on the Rez and it seems to hold ties to the growing strength of the Skinwalkers. Add in the fact that one specific kind of drug seems to be rising in popularity alongside of the cult. As the truth is slowly revealed, tensions mount and danger grows more imminent for Tory. I was surprised to discover who the culprit behind this turned out to be, though in hindsight the signs were there, I think I just ignored them because I really did not want the villain to be who my suspicions were leaning towards.

Shadow Watch is another exciting chapter in the saga of the Night Guardians. Even having read this story out of order and after some of the mysteries were alluded to in other books, did not diminish my enjoyment of the story as the majority of the plot was unique to this installment in the series.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, August 2007. All rights reserved.

Dr. Victoria Summer works on a Navajo reservation to pay off her student loans for medical school. When a young man collapses at a high school wrestling tournament she comes face to face with sexy Navajo medicine man Ben Wauneka and enters a world unlike any she's ever known before.

With well-drawn characters and lush world building, Shadow Watch could have been a great story. As a reader, I quickly found myself drawn into the world Ms. Conrad builds on the reservation. However with an easily telegraphed plot, I found the story lacking any suspense. Yes we knew that Ben and Victoria would get together, and of course, because this is a happily ever after kind of book that somehow, miraculously Ben's eyesight would be restored. And his eye sight did come and go awfully conviently for the plot anyway.

However, I found too many things left unexplained like why Ben even suggested celibacy for the Brotherhood, and how the others reacted to the knowledge (because even if he didn't tell them, I'm sure everyone knew) that he had broken his own vow of celibacy. The discussion I wanted to happen -- never did.

And that's, I'm afraid, where this book fell short. I love Native American stories and shape shifters, so what should have been a slam dunk of a book was a mild dribble. The book didn't capture my attention, nor did it really deliver on the promises it made, except a "happily ever after" ending and more sequels.