Customer Reviews

Shadowlight: A Novel of the Kyndred

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"With a single touch, Jessa Bellamy can see anyone's darkest secrets..."

When author Lynn Viehl announced that Stay the Night would be the final book in her popular paranormal romance series, the Darkyn, I won't lie - I was disappointed and unhappy. I loved the series and really wanted to see it continue - it seemed to me there was plenty of room for more stories involving the immortal vampires, the Darkyn, and their something-more-than human lovers, which we've come to learn are often Kyndred, people with special abilities, like Jessa, whose powers are related to the creation of the Darkyn. (I won't say more about the how and why of that, and I'll just tell you that if you haven't yet read the Darkyn books, go pick up the first in the series, If Angels Burn, and start. You'll find all the answers I'm not saying in that series, which is a very unique and refreshing take on the paranormal romance 'vampire' sub-genre.)

But as it turns out, Lynn ended the Darkyn series, but only to pick up a spin off series focusing more on the Kyndred (or Takyn). But don't be fooled. The Darkyn are still there. In fact, some of my absolute favorites make an appearance in Shadowlight. (More on that later.)

[...]

But let's talk about Shadowlight. I'll be honest; I loved her Darkyn series, and I went into this new series fully expecting to love it to pieces. I wasn't wrong.

It starts off with a character who isn't mentioned on the cover blurb: Min, a young woman with the ability to see happy glimpses of the future. She's mourning the death of her adoptive father, and starting a future at a new job, and also with the love of her life, a young man she knew she was fated to love from the moment she met him (with that gift of hers.) Unfortunately, tragedy strikes.

From there, the story picks up with Jessa - a young woman who has the unique gift to touch people and see, not happy things, but the dark things they want to hide. She calls this stepping into shadowlight. You might see some parallels between Min and Jessa, and there are reasons for that. They are part of the Takyn, a secretive organization of people who have found commonalities together - people with special gifts, who were adopted at a young age, and are now hunted by people like GenHance who want to take their gifts and DNA to make super soldiers.

Those who have read the Darkyn books will recognize the backgrounds of people like Min, Jessa, and the other Takyn. We already know that these special people are related to the Darkyn, and that they have enemies. But the Takyn know they're hunted, too, and they take huge precautions to protect one another and avoid detection. But Jessa can't ignore the terrible things she sometimes sees, and so she reports them anonymously to the FBI, a routine that has earned her GenHance's attention, as well as that of the mysterious Gaven Matthias.

Matthias is a sexy enigma, a gorgeous man with a mysterious past, and he's determined to save Jessa from capture by GenHance. To this end, he saves her life and kidnaps her at the same time. But GenHance isn't about to give up, and they send a man-turned-monster after them, a real world test of their super soldier serum. Jessa doesn't trust Matthias, or his motives, but neither can she deny the fact that she's attracted to him, and he's wanted her from nearly the first moment he sees her. But the monster on their trail doesn't leave them a lot of down time to either develop trust, or explore their attraction.

In the midst of their story, we also get to see two of my favorite characters from the Darkyn series, the assassin Lucan and his cop heroine, Samantha. Their story interweaves around Jessa and Matthias's, and it's interesting watching them parallel, and then finally intersect, peripherally. Also, Lucan and Samantha aren't just a stagnant glimpse; we get to see their relationship progress. It should be engaging for both old readers, and new.

I found this book to be a lot like If Angels Burn - a very solid set up to a new series, with good worldbuilding and engaging characters, many of them side characters we'll be seeing in future books. (Matthias's assistant - Sidekick? Personal chef? - Rowan almost leaps off the page, she's so vividly drawn.) But it probably won't be my favorite book in the new series. There's almost too much going on, too much being introduced. But it has to in order to really do its job as book one - and it works quite well overall. I enjoyed it so much I literally inhaled it over a period of about a day and a half. I can't tell you how excited I am for the next book (Rowan's, as it turns out). Maybe if we're very lucky, we'll get to see glimpses of all our favorite Darkyn couples in future books. I certainly won't cry if we see Lucan and Samantha a few times more. :)

And if this series follows the pattern of the last, we'll be seeing Jessa and Matthias's relationship unfold and grow over the next several books in the series, something I look forward to a lot. That's one of the things I love about Lynn's books - characters don't disappear just because their "story" is done, and their stories aren't really over - they evolve. They grow as people and as couples, and it gives them an edge of realism that can sometimes be missing in romance. It's part of what assures these books have a place among my "most waited for". :D

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.

Lynn Viehl is doing it again in Shadowlight, a mind-twisting start to another deliciously dark and multilayered fantasy series.

Minerva wakes in the morgue, her fiancé dead and her body cursed by Shadowlight, a talent which allows her to see the darkest secrets of every person she touches. Needing to guard against this talent she can't explain, softhearted Minerva reincarnates herself as the steady and exceedingly reserved Jessa who opens a high-end employment agency, screening the best for the best while anonymously reporting the darkest she finds to the FBI. Soon the up-and-coming Jessa is face to face with her largest potential client, GenHance, whose only interest is harvesting Jessa's DNA, and thus her Kyndred talent, and selling it to the highest bidder.

Gaven Matthias, the first of the Kyndred who once wheedled his sword for Rome, will to do anything to keep his kind from being exposed and Jessa from being taken, dead or alive. He didn't count on falling in love with the strong-willed woman he kidnapped and who refuses to admit what she is. As the shadowlight grows darker and the dead refuse to stay that way, this story picks up speed with Detective Samantha Brown, her vampire lover Suzerain Lucan and Dr. Alexandra Keller from The Darklyn Series sinking even more twists and turns into this g-force roller coaster ride Viehl sends careening into the next book, Dreamveil, out in June 2010.

For the romance novel purist, Shadowlight is not likely to satisfy. But, for those wanting a white-knuckle experience rife with blood-hammering desire and deliciously complex cliffhangers, Shadowlight is sure to please and leave you begging for more.

Check out my other reviews at http://escapebyfiction.blogspot.com

If I had not had tears at the end it really would have been a 3.

Jessa has a special ability, one no one can know about. Unfortunately some already do. The baddies and the goodies. The baddies and goodies have both been tracking Jessa for a while now and when the baddies make their move to abduct Jessa, the goodies step in.

Playing for the goodies is Gaven Mattias (Matt) and some other Kyndred. Matt saves Jessa and takes her to an unknown location to let her deal with the issue that she's Kynderd as well. He tells her about the Darkyn, but she really doesn't believe him until it's almost too late.

The baddie is on her tail and as soon as she escapes from Mattias' hideout, he almost gets her. Jessa realizes what Matt's been saying all along is true and then decides she loves him because a) she can touch him without going into a dark 'shadowlight' and b) because of the dreams she's been having starring non other than.......Matthias. Yay.

Long story short, they defeat the baddies and HEA.

OK, my thoughts....twas ok. I liked the appearance of the Darkyn characters quite a bit. I really think you'd have to read the Darkyn series before you read this, because you'd really be lost in certain places.

Viehl is super descriptive (which can be annoying at times), but what disappointed me most was how different the writing was from the Darkyn series. No sex, at least not until the last 40 pages or so. Bummer.

I liked the story, I liked the plot, and I liked the characters quite a bit. The ending made me tear up so it got a slightly higher rating than I think it deserved. I am looking forward to Rowan's book. I liked her a lot.

Shadowlight (2009) is the first paranormal Fantasy novel in the Kyndred subseries. It follows Stay the Night, the last novel in the Darkyn series. The initial work in the Darkyn series is If Angels Burn.

This new series includes the major characters of the previous series. Yet it is written from the point of view of the victims of the Brethren experiments in forced mutations.

In the previous volume, Alex told the seigneurs about the Kyndred. Salva died from a single tear. Nottingham froze Robin and then Alex gave him a blood marrow transplant.

In this novel, Minerva Jasmine Starret is the child of Darien Starret. She was adopted at an early age and sent to school in Europe when she grew old enough. After his death, she inherited all of his property, including Sapphire House in Savannah. Min has hunches on good events, but never on bad incidents.

Jessa Bellamy is the owner of a personnel investigation firm. She is also a Kyndred, having the Talent of reliving memories. She calls this ability shadowlight.

Matthias is a European living in the USA. His past is shadowy and his accent is strange.

Rowan Dietrich is a young woman who works with Matthias. She had lived as a homeless person for three years and was often hungry. Now she is a very talented cook.

Drew also works for Matthias, spying on their target. Rowan has never met Drew.

Jonah Genaro is a very rich businessman. He owns GenHance, a biotech company.

Alexandra Keller is a reconstructive surgeon. She is now a Darkyn, but unlike any other. She has been tracing the Kyndred.

Samantha Brown is a Homicide Detective in the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. She is also a Darkyn, turned by her lover Lucan.

In this story, Min has found a job with OCI, a financial firm in Savannah. She is the new receptionist for Boyd Whitemarsh, replacing a woman with personal problems. Min hopes to learn more about investing, but the former receptionist rampages through the office with a pistol on her first day at the job.

Later, Jessa has a bad feeling about a woman being considered by one of her clients. She touches the woman and learns that she is a plant. She phones a tip into the FBI about a murder committed two years before.

Matthias is waiting for Jessa to make the phone call. He takes photos of Jessa on her way to the booth. After she leaves, he contacts Rowan and gives her the cab license plate numbers and the company name.

Genaro drops by the lab to see their newest acquisition. The body is well preserved except for the head. It has extensive brain damage, so much that it is essentially mindless. Jonah is planning to use it for a trial of the latest transerum.

Matthias places a GPS tracker on Jessa's vehicle. He eavesdrops on her in Price Park and learns a few things about her past life. Then Rowan intercepts a phone call to Jessa.

Bradford Lawson asks Jessa to have lunch with him while they discuss a contract for personnel investigation on GenHance applicants. Matthias decides to abduct Jessa at the meeting. He enters the restaurant and takes her away from Lawson and his goons.

This tale brings Samantha to Atlanta to extradite a murderer. There she gets involved in the Bellamy abduction. Then Alex notices a link between this case and the Kyndred.

This story has numerous surprises. The next installment in this new series is Dreamveil.

Recommended for Viehl fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of mutated humans, paranormal talents, and true romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

This book was for me too difficult to follow , too many characters and stories , every time new characters were introduced , I'd lose interest, and when I'd pick up the book again, I'd have to skim through the beginning to remind me of who these characters were again.
Author has potential but this story doesn't grab me at all.

Years ago scientists experimented on orphans, resulting in those kids growing up to be different--with unique powers. They are known as the Kyndred. As adults, a few of them formed a secret group, so they could talk to others of their kind. But that's when they found out the scientists were not gone--the GenHance scientists want to kill them and harvest their powers. Jessa Bellamy is one of those Kyndred in hiding. When Gavin Matthias saves her from an attack, can she believe what he is saying or is he working with GenHance?

The first time I read this book I found it good, but a little confusing. It was my first book by this author and I had not yet read the Darkyn series. I went back and read the Darkyn series (you can see my review of If Angels Burn: A Novel of the Darkyn if you are interested). Now, I just reread Shadowlight in preparation for book two Dreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred (KYNDRED NOVEL). After reading the books in the correct order, I have to say that Shadowlight really is a great book--highly original with a fast moving, intricate plotline. It's an entertaining mix of action, mystery, suspense and romance.

The author did a good job with world building and character development. The highly original plotlines were especially well done. I haven't read as intricate of a storyline in a while--loved the surprises that she snuck in. As you are reading, if you come across something that doesn't seem relevant, do *not* scan it. It will all tie together and make sense by the end--and you will be surprised at what you find out. I liked the relationship between Jessa and Gavin, however I would have liked them to come together earlier. But if this is like her other series, perhaps this is just the starting point and maybe we'll see a lot more of them in future books in the series. I love that we see more of Samantha and Lucan in this series (they were characters from the Darkyn series). They are one of my favorite couples--a homicide dectective paried with a former vampire (ie, Darkyn) assassin. Sam was a Kyndred who converted to a Darkyn mate.

This book will appeal to fans of urban fantasy and paranormal romance who like a lot of mystery, suspense and action.

Not sure why Viehl stopped the Darkyn series, I loved every one of them, was addicted to them. This book had too many characters, too many story lines for my taste. Jumped around too much. Was not as good a story line as her previous books. Since she seems to now be doing a spin-off of the Darkyn I may not buy further books of hers. I'll probably try one more, but I was very fond of the characters in her previous books. This book did not hold my interest, and was honestly confusing to me. I like a story line I can follow. I felt I was reading a bunch of small, separate stories. I did not know that Stay the Night was to be the last in the Darkyn series. Very disappointed.

Jessa Bellamy is a highly regarded job recruiting consultant. Her success is due to her special skill of being able to touch someone and journey into the SHADOWLAND where she learns the dark side of a candidate that they hide from an interviewer. She hides her ability, but also knows there are other Takyn like her.

GenHance CEO Jonah Genaro has learned of Jessa and tries to kidnap her. He wants to use her as he has others in an experiment to create a race of supermen via gene manipulation; no one has survived his tests. Mattias rescues Jessa; insisting he just wants to keep her safe, but he has secrets that he conceals from her while Jonah wants her back and some unknown adversary prefers both dead.

Expanding the world of the Darkyn with a SHADOWLIGHT into the Kyndred, Lynn Viehl provides her fans with an even more complex realm in her latest enjoyable urban romantic fantasy. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of suspense as Jonah plots to harvest Jessa's DNA while Mattias plans to protect her though he also has other secret plans for her. With a strong lead couple and a terrific in a macabre sense villain, SHADOWLIGHT unveils a dramatic thrilling twist.

Harriet Klausner

This author has long been an auto-buy for me and I have read all her books with great glee. It was then quite troubling for me to be on page 106 and be completely lost--not knowing even who were the good guys. It's a demonstration of skill this author possesses to have such an abundance of deep, cleverly drawn characters and so much good story to tell that--well-- it got a little mixed up for me. Let me assure you--this is a book worth getting. The new series it is starting will be outstanding but I didn't have that certainty until 2/3 of the way through the book. That said--keep this book for next book reference. Continue in this series and be confident when you auto-buy. If you get lost in all the characters in this one--keep plowing through because the ending is worth it.