Shadows in the Darkness (Changeling) [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Elaine Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

Gwen "GiGi" Gelman, a ten year veteran of the Providence, Rhode Island vice squad, finds herself unemployed after being blamed for a routine bust that turned into a bloodbath. GiGi is used to being on her own, though, and with the help of a DA who owes her, she's scraped together enough capital to start her own PI business, specializing in"family problems"-in particular runaways who have disappeared into Providence's seamy underside.

With a few custodian kidnapping cases under her belt, as well as a case against a Catholic school teacher/molester, Gigi is doing well for herself --until she takes on the case of a fourteen year old runaway who may or may not have been kidnapped.

As Gigi investigates, she accidentally opens the door to her own mystical past. Now long-hidden family ties threaten her, and the secret of her identity unlocks a conspiracy that reveals the forces of darkness that play in the shadows...

Forces that intend to be the masters of all mortal life.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An elf packing heat who enjoys looking like jail bait when necessary is the latest twist on the New Weird—fantasy fused with contemporary mystery tropes laced with erotic undertones—a genre Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series helped establish almost 10 years ago. In the first of the Changeling trilogy, Cunningham (Windwalker) delivers urban fantasy with a straight face (C.S.I. via Tolkien?), employing the quicksilver pacing typical of such suspense authors as Vachs, Gardner and Koontz. Gwen "GiGi" Gellman, however, is not a vampire slayer; she's a freelance PI based in Providence on the brink of discovering her DNA is not human. Cunningham's fey orphan has spent 10 years in law enforcement when an undercover assignment ends with her reputation blown to bits along with two cops. At 34, Gwen must deal with her growing psychic powers and a second case involving a missing 14-year-old (the first turns up a corpse, unsavory memories and readers asking "Did I miss something?"). Gwen goes undercover into the world of underage erotic dancers at Underhill, a "gentleman's club," and meets the mysterious owner, Ian Forest, whose assistance creates more puzzles. This is an auspicious debut for a cool crime-solver who could teach Anita a thing or two.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gwen Gellman used to be a cop, but after her partner and another cop were killed in a bust gone wrong, she was ostracized by the department, and she eventually quit after being betrayed by her new partner. Now she is a private detective in business for herself, employing her psychic powers in the private sector. When Dianne Cody shows up at her apartment with a picture of her 14-year-old daughter, Meredith, who's been missing for several days, Gwen knows there's more to the case than meets the eye. But she takes it, hoping to find the girl alive. Gwen starts with investigating the neighborhood and the family and zeros in on Underhill Club, a strip club that employs underage girls and of which Meredith's father is a member. Going undercover, Gwen gets a job at the club, and what she finds there reveals the truth about her own heritage. With the sleekness of a supernatural Alias, Cunningham's novel is a fast, fun read with a likable, hip heroine. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• ISBN-10: 076530970X
• ASIN: B000FUTQBE
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,564,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, bad marketing, April 18, 2006

By 

Jill A. Alters (Springfield, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadows in the Darkness (Changeling) (Mass Market Paperback)

Another reviewer wonders why there aren't more reviews for this book and hopes more readers will find it. I can state the problem exactly: Tor is marketing it all wrong. First, the book is marked Fiction, not Fantasy. It's therefore not going to be found by the people who will be interested in a book with a heroine who's much like Anita Blake (as it states on the cover) or Vicky Nelson. If I hadn't found my copy in the sci fi section, I'd never have found it at all. Second, the cover is all wrong. The main character is supposed to look young, but they've managed to make her look like a runaway teenager. Not in any way in the spirit of the book. I hope people find the book, too, but it probably won't happen unless Tor reissues it.

Okay, enough complaining. This was a good book. A very good book. The heroine was tough, smart, independent, sexy and sexually adventurous. What more can you ask? Good mystery, too. Several mysteries, in fact, some of which weren't solved - yet. A definite fantasy element, one that includes the need to unravel secrets about the heroine's own past. Interesting characters - some who live, some who die - that we'll no doubt learn more about in upcoming books. I do hope more people find this book. They'll enjoy it.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It, February 16, 2006

By 

MooncatX "aka lunafelis" (the Midwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shadows in the Darkness (Changeling) (Mass Market Paperback)

I almost passed this book by because the cover wasn't eye catching nor did it indicate anything about the book's content. But luckily I read a review of it on a friends blog that interested me enough to seek it out again and read through the paper back which is now out.

The main character, GiGi, short for Gwen Gellman, is an ex-cop forced out of the police department when she's blamed for a bust turned bloodbath. She was on a deep cover assignment, but her corrupt boss fixes things so it looks like she was working her own rogue operation. GiGi toughs it out though and goes independent for real, as a PI specializing in missing persons and runaways.

There are a number of different cases running through the story. Old cases of kidnapping and murder, new cases of missing girls and forced prostitution, and somehow all the cases are dove tailing together to make a dark puzzle picture, where GiGi herself is one of the integral pieces. Because GiGi, who looks like jailbait and has a special talent for psychic phenomena, is discovering an underworld where not all the players are human... and neither is she.

It's modern day Elves done Mafia style, and GiGi is finding out she's a member of the Family.

A good, tense read full of suspense with a solid, kick ass heroine.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, why aren't others reading and reviewing it?, April 6, 2006

By 

moria2 (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shadows in the Darkness (Changeling) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was first published in Oct 2004 and the second in the series was just released in hardcover Jan 2006. That is a long time to wait for a sequel although not as long for those of us who are waiting for Melanie Rawn to finish the Exiles Trilogy ( 8 years and counting).

Gigi, an undercover officer, is mostly kicked off the police after a case goes bad (and magically strange) and some fellow officers are killed. Since these strange things keep happening, Gigi takes her strange talents, past in the foster care system, and desire to help others and starts an investigation serve that specializes in young runaways and missing children. While searching for missing daughter of a prominent lawyer, she is hired to find another lost child that disappeared under the Changeling Moon years before. This newest case is inexplicably linked to her own childhood. This book is recommended for those who like Laurel K Hamilton's Anita Blake series (pre Obsidian Butterfly), Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Kelly Armstrong's Women of the Underworld series, and Kim Harrison's books (Dead Witch Walking, etc).

I'm a little surprised that there are not more reviews of this book (#3) and hope others find it soon. Don't be put off just because Ms Elaine writes for Forgotten Realms as well. She is a very good writer, and does justice this story.