Sleight of Hand [Paperback]

Karin Kallmaker (Author), Laura Adams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tunnel of Light Trilogy | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

THE NIGHT AUTUMN Bradley died... ...she met the woman of her destiny: the fire-haired woman who sends Autumn back to her dying body and thereafter mysteriously haunts Autumn`s dreams. Getting by with sleight of hand and other quick-fingered magic tricks, Autumn has no memory of her life before the age of 17. In the years since only a medieval choral chant has stirred her memory. Life`s shadows reach for her. But she resists with the power that dances in her hands.

URSULA COLUMBINE begins a journey... ...to join Kelly, the woman she loves. Leaving the protection of a powerful circle that has sheltered her all her life, she is immediately exposed and threatened by a hungry darkness that craves something only the naive Ursula can give. Weakened and afraid, she finds unfaltering strength in Kelly and other women who are compelled to awaken the power in Ursula that can save them all. But she also finds Autumn in her dreams. Dreams that promise passion but may also lead to oblivion.

WHAT DARK FUTURE does the distant past hold? Dreams lead to nightmares. Autumn sees the faces of women she might know, women who have always stood by Ursula. But if her nightmares hold true, only she can save Ursula from the centuries-old darkness that made her a legend.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In the Tunnel of Light trilogy, best-selling lesbian novelist Karin Kallmaker, writing as Laura Adams, will take you on a journey of passion, heartbreak and triumph that reunites two women for a final chance at their destiny.

From the Inside Flap

Ursula's body was shuddering with awareness--the momentary clasp of their fingers had unfolded the rest of her memory, of another time, another life, when they had completed each other. It was only a flash, but she had seen Kelly in a thick gray robe tied with deep red cording that blew into view when her long cloak was opened by the wind. A flash, then it was gone. It was enough. She looked into Kelly's eyes more deeply than before--they were a lovely golden brown, like a fawn's first coat. She knew those eyes, knew she had looked into them, just this way, long ago. The cold seemed to make the air between them crackle. Kelly finally said, with uncertainty welling in her eyes, "I don't--I don't believe this." "I believe enough for both of us," Ursula said. She drew Kelly into the sheltering privacy of the trees. She brushed Kelly's short hair behind her ears, then gently cupped the back of her neck. The kiss had felt like journey's end and beginning at the same time, and Kelly's moan of surprise and desire had stirred Ursula's pulse to a higher point. She slipped her fingers inside the collar of Kelly's shirt and began to unfasten her anorak with her other hand. Here, now. It was needful.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bella Books (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096777537X
• ISBN-13: 978-0967775371
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,868,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the next book!, March 15, 2001

By 

M. J. Lowe "www.mjlowe.info" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sleight of Hand (Paperback)

Laura Adam's fourth novel, Sleight of Hand is her best work to date and one of the best fantasy stories I've read in awhile. Inspired by the liturgy composed by the medieval Abbess Hildegard von Bingen for the legend of St Ursula and the 11,000 virgins, Sleight of Hand weaves together three incarnations of Ursula's story as they blend across some 16 centuries.

Autumn Bradley and Ursula Colombine, two women who've never met and live half a world apart in the contemporary time, find themselves dreaming of a life in the region "under the constellation of Ursula" after the fall of Rome. During that unsettled time of barbarian raiders while Christianity struggled to reinstate order via its concepts of sin and patriarchy was conquering, co-opting, and converting the peoples of the region, Autumn and Ursula met and fell in love. It was a star-crossed meeting as Ursula, adopted daughter to the lord of Lower Northumberland, was on her way to wed an unknown Jut Lord to seal an alliance between the men.

The story of both pairs of Autumn and Ursula unfolds as the contemporary women struggle to understand what happened in their dream memories and how it impacts their lives. Adam's story of reincarnations includes several other characters from that early medieval cycle coming together in the present as well. Sleight of Hand is the first book of Adams' "Tunnel of Light" Trilogy and ends with an incredible sense of irony as the current Autumn and Ursula finally meet prompting more questions than answers. Your only regret in reading this book will be realizing that, like the rest of us, you'll be waiting for the next installments. (I particularly look forward to finally meeting the contemporary Hilea/Hildegard character.)

Adams is a pen name for Karin Kallmaker who is well known for her consistently charming, contemporarily interesting, and non-formula romance novels. Her works under Adams tend to explore mythic archetypes with lavender tinged reinterpretations of legends and folklore. Read more about Adams and Kallmaker at her home page ...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chills, Goosebumps, September 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sleight of Hand (Paperback)

This isn't a scary book in the least, but the emotions and powers at work raised the hair on the back of my neck at times! This was a fascinating read with fresh characters beyond Xena, Gabrielle, or Elves and the other common types in fantasy novels or series. Women,lesbians all, and profoundly human most of the time. There were a couple of stomach-punching plot twists all in all just a thought providing and intriguing and entertaining novel. Like everyone else, it seems, I want book two and I want it now!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Yet, February 22, 2001

By 

Jean Stewart (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sleight of Hand (Paperback)

This is the best book Karin Kallmaker has written yet. In this romantic adventure mystery, Kallmaker weaves numerous plot threads, across gaps in centuries and geography, with a grace that transcends her usual brilliant storytelling. Her characters leap full blown from the pages, into your heart and mind. There is simply no way to describe the plot in the abbreviated manner necessary for this review without making a jumble of a cohesive, tightly-knit and dynamic tale. READ THE BOOK. Like me, you'll be watching the promised sequel.