Shadow Touch [Mass Market Paperback]

Elena Baxter is a healer with extraordinary powers she does not care to advertise for fear of repercussions following her mother's rejection. She works as a volunteer in a hospital, secretly healing sick children, but her personal life is bleak since the death of her grandfather.
Artur Luginov, ex-Russian Mafia hit-man, works for Dirk and Steele, the paranormal detective Agency featured in Tiger Eye. You don't have to read it to understand this book, but I recommend it because it's excellent, too. Artur too has special talents- he can read minds by touching someone, or even just an object they have come into contact with. He is kidnapped and wakes up in an unkown institution where he is tested and tortured in an attempt to force him to work with the 'Consortium'- and clearly not for the altruistic purposes he has lately persued.
In a chance encounter, he meets Elena, who is also kidnapped, in a corridor and after a confrontation with Rictor, Elena's enigmatic guard, and Charles, the vicious serail killer who engineered his capture, Elena heals Artur who collapses, close to death. In order to heal him they must mind merge, but only with Rictor's assistence can Elena remove the toxic psychic 'worm' in his brain.They realise the worm is an attempt at mind control by the head of the Consorium, Beatrix Weave, known as the Spider, who plans- guess what? -to dominate the world.
Artur and Elena soon realise that their link is permanent, and an emotional intimacy grows between them that soon flowers into love. They also realise that there are other prisoners here, too-two shapeshifters who are subjected to similarly cruel treatment from the sadistic doctor who 'studies' the paranormal captives.
The four manage to escape with the help of Rictor, and Artur is determined to stop the Consortiums plans. They also become lovers, but whilst their are love scenes, this is not romantica, and they do not dominate the story. They are persued every step of the way, but it is the bond between Elena and Artur that provides the vital ingredients in their fight against evil.
I thought this was one of the best paranormal romances I have read in a long time, and it easily fulfills my high expectations after reading Tiger Eye. It is a well paced adventure set in a meticulously detailed world, with a host of complex and magical characters, not just Elena and Artur but a range of secondary characters too. I was particularly intrigued by Rictor, and wouldn't be suprised if he features in later books, since this is obviously a series which could run and run- at least, I hope it does.

"Shadow Touch" is the sequel to the wonderful "Tiger Eye" and tells the tale of Artur, the Russian ex-mafia gangster able to absorb a person's memories with the slightest touch. Taken from the streets of Moscow, he ends up in America, working for Dirk & Steele, an investigation agency which employs some very unusual people.

Elena Baxter thought she'd been careful, discreetly using her power of healing to cure sick children. When she is kidnapped by the Consortium, a similar organisation to Dirk & Steele, it is to use her gift for sinister purposes. Artur too is trapped in the same facilitry, captured following his investigation into a grisly murder, in the hope that his knowledge of Dirk & Steele can be extracted from his mind.

When Elena fights to heal Artur following a psychic attack from a very dangerous woman, the pair establish a telepathic bond. So emotionally connected, it doesn't take time for the pair to fall in love, and for the first time Artur is able to touch someone without it causing him pain. Escaping captivity accompanied by a shapeshifting cheetah and dolphin, and later joined by a clairvoyant, an electokinetic and a shape shifting crow, the group end up in Moscow to try and avert a meeting between the mafia bosses which could lead to worldwide disaster.

Although Elena is overjoyed to meet other people with special abilities; during her captivity she discovers she can and will use her own gift to kill if necessary. With events escalating towards crisis point, the group try to outrun The Quiet Man, the psychopathic serial killer whom Artur was investigating, a man who has become obsessed with Elena. Unfolding incidents force Artur and his companions to acknowledge that not only does true magic exist causing dark powers to stir in the world, but many more people than previously thought possess paranormal abilities and yet another psychic organisation is in operation with its own agenda.

This is another great book by MML and I am eager to get my hands on the next instalment. The 3rd book within the "Dirk & Steele" series is due for publication in July 06 - "The Red Heart of Jade" is the story of Dean Campbell, the clairvoyant who appears in both "Tiger Eye" and "Shadow Touch". This author has introduced further wonderful characters in this book and I for one am itching to learn more of Rictor, a man with remarkable abilities who although under the control of another, is sworn to protect Elena at all costs.

If you like a book with main characters that are psychic and secondary characters that shape shift then this is the book for you. The romance is so subtle but integral even non romance readers will enjoy this book. Marjorie M Liu is a good writer who manages to blend science and magic into a believable whole. With a dash of action and humour to add spice to the story it’s a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page. I couldn’t put it down and will be adding it to my keeper shelf.