Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 8) by Keri Arthur

I've been waiting for Bound to Shadows since I finished Deadly Desire back in March.

I love this series. The worldbuilding, the depth of characters, the plots - it's all good.

That being said, the plot in this one felt like we'd done it before. Not what was going on in Riley's life, that part was new and very interesting. The crime portion of the plot just felt familiar.

But there were enough other things going on that it's okay that the plot took a backseat in the action, though.

I've mentioned before that part of what I've enjoyed about this series is watching Riley grow and learn and adapt to the things that life throws her. And life has thrown a lot at her. This book opened up a whole lot of plot points for future books, and I'm anxious to see where Keri Arthur takes things next.

Bound to Shadows was one of those books that, when I finished it, I closed it and just sat there for about fifteen minutes. It affected me in several ways. I'm really glad I re-read Deadly Desire before reading Bound to Shadows, and I'm wondering if I shouldn't start over at book one next year before Moon Sworn comes out. I think I may know what's going to happen, based on the title. But I'm not sure, and it's hard to believe things are going to go there this soon. But, after the events of Bound to Shadows, perhaps it might be time. Or, perhaps it may be necessary.


Here is the blurb for Bound to Shadows:

In the darkness, demons come out to play . . .
and someone must bring their sins to light.

Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her . . .

The next book in the series is called Moon Sworn, you can see the cover at Keri Arthur's website. I believe it is due in May, even though I think that's too long to wait.

I'm going to give Bound to Shadows a 9 of 10, and I'm keeping the series at a 10 of 10. I believe that this book gives the author several plot points to move forward with, but I also believe that Bound to Shadows is a transition book, the book that moves the series off into a new direction.

Book Rating, Bound to Shadows: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 10 of 10






1. Full Moon Rising (2006)
2. Kissing Sin (2007)
3. Tempting Evil (2007)
4. Dangerous Games (2007)
5. Embraced by Darkness (2007)
6. The Darkest Kiss (2008)
7. Deadly Desire (March 2009)
8. Bound to Shadows (October 2009)
9. Moon Sworn (May 2010)

Trunk Music, Angels Flight, & A Darkness More than Night

I'll be reviewing three books today, book numbers five and six of the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. And then another book with Harry Bosch in it, but I'm not going to call it book seven.

I'll start with Trunk Music: Loved it. The character development is again very well done, the prose was incredible, and the plot was a masterpiece. I kind of guessed who was guilty before Harry did, but I wasn't sure, just an instinct I had that Harry didn't have until later. That's okay, though. Solving it Harry's way was a much better story.

Next comes Angels Flight, a darker book in a series of books that aren't exactly light and happy. It covered some pretty serious subject matter (racial stuff, police brutality, child molestation, societal unbalance, riots, etc), and there is no way to cover all of that and not have it touch you in a deep way. Once again we get plots within plots, and plots outside of plots, and plots running in circles around plots... all woven together into an incredible story. I had no idea who the killer was until Harry was ready to start figuring it out. Part of the resolution was a bit too... contrived. I mean, sure, it was poetic, but I guess it was just a bit too easy. I'm okay with it, it was still a great book and probably the best resolution possible under the circumstances.

And then, unfortunately, comes A Darkness More than Night. I didn't enjoy it at all. For starters, it's not really a Harry Bosch book. I mean, Harry is in it, but this is really book two of the Terry McCaleb series, where the main character is a retired FBI agent. Honestly, this book felt more like something planned by the Marketing Department (not enough people are reading this other series, you need to include Harry in a book so fans of that series will get interested in this series). It was terrible, it was frustrating, and it had a flimsy plot that I figured out fairly early on.

Book Rating: Trunk Music: 10 of 10
Book Rating: Angels Flight: 10 of 10
Book Rating: A Darkness More than Night: 6 of 10

Series Rating: Harry Bosch: 10 of 10

I'm keeping the series at a 10, but another book like Darkness and it will start going down.







1. The Black Echo (1992)
2. The Black Ice (Harry Bosch) (1993)
3. The Concrete Blonde (1994)
4. The Last Coyote (1995)
5. Trunk Music (1997)
6. Angels Flight (1999)
7. A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
8. City of Bones (2002)
9. Lost Light (2003)
10 The Narrows (2004)
11. The Closers (2005)
12. Echo Park (2006)
13. The Overlook (2007)
14. The Brass Verdict (2008)
15. Nine Dragons (October 2009)