HBIC Review Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison

Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison

June 29th 2010 by Dorchester Publishing

Mass Market Paperback, 322 pages

Review Copy

Book Synopsis

Death .....Some people will do anything to avoid it. Even trade their immortal souls for endless existence. Wraiths ....Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss. Segue..... Adam Thorne founded the Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O’Brien, her unknowing sensuality, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow. Twilight...... This is the place between life and what comes after - a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door. (GoodReads)

Review Posted by Tina at TinasbookReviews

The Banshee (pronounced /ˈbænʃiː/, BAN-shee), from the Irish bean sídhe [bʲæn ˈʃiː] ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. (Wikipedia)

A Banshee in reality is me…wife and mother of three yelling at her pretty’s to clean their rooms…in Erin Kellison’s amazing debut a screaming banshee is Talia daughter to death and mortal. Born from the shadows of Twilight and watched by the Dark Fae , she posses a power to yield the dark shadows around her and drag every force from Between to destroy and track the wraiths attacking the earth.

I very much enjoyed Shadow Bound, from its hauntingly poetic prologue to its quiet subtle end. I felt Erin’s words flowed beautifully from dark seductive descriptions to a modern day mystery which kept me entertained and intrigued with the flow of the plotline. I loved the use of the Fae in this novel, not that the story was wrapped around faeries themselves but the world of the faeries which created a very dark tone and a rather freighting look into the creatures that live in Twilight.

Writing aside though I did have a hard time connecting with the two main characters of the novel, I was pining for Shadowman and Katherine's story but Shadow Bound follows Talia, the doomed lover’s daughter after her first terrifying encounter with a wraith. At first Talia doesn’t understand her powers or who she is. She’s scared of the shadows that ultimately are her protection and she fears her father who let’s face it…were all scared of…after trying to discover who she is and writing tons of research on the wraiths and Shadowman she attracts the attention of Adam, director of a research foundation called Segue whose sole purpose is to discover a way to rid the earth of the soul sucking wraiths. Adam is not driven though by scientific interest, he holds a personal vendetta against the wraths seeing how his older brother is one who by the way is trapped in the research basement just waiting for his chance to escape and eat some brains. The hard part about connecting to these two was the abrasiveness of their relationship, Talia and Adam have major attraction to one another, but Adam in the beginning is fueled by anger and darkness where Talia is just flaky in her emotions, one minute she’s confused and wants to escape Adam the next she wants to hold and comfort him, next she wants to smack him, next she’s having hot sex with him on a glass window………..

Although the development of their relationship and their personality’s wind you in slowly, Adam does redeem himself as a courageous man with love as his intention while Talia discovers her inner strength and truly finds who she is. While I love where the end takes us, I cannot wait to see if Erin continues with Shadowman and Katherine. For sure an enjoyable read to those who love PNR and fantasy novels.

Rating

Shadow Bound is recommended to adults only. Contains- violence, murder, frightening elements including dark magic, graphic sexuality and language.

3/4- Paranormal Romance- Wraiths
A big Thanks to Erin Kellison for Review Copy. To learn more about Erin and Shadow Bound check out her website.