"A fascinating and intriguing read!"

Elena Baxter can heal with her hands. She does it very quietly and once she has healed she moves on. She lives on a farm by herself so when she is kidnapped while finishing up healing a child, she can't understand how they found out.

We met Artur Loginov in TIGER EYE. The detective agency Dirk and Steele took Artur in when he decided he had enough of the Russian Mafia. He cannot believe that he is kidnapped with no warning. How can this happen?

They are both taken to a facility underground in an unknown location but somehow they find each other and realize that they are not alone but can they escape this horrible place and can they figure out why they were taken. Elena even heals Artur's brain where it keeps hemorrhaging every time he uses his special gift. Artur knew his time was limited but when Elena touches him, she leaves a part of herself with him. This is the most precious gift anyone has ever given him.

As they are questioned and even tortured, they can only guess what evil awaits them. What is this place they are taken to and why are they taken? Only time will tell. Can they escape before it is too late for the both of them and what about the others who are incarcerated in this evil place?

I was utterly riveted to this astounding book. As much as I enjoyed TIGER EYE, I enjoyed SHADOW TOUCH even more. I am fascinated with the special people that Marjorie M. Liu has created and hope to visit them many more times in the future. These books have earned a special place on my keeper shelf.

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted January 25, 2006

Read an Excerpt

Summary

Elena Baxter can work miracles with her hands. She can coax bones to knit, flesh to heal. She can mend the mind. She has been doing such work for almost all of her twenty-eight years. That is why she will be taken.

The media called it a rampage of terror, the recent murders. But fighting crime is why Artur Loginov joined Dirk & Steele. The international detective agency specializes in the impossible, and their creed is simple: Help those in need, no matter how difficult, and no matter what, keep the secret safe. For the agency helps its employees, too; people like Artur—the gifted, the tormented. Dirk & Steele gave the Russian emigre purpose, protection, community...and refuge from his past, for who can trust a man who can start a fire with his mind, or shape-shift, or read others' thoughts as easily as drawing breath? For his similar talent, Artur will be taken.

Into the darkness Elena and Artur will be drawn, into the clutches of evil. Cornered, isolated, caged, they will fight for their very souls. But salvation awaits...it exists in a form least expected: a dream of a face, a brush of a mind, the hint of a kiss, and finally, at long last, a shadow touch.