Book Review: Shadow Image

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Shadow Image     Amazon US TPB Amazon Canada TPB
Jaye Roycraft
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Romance   Vampire
ImaJinn, Sept 2002, $13.75, 232 pp.

Shadow Bay is a small, peaceful town in Michigan where murder is not supposed to happen, but still, Sheriff Shelby Cort examines a body discovered in an old privy hole. Meeting her at the crime scene is the new county medical examiner Ricardo "Ric" De Chaux. He immediately finds blunt force trauma on the back of the victim’s head but when he does a thorough autopsy, he finds that the victim is drained of blood.

Ric is the new Overlord of the local vampire community consisting of six other creatures of the night. He has to figure out if one of them got too careless or if this was the work of a rogue. While trying to assert his authority over the group Ric also has to make sure that the beautiful sheriff is kept in the dark about the possible existence of vampires. While Ric and Shelby work close together they begin an intimate relationship, one that might not last when she discovers her lover is one of the undead and didn’t tell her.

The undead society in Jaye Roycraft’s vampire series is a paradoxical one because they look at humans with contempt yet they live among mortals in secret. The hero of this book changes from despising humans to loving one of them so much he is willing to end his existence for her. SHADOW IMAGE is a fantastic vampire romance.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner