Review: Twisted Shadows by Allie Therin

Title: Twisted Shadows

Series: Sugar & Vice: Book Two

Author: Allie Therin

Length: 395 Pages

Category: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: Hands down, the worst thing about this book is having to wait a year to see how Allie Therin is going to fix what she broke. Things are shifting, transitions are happening, transgressions have been committed, and the greatest threat now is the unknown.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Empath hunter Evan Grayson is the Dead Man, transformed by a dark past into a perfect weapon against corrupted empaths. Nothing can distract him from stopping these superhuman killers—until he’s mired in a new battle, fighting a forbidden attraction to an empath on the verge of corruption.

For pacifist Reece Davies, every day is a struggle to keep his darker side in check. It’s only his complicated relationship with Evan that keeps him grounded—a relationship that, despite his growing feelings, must stay at arm’s length. But when an empath’s murder on the East Coast points to a treacherous plot back west, with Reece as the next potential target, Evan races across the country to be by his side.

Together, they search for missing empaths, their proximity heightening the chemistry they must resist. But corruption isn’t the only danger they face as sinister forces close in from the shadows, sights set on empath and empath hunter alike…

Review: Hands down, the worst thing about this book is having to wait a year to see how Allie Therin is going to fix what she broke. Destroyed. Nuked. To recap: A fragile peace has been shattered and It. Is. Glorious.

All hell is breaking loose in the world of empaths and the people who fear them, the people who want to control them, and the one man who hunts them. When Therin introduced her version of Seattle in the stellar Liar City, it not only brought to life an allegory about compassion struggling to survive in a deteriorating social environment, but it introduced a character in Reece Davies who was fairly destined to become a casualty of a world where chaos, unkindness, and emotional exhaustion reign.

As the saying goes, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Corrupted empaths, those who are twisted and manipulated and made into unrepentant monsters, are the ostensible enemies of humankind. Evan Grayson, known to all as the Dead Man, is the weapon created to put those empaths down. He himself was transformed into a weapon without feeling. He is apathy personified. And yet . . . there is something about Reece that makes Evan responsive and receptive in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

Factions working for and against each other dictate the danger Reece and Evan face. As the past comes back to life with a furious vengeance and Reece begins using the powers he has dedicated himself to subduing, the story races full-throttle into an end that was, perhaps, inevitable.

Introducing a new and unexpected weapon at this point in the conflict was timed impeccably to coincide with the changes Reece and Evan are going through themselves. Things are shifting, transitions are happening, transgressions have been committed, and the greatest threat now is the unknown. Whether the damage is permanent is unclear, but I can’t wait to find out.