Twisted Shadows is the second book in Allie Therin’s Sugar & Vice paranormal/urban fantasy series. You must read Liar City to have a clue what is happening. I had to reread it as a refresher. In Allie Therin’s alternate universe, some people are born with supernatural empathic powers. Empaths are feared, fetishized, and regulated. Empaths can read emotions, and if corrupted, can turn people into thralls. A corrupted empath no longer cares about hurting people. The US government has an operative called The Dead Man who is immune to empaths because he doesn’t have feelings. Evan Grayson is The Dead Man, and Reese is the empath he’s both protecting and protecting the world from.
Twisted Shadows picks up soon after Liar City. The events at Stone Solutions’ Seattle headquarters have increased tensions around empaths, and particularly around Reese. The violence that happened at Stone Solutions has left Reese in a place where he is not corrupted, but teetering on the edge. He is concerned about the harm he may do, and feels safer knowing that Evan can stop him. While there is still an adversarial quality to their relationship, they’ve also become friends, and they have banter about hypothetical physical activity. There’s pining, charged silences, and heavy eye contact. They can’t have physical contact though because when they touch, skin to skin, Reese is rendered unconscious.
There’s scheming afoot. Someone comes back from the dead and someone is making empaths disappear. The tension winds ever tighter and then Reese makes a choice, leaving Evan adrift. And now I have to wait for the next book to find out what happens. I don’t love cliffhangers, but Allie Therin makes this work. She’s set up a situation that needs resolution, but because so little information has been available to Reese, it’s taken two books just for him to understand the shape of the question. These books are coming out at an interesting moment.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Carina Adores and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
