Touch of Darkness-

Touch of Darkness
C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp
Tor, Aug 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 0765359626

In Colorado Kate Reilly feels fortunate to still be alive; having survived seemingly endless waves of attacks by the local vampiric Thrall (see TOUCH OF EVIL and TOUCH OF MADNESS). She and beloved werewolf Tom Bishop plan to marry although his pack is not pleased with his choice of a bride from outside the pack. Though he still needs approval especially by his Alpha, Tom assumes no one will prevent his nuptials in a couple of days; now that Kate’s apartment building collapsed due to a blizzard and she needs a home he plans to provide her.

Tom failed to consider Janine his former lover, who swears Tom is her soulmate. At the same time the loved birds struggle with getting the blessing of his pack, her brother Brian, a former Eden drug addict, is undercover at New Dawn Thrall halfway house in Texas where he learns more of their conspiracy to take control from the humans. The media fails to see beyond the Thrall manipulation of them in which they are the good guys and Kate is a baby killer.

The final entry to the delightful Thrall trilogy is a superb urban romantic fantasy as Kate and Tom have extended family/pack issues that make her as the vampire slayer and him as a werewolf seem real. Interestingly, instead of being a hero, the manipulated media paint Kate as a baby killer while the Thrall are described as innocent victims (Karl Rove would be proud of that swiftboating). Fans of the miniseries will appreciate the climax while newcomers will want to “touch” the previous two books first.
Harriet Klausner