Pleasure-Jacquelyn Frank

Pleasure
Jacquelyn Frank
Zebra, Sep 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9781420104240

Below ground in Alaska is a concealed city that humans are unaware of its existence. It is the place where the Shadowdwellers race reside. The underground is darkness as even the slightest ray of light can kill these people.

Sanctuary priest Sagan is kidnapped by a serial torturer killer and her minions; they bring him to the house of Valera, a born witch. She uses her magic to kill his captors shocking the underground priest that a human magic user has no taint of evil oozing from her.

Magnus, the head of Sanctuary, wants Sagan to bring his beloved Valera to the “dweller” city to demonstrate to the Night Riders that not all magic practitioners are evil. The senate governing the Shadowdwellers is trying to force Chancellor Malaya to marry a person of their choice and produce an heir. Her bodyguard Guin, who has protected and loved her (unrequitedly) for fifty years, detests his beloved having to marry a man not of her choosing. Unable to cope he leaves her for the first time in five decades. His departure makes Malaya realizes what she has taken for granted and how much she loves her bodyguard. Acadia, whose uses another name in the senate, attacks Magnus’ wife and Guin, leaving it to the outsider Valera to mitigate damages although few Shadowdwellers trust her.

Thus ends the exhilarating Shadowdweller trilogy (see ECSTASY and RAPTURE) and while the enjoyable story line fails to wrap up everything in a nice tidy package, readers will gain much PLEASURE from this fine entry that hopes for peace amidst the night walker species. The romantic subplot between Guin and Malaya is fascinating as he tries to hide his feelings especially his ire over what the leaders are doing to his beloved while she fails to see him beyond a trusty protector and to a degree friend. The other romantic subplot is also terrific as the human witch and the Shadowdweller are natural enemies. Jacquelyn Frank is a master fantasist who makes her paranormal earth seem real with a spark of hope for peace, but frankly this is an author known for her twists and spins.

Harriet Klausner