Hidden in Shadows is the fourth installment in Lark Brennan’s Durand Chronicles, and although I highly recommend reading the previous books, Shadows in the Deep, Mind Shadows, and Shadows of the Past (because they are really good!), Hidden in Shadows works as a stand alone novel.
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When Marie Robichaud’s aged Camry dies near the Texas/Louisiana border in the middle of the night, she knows she’s got trouble. She’s on the run from the cheating boyfriend she left back in Las Vegas, and she’s carrying a valuable necklace that said boyfriend bought with money he stole from her. Marie is pretty sure whoever sold him the necklace didn’t exactly have a clear title to it, but she’s past caring. If she can just get to the casino in Shreveport, she can pick up enough cash at the poker table to give her a cushion while she figures out what to do next. When a handsome man driving a powerful Porsche stops to offer her assistance, she’s leery. But she sure needs that ride into Shreveport.
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Victor Durand, the man in the Porsche, has been following Marie for hours. Well, actually, he’s been following the necklace, which radiates psychic powers no jewel thief could possibly imagine. Much to his surprise, his “jewel thief” is a young woman with psychic powers of her own, a form of telepathy she’s been using for years to make a living playing poker.
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Victor and Marie have little reason to trust each other. Experience has taught Marie that handsome, wealthy men are not likely to have her best interest at heart. Victor sees Marie as a con artist and a card sharp. But there are truly dangerous people searching for Marie’s necklace, and Victor knows that if he simply takes the necklace from her, he will be abandoning her to a very bad fate.
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When their uneasy partnership takes them to the voodoo-haunted streets of New Orleans, where Marie grew up and where Victor has left some bad memories behind, Marie finds herself drawn into Victor’s world, where the unending struggle between the Durand Protectors and the evil Dissemblers threatens Marie’s family.
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The Durand Chronicles combine romantic (and occasionally steamy) suspense with the varied psychic powers of the Durand family and their associates. Hidden in Shadows includes characters from the first three books and leaves just enough unanswered questions to fuel one more book, Shadow of Death, coming soon.
Kay Hudson 