When psychic Rachel Bonner firsts meets wealthy Harry Sebastian on Rainshadow Island, it’s lust at first sight. So when he appears dressed in black at her front door the next day seeking shelter from the storm, it’s time for a closer look and a reexamination of her feelings. As she studies the “sharp planes and angles of his face and the sleek, powerful silhouette of his shoulders,” she recalls admiring his “big SUV with its powerful flash-rock engine promised a more exciting ride than [her] bicycle or the little Vibe buggy that she borrowed from Brett at the service station when she needed something larger in the way of transport."—Now there’s a sentence filled with symbolism and double entendre.—“He looked at her with eyes that burned with smoky green eyes... Her intuition had warned her then—as it did tonight—that the heat in Sebastian's eyes was a dangerous mix of sexual attraction and the aroused curiosity of a top-of-the-food-chain hunter. Yesterday she had been stunned by the thrill of awareness that had slammed through her senses. But that was nothing compared to the excitement effervescing in her blood tonight.”Rainshadow Island is on the planet Harmony, a world filled with strange alien artifacts, where the human immigrants have begun to develop psychic abilities, but for futuristic world it is, in many ways, very familiar the characters drive SUVs and dine on hamburgers and lasagna. In a way, it’s a fantasy world without a sense of wonder. At first I found it a bit off-putting, but as soon as the action starts, and that’s right away, I forgot all my quibbles with the style. The story is absorbing. It’s not a traditional fantasy; it’s a love story, romantic suspense, science fiction, paranormal fantasy, action adventure, each genre piled one on top of another, but character and plot roll right over them to make a very satisfying read. Bean has an excellent ability to pitch her voice low to imitate sultry tones for Harry, and believably male voice for the other characters of the sex. Her pacing is equal to the fast pace of the story without ever seeming rushed. I enjoy Ms. Castle's unique world building. She doesn't go into as much detail as her earlier stories in the series about how the humans ended up on Harmony or the reasons why everyone is able to do things which could be described as paranormal. It is probably expected if you are going to read the ninth in a series you would or at least should read some of the proceeding ones.She did have a couple of side stories going in this book and not all of them were actually resolved. I guess she was setting things up for the next story. The motivations of the bad guys were never really defined. The addition of creatures other than the established dust bunnies was interesting. I think it would be interesting if we found out some of the mystery concerning the aliens who used to live on the planet.
What do You think about The Lost Night (2012)?
Not as well done as the next one (read it out of order.) I liked the alien discoveries.
—jjayC
I loved Rainshadow. There is just enough darkness to make it interesting.
—Olivia
I thought this was a good book waiting for the next one.
—devina
