In Claimed by Shadow, Karen Chance’s second book about Cassie Palmer and company, we find as much of the pulse-pounding excitement and adventure as we found in Touch the Dark.

We meet up with Cassie about a week after the conclusion of Touch the Dark. She is on the run from the Vampire Senate and Myra, the former prime candidate for Pythia (Head Clairvoyant for all of the supernatural society). The Senate and the mages want to control her and Myra just wants to kill her for “stealing” the Pythia’s powers upon the death of the previous Pythia.

Cassie never wanted to be Pythia to begin with so is none too keen on everyone wanting to hunt her down. And she certainly never had any desire for all these new powers, not the least of which is the ability to travel through time. As yet the ritual to obtain the powers has not been completed and if she’s killed before that happens, all of that immense power will go to someone else who would only use the magic for the wrong reasons.

In the midst of running for her life, her personal magic wards are failing. As it turns out, one of the most powerful of all vampires has put a geis on Cassie, binding her to him. Unless she can counteract the spell, her wards will not protect her from her enemies. One person can possibly help her, who until recently had also been trying to kill her. Can she trust her enemy to aid her before it’s too late?

Cassie Palmer is back and better than ever! Once again she is on the run from multiple enemies and now sure who to trust. Weary of being used for her abilities and hunted when she would no longer cooperate, all she really cares about is being free to live her own life. Now with the added responsibility of inheriting new duties as Pythia, she despairs of ever being able to make her own decisions about her gifts. We find it very easy to understand her resistance to this new role. Plus it doesn’t help matters any that she has a hard enough time controlling her own gifts, let alone all the new abilities she’s inherited.

Action speeds along at a frantic pace as Cassie runs from all her enemies and finds assistance in unlikely places. There really is something to the old adage “the enemy of your enemy is your friend” as Cassie discovers. Danger looms in every direction and surprises (good and bad) are quite common as more and more threats to her life crop up. I found it very hard to put Claimed by Shadow down for anything as false leads and changes in direction bring the intensity to a fever pitch, leading up to the final showdown in this chapter of the tale. As with Touch the Dark, there is no definite conclusion to the story, but a “to be continued” ending that makes us very impatient for what is to happen next.

While we meet up with many old friends (and enemies) in Claimed by Shadow, we also find new ones. Some of the most amusing characters are found in the Graeae, legendary Greek warriors who look like three crazy old ladies, whom Cassie unwittingly frees from heir unusual prison. And who can forget Pritkin the war mage’s loyal comrade, Mac, the unusual tattoo artist covered head to toe with fascinating (and mobile) magical tattoo wards. Cassie’s reaction is priceless when she finds out just what Mac can do with his needles and ink.

Don’t worry romance fans, you will find a hint of romance throughout the book from some of your favorite characters in the series. Though not a strong component of the story, romance is present in varying degrees. After all, a key component of the story is the geis a certain alluringly sensual vampire has used on Cassie.

There is no end in sight to Chance’s fantasy world. Her imagination is still revved up and raring to go if Claimed by Shadow is any indication.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, February 2007. All rights reserved.