Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: A Shadow of a Dream
AUTHOR: Isabella Carter
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 257 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2013
BLURB:
Solving a murder is never an easy matter, even when circumstances are ideal. For Basil, circumstances are far from ideal. Because the murder is far more complicated than at first it seems, and before he can even begin to solve it Basil must contend with a council that refuses to listen to him, a partner he despises, and a thief who is a temptation that Basil cannot seem to resist …
Previously a serialized fiction at Less Than Three Press
REVIEW:
Oh my God, where has this book been all my life? Or at least, you know, the last few years. Words cannot express the absolute love I have for this book and just how much it blew whatever expectations I had away. Seriously, this book was just that good.
Basil works as a Hunter for the Order, investigating strange occurrences and hunting down supernatural beings that threaten the lives of his city. Anything magical is seen as a threat which is a big problem for Basil as he isn’t exactly human. Still, he has a purpose and he feels good about the work he does, even though there are those that would happily look the other way if something were to happen to him. When he and his new partner are contracted to investigate the theft of a necklace from a local Duke, Basil’s only thought is whether a notorious thief known as the Shadow was the culprit. Nothing is as it seems, however, and things take a turn for the strange and unusual with the appearance of an unknown monster and a potion made by an unknown alchemist. With the clock ticking down and the body count rising, Basil will have to rely on more than just his own magic to keep himself alive.
While at first I was merely intrigued by the story presented here, I was very quickly drawn in and found myself completely enthralled by both the story itself and the characters. The mystery was excellent and was actually broken down into a couple of smaller cases that were connected and led to a much bigger problem. Each part of the story was entertaining and I really enjoyed the diversity presented in the cases. The characters were all interesting but I absolutely fell in love with Basil; he was a mystery unto himself that I was extremely happy to wonder over for the majority of the book. I found him intriguing and his unexpected insecurity when it came to Shadow was endearing. Shadow had more layers than I had originally expected and while I did figure out who he was well before the actual reveal, it didn’t detract from his character at all. Like Basil, Shadow was kind of like a present you got to watch being unwrapped really slowly. The ending of the book was unexpected and I loved the extra twists thrown in that I’d had no inkling of beforehand. My only regret is that there isn’t a sequel to this because I’d be all over it right now! I’m happy where the book ended but I did have a few residual questions that went unanswered. Still, I was so unbelievably happy with this story that they don’t matter in the slightest and I know I’ll be reading this one over and over again!
RATING: 
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