Shadows in the Darkness

By Elaine Cunningham

Book Overview

Gwen "GiGi" Gelman, a ten year veteran of the Providence, Rhode Island vice squad, finds herself unemployed after being blamed for a routine bust that turned into a bloodbath. GiGi is used to being on her own, though, and with the help of a DA who owes her, she's scraped together enough capital to start her own PI business, specializing in"family problems"-in particular runaways who have disappeared into Providence's seamy underside. With a few custodian kidnapping cases under her belt, as well as a case against a Catholic school teacher/molester, GiGi is doing well for herself --until she takes on the case of a fourteen year old runaway who may or may not have been kidnapped. As GiGi investigates, she accidentally opens the door to her own mystical past. Now long-hidden family ties threaten her, and the secret of her identity unlocks a conspiracy that reveals the forces of darkness that play in the shadows... Forces that intend to be the masters of all mortal life.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765348519
• ISBN13: 9780765348517
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Good enough for a re-read

I've now read this twice and enjoyed it as much or more on the second read. Cunningham has created an interesting story to keep readers very engaged. She creates several story lines before wrapping them together in a satisfying ending. Additionally, her "good guy" characters come alive in her prose to ensure we all care about them. I especially love the sexual undertones that keep tension high without overshadowing the plot. I hope Cunningham will keep up with many more in this series. They are great. If you like Kim Harrison, you should like this--only more.

Elves Meets the Sopranos...A Great Start to a New Series!

Well, I seem to have reviewed these in the wrong order. At any rate, I liked the first one (this one) more than the second, though both were quite good. Cunningham has an interesting twist on the whole changeling/elf thing that has seriously dark undertones (things elves meets the sopranos) and takes the reader on a hair-raising adventure right along with Gwen. In Shadows in the Darkness, we start out with a bust gone bad and Gwen ousted from the police force almost immediately...what's an out of work changeling (who doesn't know she is one) to do? Become a P.I. of course. Gwen's character is established as quirky, tough as nails, provocative and without fear. She's determined to do the right thing even when it puts here in danger. As the story continues we are introduced to a series of additional quirky but endearing characters...including Gwen's land-lady who has a special past, her mentor and first partner (forced to retire because of his drinking), the spitfire nun with quite the mouth on her, and the list goes on...characters who are long time friends and brand new ones are introduced in rapid fire succession as the stories continues to build and build. We see Gwen through the death of two of her colleagues, the kidnapping of a child, the death of her partner and more. It's interesting to watch Gwen develop as the story goes on; she's one of the more entertaining characters I've read in a long time! We're never really given all the keys to the kingdom (as far as solving the case and tying up loose ends) and neither is Gwen. Shadows in the Darkness ends in a somewhat predictable manner...but it's the building up of the story for what is to come that keeps that from dragging this book down to an annoying level. All I can say is, the third one better not take two years to be published!

Gwen kick ass Elf

Hmm...I wrote a review for this and it disappeared... Gwen - GiGi is her vice cop alter identity - doesn't know that she's a Changeling she's always just looked really young - teenaged to her real age in the early 30s. What she does know is that sometimes she can 'see' things touched by others or pick up things being in their personal space. Gwen has been forced off of the police force because her boss conveniently lost paperwork that proved she was undercover - when two of her co-workers were killed in the line of duty. Now she's a private investigator in search of a missing teenager. We find out how that case turns out to be linked to her own previously unknown identity as a member of the Elder Race and one that has an ability that is pretty special. There's sex, but not graphic like the current Anita Blake. Gwen has some of the same kick ass characteristics that we fell in love with in Anita without all the hang-ups or ardeur. This should be a fun series! I'll have to check out others from this author.

Loved It

I almost passed this book by because the cover wasn't eye catching nor did it indicate anything about the book's content. But luckily I read a review of it on a friends blog that interested me enough to seek it out again and read through the paper back which is now out. The main character, GiGi, short for Gwen Gellman, is an ex-cop forced out of the police department when she's blamed for a bust turned bloodbath. She was on a deep cover assignment, but her corrupt boss fixes things so it looks like she was working her own rogue operation. GiGi toughs it out though and goes independent for real, as a PI specializing in missing persons and runaways. There are a number of different cases running through the story. Old cases of kidnapping and murder, new cases of missing girls and forced prostitution, and somehow all the cases are dove tailing together to make a dark puzzle picture, where GiGi herself is one of the integral pieces. Because GiGi, who looks like jailbait and has a special talent for psychic phenomena, is discovering an underworld where not all the players are human... and neither is she. It's modern day Elves done Mafia style, and GiGi is finding out she's a member of the Family. A good, tense read full of suspense with a solid, kick ass heroine.

will remind readers of Jim Butcher's Dresden files

After a decade on the Providence police force thirty-four years old Gwen "GiGi" Gelman works undercover for the vice squad when a bust turns ugly. Several people die and someone must take the fall. Classic example of sh*t going downhill occurs; GiGi is fired. Needing to eat, GiGi opens up a private investigative firm that seems to be doing well especially when she deftly handles a molester giving up his day job as a Catholic school teacher. Her current case is to find a missing teen. As the inquiries spin between abduction and runaway, GiGi begins to find she stunningly has psychic powers and starts to ascertain that she is not quite human. As she learns more about her elfish genetic makeup, her investigation propels her to apply her vice squad experience as an undercover operator looking into the Underhill gentlemen only club where children perform erotic dances. The inquiries begin to spin into something greater than a missing teen as a conspiracy involving her family ties surface with the club's owner Ian Forest assisting GiGi, who cannot understand why he would aid the apparent enemy. SHADOWS IN THE DARKNESS is an excellent private investigative tale starring a delightful unique protagonist, an elf. The story line makes believers out of readers that Elaine Cunningham's realm exists as the author cleverly introduces her heroine via the mystery. GiGi is a terrific champion struggling with her case and her new knowledge about her heritage that is dangerous to her elfish health. Private investigative fantasy fans will appreciate this fabulous opening novel that will remind readers of Jim Butcher's Dresden files. Harriet Klausner