A review by C J Dee
★★☆ ☆☆ two out of five stars
Ed Sieveking is an American writer who writes horror in an attempt to release the ghosts from his past that are literally haunting him. During a research visit to London for his next book, Ed meets and falls for Andeanna Menderes. Andeanna is beautiful, charming and married to Mikis ‘the Turk’ Menderes, one of London’s most fearsome crime bosses. The more Ed gets to know Andeanna, the more he realises her marriage may not have been all that she was hiding.
While I was intrigued to see where the characters ended up at the conclusion of the book, I didn’t feel any of the characters were particularly likeable. That’s not to say they were evil or despicable characters, but neither did they portray much depth or give the reader a reason to be on “their side” throughout the novel.
This book felt like it took a long time to get started which unfortunately didn’t work in its favour. I’m all for a suspenseful build up in a good book, but with Lady of the Shades it felt more like the story was dragging its heels to get to the main plot device.
Once it got started though, the story had interesting twists that kept me wanting to read more. I was glad for it to pick up the pace and once it picked up, it was like a corkscrew. It had stayed on the straight and narrow for the most part but when it got to the first twist it just kept winding until it reached the end.
Lady of the Shades is a novel that is worth reading if you like stories with a noir vibe or novels that are more story than character based. It is a good story, it isn’t too long to make it cumbersome and it isn’t without surprises. However, I don’t feel it’s going to be one that sticks with many readers for long.
Page count: 312
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Orion Books
Rating: 2/5
