THE RED HEART OF JADE

Author: Marjorie M. Liu ISBN: 050552631X 7/2006 PARANORMAL Publisher: DORCHESTER/Love Spell

The grisly murders were just a beginning. Dean Campbell, ex-cop and clairvoyant, was sent to investigate. He was with the Dirk & Steele Detective Agency, that global association of more-than-human men and women who quietly fought for good in a world of fear and loathing. Shapeshifters, psychics and other paranormals, Dean and his peers were devoted to protecting life. But there were those who lived to destroy, as was becoming all too clear. In Taipei, he found a shocking truth. The remains of those burned-alive men and women, those bits of bone and ash, revealed a pattern more deadly than any he had foreseen, a pattern heralding immortal evil. Someone knew Dean's secret, the secrets of his friends. And they knew more—of a power that could change the world, that was impossible to escape, and of a woman who could complete him: Mirabelle Lee, the childhood sweetheart he'd once thought dead. Now, all that remained was blinding light and searing pain, potent passion and a purifying fire. And beneath it all was ...The Red Heart of Jade.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Ah, magic. Some good, some bad, some downright strange and undefined by any category.THE RED HEART OF JADE is filled with such magic, in its plot and in its characters. Both lead me on an enjoyable and exciting reading journey through foreign lands and time, with incredible details that all circle back to, you guessed it, magic.

This is a character driven read, though the setting sometimes captures more of my attention. Everyone has a part to play, or two or three, and each are given a wonderful dialogue and scene in which to play them. The imagery my mind conjures up while reading it is magnificent, and I compliment the author on her attention to the smallest details.

What keeps THE RED HEART OF JADE from earning a Top Pick read from me is the fact that it's very confusing. The more I read, the more complex it becomes and the more questions arise. The plot twisting upon itself and not wrapping up neatly at the end, also keep this one from earning that distinction. But, those same things that hold it back also keep me looking forward to the next book in the Dirk & Steele Romance stories.

Shannon Johnson