by Marjorie M. Liu
Exquisitely poetic, dark, and transformational!
A woman awakens in a
strange hotel room with blood and
dead bodies
surrounding her. She has lost all memory. Is she a murderer? The only
clue is a note with the word "Run" --and run, she does right into
Lannes Hannelore, a gargoyle, a member of a race that now hides in
plain sight. Lannes feels drawn to her, can feel her thoughts. She
wakens in him something he has never felt before. When her entire life
has become a nightmare of epic proportions, the woman oddly feels
comfort, understanding, and support from this strange handsome man.
Lannes stands by her, trying to unravel the clues and restore her
memory even though she might be the end of life as he knew it. Can
these two discover her identity and find true love, a soul love, or
will the unveiling of the past threaten them even more than the current
dangers? When the Dirk and Steele agency gets involved, the clues
become more mysterious, more dangerous.
Lannes Hannelore captures the heart from his first appearance. Gentle,
kind, and so moved by the plight of this woman, he knows her even as
she cannot know herself. He knows her heart and protects her
intuitively. When every clue should make him run, she wakens in him
something altogether unfamiliar, a part of him that has been locked
away and never before experienced love or this kind of empathy. She
does not even know her own name but something about this woman makes
him feel known. Can his caring and growing love for her bring her to a
space where she herself feels known as he does? Will the shocking
truth, once found, separate them? Can love enter into the midst of the
ultimate darkness?
In THE WILD ROAD, Marjorie M.
Liu creates a suspenseful and dangerous journey to truth as the two
tried to unlock her memory, a blank memory yet something within her
that attracts violence. Death and cruelty surround this woman as her
mind is possessed by some unknown force. As Dirk and Steele become
involved, the discovered dark past raises the level of suspense to the
ultimate limit as Hannelore and the woman must race to unlock her past
and protect others from an injustice long silenced. They must locate a
danger that is both nowhere and everywhere, internal and external. Just
as darkness and evil threaten to overtake all, from the violence and
cruelty emerges a powerfully moving story of love and sacrifice, of
giving to another that moves the heart with a profound depth. The
romance between Hannelore and the woman feels almost legendary like the
stories of Greek gods and goddesses and their tales of love but in a
paranormal, dark suspenseful setting. THE
WILD ROAD is an awesome romance about the transformation of
souls through love.
This is my first time reading Marjorie M. Liu. For other readers, like
myself, new to the Dirk and Steele series, this book works perfectly as
a stand alone and a place to begin the Marjorie Liu journey. Of course,
having read this one I quickly ordered previous books in the series,
but I did not feel anything lacking coming to this series fresh.
Marjorie M. Liu's THE WILD ROAD
goes beyond strict genre delineations, with its suspense and look into
violence and the human heart at its most elemental level ---- as a
reader, I love it all the more intriguing for its unparalleled vision.
This book left me somewhat speechless. While the suspenseful elements
glued me to the pages, I was so mesmerized by her language that I
slowed my reading speed down just to savor the pure poetry and beauty
of her language. THE WILD ROAD
quite simply has no equal. Exquisite in each and every detail!
Publisher: Love Spell
(July 2008)
Series: Dirk and Steele
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
