The Dark Shield
Sloan St. JamesMainstream Romance
Available from Tiger Publications
ISBN: 978-9792629-0-6
June 2007
| Conner Wolfe, a Chicago police officer, is badly wounded in a drug bust, and his partner and two others are killed. Conner loses part of the vision in one eye as a result of the bullet which struck him, and is retired from the police force on disability pension. He takes this event as a signpost pointing to the need for him to recover his buried past, in order to discover his future. Twenty years ago he wasn't Conner Wolfe; instead he was a ten-year-old orphaned Irish boy, constantly hungry, named Niall Malone. Together with his brother Peter, Niall lived on the streets and at a "clubhouse" with other youngsters in the same straits-a hangout which provided young runners and errand boys for Irish "freedom fighters." On one such errand, Niall's brother Peter was shot by the garda, and died days later.
Now Connor/Niall is convinced that Peter's spirit is urging him to return to Belfast to recover his memories, and find what has been missing in his life. When he arrives, he does turn up some old cronies, each of whom has much to conceal from him. He also meets Daligherat O'Dea, nicknamed Di, a nurse and teacher of Indigo children who have been rescued from the system that termed them ADD and medicated them into near mental oblivion. Di's brother Marcus is involved with the same crowd that Niall and Peter ran with two decades earlier. The Dark Shield is a contemporary mainstream romance with strong paranormal elements, and an amazing examination of the concept of Indigo children. There is a strong emphasis on the Celtic spiritual legacy of Ireland, contrasted with the current climate of the rebellious Irish faction which uses bombings and violence to accomplish its aims. The characters are well-examined and the plot moves quickly along, drawing in the reader's attention and keeping it focused. Sloan St. James proves to be an author to watch.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Annie |
