Catherine Spangler, Touched by Darkness

Touched by Darkness

Catherine Spangler

Berkley, January 2007, $6.99

ISBN: 0425214001

Several years ago, Dr. Kara Cantrell, taking her six year old son Alex, went into hiding after watching a supernatural essence kill her spouse Richard. She felt small town Zorro, Texas would be a safe place to raise her child far from the evil Belians that consumed Richard. Everything seemed fine until she senses the power and recognizes the stranger staring at her is a Sentinel. Kara knows first hand the danger of being near a Sentinel, so she makes plans to run away, but has no idea where she can keep Alex safe.

The stranger Damien Morgan, an Atlantian Sentinel human mortal is shocked because he had not expected anyone with his power in the town. He realizes that the kid has the power of an initiate Sentinel, but is untrained, with no guides nearby and assumes his superiors are unaware of this kid. He fears for the child being taken by the Belians, with no mentor teaching him how to defend himself, but he also knows that the mother is a Conductor who has the ability to locate the Belians. Needing to protect the child and obtain the mother's help, Damien bullies himself into their lives, but neither he nor the mother he intimidated expected to fall in love while rooting out the Belians seeking her offspring.

This is an excellent romantic fantasy that grips the audience from the early scene when the rightfully overly protective Conductor senses the Sentinel, and never slows down until a final confrontation with love vs. evil. The love subplot is handled deftly within the overall paranormal theme, as the two adults know keeping her child safe is first, destroying the Belians is second and their desires last. Touched by Darkness spangles with excitement, as Catherine Spangler writes a fantastic thriller.