The Shadow Runners
Liz Maverick
Love Spell, Jun 2004, $6.99
ISBN: 0505525895

In 2176, the Empire arrests Jenny Red's dad on the charge of treason and murder. His family, including Jenny, is kicked into the servant's quarters of the royal palace. Jenny makes do as best she can before being unceremoniously dumped in the penal colony in Newgate, Australia.

She finds her new home city rather different from her previous abode. The Parliament runs Newgate as a personal playground to do whatever hedonistic pleasures they chose regardless of the impact on the people. Drug use is rampant among the elite.

Shadow Runner D'ekker Han Valoreen, half-brother to Prince Kuber, hopes to change the decadent order so that the masses can improve their lot. He needs help to bring a communication tower inside Newgate so he asks Jenny, whose father allegedly destroyed his sire, the emperor. She wants to refuse, but cannot. As they work together, the duo falls in love, but between the danger of their actions and that she is the daughter of a traitor, a long-term relationship between them is doubtful.

The latest futuristic science fiction romance, starring fantastic female champions, is a terrific entry that continues the superior level of quality that this miniseries has so far achieved. The story line is action-packed while bringing to life a mid twenty-second century world that seems feasible. The lead couple is a fine pairing of a noble hero with a delightfully hesitant heroine (slightly different from the previous books) who does the right thing when the time comes for her to act.

Harriet Klausner