Shrouded in Darkness by H.D. Thomson

Margot Davenport’s life has been turned upside down. She divorced her husband two years ago and lost her corporate attorney job soon after, but none of that compares to the heartbreak she’s dealing with now – the death of her brother, Johnny, who she adored.

Jake Preston doesn’t have long to live, thanks to an experiment gone wrong. He needs to get his hands on the antidote, but the last known person to have it is his friend and co-worker, Johnny Davenport. Unaware of Johnny’s death, Jake shows up at Margot’s front door looking for him, and a place to stay. When he learns about Johnny’s car accident, which he’s pretty sure wasn’t an accident at all, he’s even more convinced that the cure he’s looking for can be found somewhere in Margot’s house.

Maybe it was the way-too-much alcohol she’d been drinking to deaden the emotional pain of her brother’s death, or the fact that Jake is a living, breathing connection to her beloved Johnny, whatever the reason, Margot reluctantly agrees to rent Jake a room for the couple of weeks he'll be in town. Odd things start happening around the house, things she can’t explain and when she starts to think that maybe Johnny’s ghost has come to visit, she realizes she’s really losing it. But when Malcolm, her ex-husband, shows up desperate to find some file Johnny had been working on, Margot is certain there’s much more going on than meets the eye, and that Jake isn’t who, or what, he claims to be.

Shrouded in Darkness is book one of the The Shrouded Series, and I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read it. Jake Preston is the kind of hero I can love – tormented, honorable and strong, yet vulnerable and desperate, but I had a tough time connecting with Margot or sympathizing with her over the things she was going through. The story was good and kept me guessing, wondering who the bad guys were and what they were hiding. I don't want to spoil the story for you, so I can't go into a lot of detail, but I do want to mention that, in my opinion, Shrouded in Darkness felt more sci-fi than paranormal, though not futuristic or techy.

The bottom line - If you enjoy mysteries with a twist you might want to check this one out. The writing isn't without flaws, but Shrouded in Darkness is an entertaining read, and left me wanting to know more about the dark world Jake Preston and Johnny Davenport had found themselves caught up in.

My thanks to the author, H.D. Thomson, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.25/5 stars