Product Description

The New York Times-bestselling author of Sizzle and Burn has a brand-new Arcane Society novel.

Ex-cop Luther Malone, lifelong member of the secretive paranormal organization known as the Arcane Society, is waiting to meet Grace Renquist. Hired as an aura-reading consultant in the quest for a murder suspect, she’s got zero field experience. She’s from tiny Eclipse Bay, Oregon. She’s a librarian, for heaven’s sake.

As for Grace, she’s not expecting much either from Malone, who walks with a cane and isn’t so good with a gun. Nice résumé for a bodyguard . . .

But even before they reach their hotel in Maui—where they’ll be posing as honeymooners—Grace and Luther feel the electric charge between them. Problem is, they need to remain vigilant day and night, because it soon becomes clear there’s more going on here. Rogue sensitives—operatives for the underground group Nightshade—are pouring into the luxury resort like there’s a convention. Grace recognizes those dark spikes in their auras. She saw the same pattern in someone else in another life—a life she hasn’t revealed to Luther or anyone else. And she understands how dangerous these people can be . . . especially with those para-hunters at their sides.

While the pair’s employers at Jones & Jones scramble to get them backup, Luther and Grace have to think on their feet. The criminals in their midst aren’t just high-level sensitives: They’ve enhanced their talents with a potent—and unpredictable— drug. And as Grace knows all too well, if you don’t control your powers, your powers will control you. . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179254 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780399155215
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From Publishers Weekly
A heroine who can see dark energy flashes in a villain's aura and a hero who can squelch villainous thoughts before they're put into action go to paradise to find a murderer, but find love, sex and a nest of drug-enhanced evildoers instead in Krentz's latest Arcane Society novel. Librarian Grace Renquist and ex-cop-turned-bartender Luther Malone, both members of the centuries-old Arcane Society, join forces when the psychic investigative agency Jones & Jones hires Grace, with Luther as her bodyguard, to find a killer in Hawaii. Luther quickly realizes Grace is not your normal paranormal, but their hot romance is put (briefly) on hold as they learn that Nightshade, drug-fueled supernatural baddies, are after the same murderer—as is the lethal psychic hunter La Sirène, an opera diva with a killer voice. The plot is fast, steamy and wildly entertaining even if it defies credulity. Krentzs fans will enjoy this outing and appreciate the teaser that readers have not seen the last of this power couple. (Jan.)
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From Booklist
Luther Malone should have known that even an “easy” assignment from Fallon Jones would have a few unexpected twists. Not only did Jones expect him to work with a complete novice with no field experience, but also Malone’s new “partner,” Grace Renquist, is a librarian! It’s true, she works in the Bureau of Genealogy at the Arcane Society, but Grace knows her talents at aura-reading are every bit as good as Malone’s paranormal gift, and she is determined to prove her professional worth while on assignment with this ex-cop with a limp, a fear of guns, and attitude. Of course, the one thing Jones fails to tell either Malone or Grace is that while they conduct a secret investigation in Maui to search for a possible murderer, they are going to have to pretend to be married. Combining a superbly matched pair of protagonists, wonderfully original secondary characters (including a deliciously self-absorbed diva villainess with a “killer” voice), and a cleverly constructed plot, best-selling Krentz works her usual literary alchemy and creates another irresistible, paranormal-flavored novel of sexy romantic suspense to add to her much-loved Arcane Society series (Sizzle and Burn, 2008). --John Charles

About the Author
Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively.

Customer Reviews

This may be my favorite Arcane book yet!
When Grace Renquist is sent on assignment for Jones & Jones, it's supposed to be a simple in and out mission. Go to Maui, identify a suspect by his aura, and go home. Even so, Luther Malone, Waikiki bartender and J&J agent, is sent along as a bodyguard, just in case. Suddenly Maui is teeming with high-level Nightshade operatives, not to mention two different contract killers, in a plot that leads all the way to the Governing Council of the Arcane Society.

I just loved this book! Grace is such a different type of heroine, and she and Luther have both been damaged in different ways. They come together fast (and hot), but the sense of emotional connection is there from the beginning. It's clear they're perfect for each other and that Luther has no intention of letting her go now that he's found her. I found myself sniffling a bit as Grace realized she'd found a home with Luther and his band of fellow survivors -- and when we finally learn the truth about Arizona Snow (from Eclipse Bay).

This one's a thrill-ride. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

Too Much Arcane????
First, I have been a Jayne Ann Krentz fan for years, all the way back to the Stephanie James pen-name. Many of the early books are "keepers." However, Ms. Krentz has taken the Arcane Society series about as far as it can go. The characters and plotting have become weaker with each new book. She does give both protagonists emotional baggage, but nothing that supposedly great sex can't cure the first time experienced together. I did not feel any emotional connection with either Grace Renquist or Luther Malone. The antagonist, La Sirene, who can kill with her voice, is not developed sufficiently for the reader to understand her motivation--why would she feel such obligation to father and sister she's known only a year, when she is portrayed as totally self-absorbed??? The plot is generic. The whole "secret society, conspiracy theory" genre has been overdone in the past few years.

I do get the feeling that a sequel or two is being set up--Fallon Jones and the surviving sister (who turns on her father and sister's legacy to identify Nightshade members of the Arcane Society) may get their own book(s). They might be an interesting pairing. Unless the sequel brings back strong, well-delineated characters with realistic problems and solutions, it's time to wind up the series.

For the Arcane Crowd
Krentz has woven an intricate plot around two battered and bruised Arcane Society members. Grace Renquist, a librarian with a past, and Luther Malone, an ex-cop, join forces for a routine assignment from J&J. Routine becomes the opposite as they stumble onto Nightshade. There are many different plot lines, even a mention of a character from the Eclipse Bay series, that come together almost flawlessly for a dramatic ending.