Surviving the Shadows
The Bearer of Truth - Book 2
Miranda Turner
Genre: Gay Urban Fantasy
Release Date: June 14th
Cover Design: Lou Harper
BLURB
Gabriel has been gone longer than predicted, and Evander is growing increasingly worried each day that passes without his return. Confounded by their leaders’ lack of answers, Evander and the team begin to fear the worst.
In the midst of fruitlessly searching Miami for clues to the Daemon Abaddon’s whereabouts, Evander begins to have disturbingly vivid dreams. With a little help from a newly-returned and empty-handed Michael and Barabbas, Evander discovers Gabriel has been calling out for help across their nascent bond. With a little backup from an unlikely source, they set off to rescue Gabriel from the depths of the Underworld.
Gabriel is old friends with torture, and his captors haven’t been gentle. Despite growing weaker every day, Gabriel resolves to survive long enough for rescue, or to die fighting, until a Dark Seer begins to dredge up the terror of Gabriel’s horrific childhood, threatening to destroy his mind and soul. Nearing the end, Gabriel manages a last-ditch effort to contact help, reaching out to Evander in his dreams.
Against all odds, Evander and the team fight through the Underworld to reach Gabriel and come face to face with mortality. Sacrifices made for the bonds of brotherhood nearly break them, and Gabriel learns the hard way that embracing the darkness while fighting for the light may be the only way to survive.
From the underbelly of Reno to the glitz and glam of Vegas, Gabriel, Evander, and the men they call family will be tested, and the final confrontation with Gabriel’s maker may be the end of everything they hold dear.
EXCERPT
“His aura has indicators that he practices or has practiced dark magic, but his underlying nature is fighting against it. Right now, his aura resembles an ouroboros.”
“A what?” Delsin asked.
“It’s a circle made out of a snake that is consuming itself. It’s supposed to symbolize wholeness or infinity, but in this case, our young magical friend over there is in trouble. If his magic continues to consume itself, there won’t be a renewal of life but a loss of something good and right as his magic perverts into something dark and unrecognizable.”
A visible shiver moved down Delsin’s body, causing him to wrap his arms around himself; clearly he’d been shaken by Nico’s words. “Can we help him?” Gabriel asked Nico.
Nico sighed. “Your savior complex is raising its ugly head again.” Delsin snorted, but Gabriel just stared Nico down. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for your dad?” Gabriel stayed silent and lifted one eyebrow. “Ugh…fine, geez.” Nico stomped toward the teenage magic user with Gabriel and Delsin following close behind him, Gabriel’s face breaking out in a sh*t-eating grin.
Carra's Review
Here in the second book of The Bearer of Truth series, the focus concentrates more on the healing Gabriel and the team need to get through, as well as the mission to locate Gabriel’s father. Both Gabriel and Evander take a step back from their soulmate situation to work on themselves so that they can actually prepare to take another step forward together at some point. This opens things up so that we start to get additional points of view in the story, including from some of their enemies—something I really liked and which worked well here to give the story extra depth.
While I generally read urban fantasy books for the adventures on which they take me and to get my supernatural creatures fix, this time the author threw me for a loop and had me CRYING just a quarter of the way into the story. Given the character over which I was dropping my tears, it was wholly unexpected on my part—but the fact that it WAS that character just enforces that the author did an excellent job of making me care about him even when he started out being a real ass. This also made me realize that I would probably have that same reaction about a lot of the characters in this series that are on Gabriel and his team’s side.
Gabriel’s character experiences a great deal of growth, unfortunately sometimes that does come after experiencing a great deal of pain. But he’s learning more about himself and what he’s truly capable of, and he’s taking his team along for that ride. Magic starts to play a more prominent role, something Gabriel must accept and adjust to.
Evander is also going through character growth, something he absolutely needs to be able to eventually move his relationship with Gabriel forward to the point where they can fully complete a bond between them.
Surviving the Shadows is another exciting entry in the series, and right now I’m eagerly awaiting the next book to see where things go from here. And I mean that not just for Gabriel and Evander, but for the rest of their team as well. 4.5 stars!
Miranda Turner is a single mom of eight living outside a small, hippie town in the middle of Ohio. She’s surrounded by children, chickens, and one temperamental editor kitty who is silently judging her on a daily basis. She is a voracious reader and an editor who decided she had different stories to tell. She firmly believes a happily ever after is there for everyone, but she likes to make her characters earn it.
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