Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle (The Looking Glass Trilogy #3)
Paranormal Romance
August 30, 2011
Paperback
Berkley

When I received this book for review and realized that it was not only part of a trilogy but part of a long running series I thought it might be prudent to do a little research. Jayne Castle is aka Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick. I had read Jayne Ann Krentz before, had even read one or two of her Arcane Society books, but I am far from current. I had not read anything by Jayne Castle. So I decided to just research the previous two books of the trilogy. I found it odd that each of the three books was written by each penname of this author. Upon further scrutiny I realized that while the trilogy is related, each book takes place in a different time period: Book 1 in Oregon, 21st Century, Book 2 in Late Victorian England and Book 3 in the Futuristic World of Harmony. Having finally gotten that straight in my head, I began Canyons of Night.

The prologue hooked me in right away. In it, we meet Charlotte Enright, age 15, and Slade Attridge, age 19. We learn about The Preserve, a protected area on Rainshadow Island. No one knows what is being protected, but it’s dangerous and oftentimes people who go in don’t always come out. We also learn that Slade’s psi talent is that of a hunter-a very strong talent. Charlotte also has a talent, but hers is minor and has to do with reading aura rainbows and being able to “tune” objects to an individual’s aura in a positive way. Charlotte is surprised when Slade offers to take her into the Preserve. Apparently, his hunter talent allows him to see in the dark and navigate well enough not to get lost. Charlotte knows that Slade is leaving the next day to start his job with the FBPI and since she’s been crushing on him all summer, she goes with him and gets a little glimpse of the paranormal beauty that is The Preserve.

The story then jumps forward 15 years. Charlotte is now back on Rainshadow, having inherited her Aunt’s antique store. She hasn’t been there long when she learns that Slade is moving back to the island to accept the recently vacated position of Police Chief. No longer the shy, geeky girl with glasses, Charlotte is excited to see Slade and curious as to why he’s giving up a prestigious career with the FBPI to come to this small town to be the Chief. It’s not like there is a lot of crime-the residents look after and take care of each other. Slade and Charlotte seem to pick up where they left off 15 years ago. Both single, Charlotte is still carrying a torch for Slade and we learn that Slade has thought of Charlotte often over the time they were apart. Soon they are dating, but Slade makes it clear that this is a temporary job for him. He’s working on starting a new business venture and expects to be moving along in about six months. But that is not the whole truth and Slade is not willing to burden Charlotte with his “problems”.

Charlotte arrives at her store one morning to find a dead body in the back room. Not just any body, but the body of a former client. It looks like a heart attack but Slade’s hunter senses say otherwise. Slade begins to investigate and the meat of the story revolves around this murder and the subsequent investigation. Why was this guy on the island? What was he looking for in Charlotte’s store? Who was he working with? Of course, things come to light, secrets are revealed and through all of that, Slade and Charlotte are getting to know each other and begin to have real feelings for each other.

I was surprised at who the murderer was, didn’t see it coming at all. Also, the murder “weapon” was an unknown element having not been mentioned at all in this book; but probably important in a previous book. Once the murderer is revealed things move a bit too quickly and the story closes with the expected HEA.

For the most part, I liked Canyons of Night. It moved along well, had interesting characters-namely Slade’s sidekick/pet, a “dust bunny” (some sort of futuristic animal) named Rex who I imagined looked like Stitch from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch because he had six legs. The romance part, in my opinion, was weak. It just seemed to be lacking and I was left wanting. There were also references to things and people who I assume appeared and were important in previous books. I was not totally confused, but often felt like I was missing something; like I should already know more about what was going on. Additionally, while a lot of importance is placed on The Preserve, we don’t ever learn what exactly is going on there and what the Foundation is trying so hard to protect or hide.

I imagine that if I followed this series, or even just this trilogy, I may not have had that “I’m missing something” feeling. I’m intrigued enough to want to read book 1 and 2 from this trilogy. If you are a follower of this series, or have read this trilogy, I’d really like to hear your comments.

Rating: C

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