Twilight is the realm of the Faerie…and Death. Shadow Bound in his existence and his work, the living are unaware of him— until her. Her short life was the longest glimpse of beauty his heart has ever known, that fateful night the most meaningful of his existence. His actions, however, are responsible for a dark horror that will come to terrorize the world.

Talia has always been a little different. Her features possess exotic, almost unearthly, beauty that is hard to identify. She can also do several unnatural things - like fade into shadow. She couldn’t have known that a secret group wants her for great evil; when they bring great tragedy into her life, Death is there to protect her. On the run from literal soul-sucking fiends, Talia takes to the streets, always on the move, until luck runs out.

Adam Thorne is one of only a few humans who really know what lurks in plain sight and is determined to find a way to kill them all. As founder and head of the Segue Institute, his only mission in life is to destroy his brother – a monster unlike anything this Earth has seen, or so he thinks. When Talia crosses his path, Adam realizes two things immediately: she may be the key to his life’s work, and he is ridiculously attracted to her. When her skills and bloodwork betray her to him, Talia also realizes two things: through Adam, she can use her skills to help innocents, and her attraction to him is dangerous.

Talia’s has little time to adjust to the new situation when an inside man betrays their whereabouts to the soul-sucking fiends who want her. Even worse, Adam’s psychotic brother has somehow gotten loose and is ready for a feast. Fighting and fleeing become their destiny until they locate the true evil leading the minions in this war. Talia’s skills, though impressive, won’t last a moment against this powerful being unless she fully embraces who she is—and gains the assistance of some unexpected allies along the way.

Shadow Bound is a shadowy book of bone-chilling fantasy and burning desires that brings an eclectic mix of themes into one storyline by combining what is normally lighthearted with that which is dark and evil. Author Erin Kellison’s inventiveness keeps the plot twists and characters’ behaviors delightfully unpredictable yet still believable. Some of the extremes of her originality are a little outlandish, pulling the novel more into the realm of science fiction and beyond the already eclectic combo of fantasy, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and other genres it better fits into. Regardless, many of the best novels out there risk similar genre crossings and are better for it. The plot and writing are fantastic, but readers beware: some of the characters and rather graphic descriptions are not for the faint of heart.