ARC Review--Shadowman by Erin Kellison

Ghosts
They haunt the halls of the Segue Institute, terrifying the living, refusing to cross over. But one soul is driven by a very different force.

It survives even death. And Kathleen O’Brien swore she would return to those she was forced to leave too soon.

Shadowman
He broke every rule to have her in life; now he will defy the angels to find her in death.

The Gate
Forging it is his single hope of being reunited with his beloved, but through it an abomination enters the world. Leaving a trail of blood and violence, the devil hunts her too. Pursued through realms of bright fantasy and dark reality, Kathleen is about to be taken.

I received this ARC from the publisher for review

Erin Kellison just writes one of the most fascinating series I've ever read! I love urban fantasy and I love fairy tales and basically this series takes both of those and mashes them together and the result is just incredible!

Kellison's books have the modern day faerie tale element to them. It's not necessarily faery tales retold, they just have the elements! In Shadowman, we get to know Shadowman himself a lot more and his lost love Kathleen. And he is determined to find his beloved to be with her once again. He even forged a gate to open a portal to Hell to perhaps draw Kathleen out.

Needless to say things don't go as planned. For it seems Kathleen is already in the real world and Shadowman will do anything to find and protect her from even more sinister creatures than the wraiths. 

I don't want to get too much into the plot details for there were quite a few surprises along the way. Really astounding ones. Shadowman takes you away once again into its seemingly dark worlds of fae and other terrifying creatures. It's almost impossible to describe the beauty of the language. It really is like reading a modern day faery tale.

The pacing was incredible, the characters, both new and old, were well loved and hated. They were deep and complex. There is still so much to learn about these people despite having known some of them from the previous books.

This dark fantasy world is beyond beautiful and is one I highly recommend if you're looking for a different kind of read. There's still action, fights with creatures from the dark side--monsters. Angels who may or may not be totally angelic. Romance kindling between more than one set of characters. Everything about this series is tremendous and I look forward to reading more and more from Kellison! She's on my list for life!

Overall rating 5/5 stars!

Shadowman releases September 6, 2011