Review--Chasing the Shadows by Maria V. Snyder

New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder returns with the next page-turning instalment of the new sci-fi series: Sentinels of the Galaxy Year 2522. Lyra Daniels is dead.

Okay, so I only died for sixty-six seconds. But when I came back to life, I got a brand new name and a snazzy new uniform. Go me! Seriously, though, it's very important that Lyra Daniels stays dead, at least as far as my ex-friend Jarren, the murdering looter, knows.

While dying is the scariest thing that's happened to me, it morphed my worming skills. I can manipulate the Q-net like never before. But Jarren has blocked us from communicating with the rest of the galaxy and now they believe we've gone silent, like Planet Xinji (where silent really means dead).

A Protector Class spaceship is coming to our rescue, but we still have to survive almost two years before they arrive - if they arrive at all. Until then, we have to figure out how to stop an unstoppable alien threat. And it's only a matter of time before Jarren learns I'm not dead and returns to finish what he started.

There's no way I'm going to let Jarren win. Instead I'll do whatever it takes to save the people I love. But even I'm running out of ideas...

Maria V. Snyder returns to the Sentinels of the Galaxy series with Chasing the Shadows that picks up right where we left off in Navigating the Stars. Lyra has a new identity now in order to protect her from her long ago friend, Jarren who believes her dead. She goes by Ara now and has been training to be ready for the day when Jarren finds out she’s alive, because, it’s bound to happen eventually.

Ara is a security member now and still works with her parents every now and then with the statues and trying to figure them out and why she’s still the only one who can see the shadow blobs. Then the unthinkable happens, their communications with DES, who they were waiting on for backup in the next two years or so, goes silent and they learns that DES believes them to have gone dark. Something hinky is going on with the communication system and Ara takes to the Q-net to try to figure things out.

This was a rather exciting installment of what I believe is a trilogy! It doesn’t have second book syndrome at all. There’s a great deal happening and yet only a handful of days go by. Ara is just one of those characters you can’t help but root for as you follow her along her journey. I love her resilience when it comes to training, she struggles here and there but never gives up.

In some sense you could say that this book might be more so middle like, as there’s quite a bit of planning and researching going on. There’s plans being made for this and that and there’s the ever presence threat of Jarren arriving any day now. Ara starts to track him through the Q-net, but that’s all I say on that.

Then of course there’s the still budding romance between Ara and Niall. Sadly the two seem to always be on separate schedules and shifts when it comes to security and things, so their together time is sparse. But you gotta love those moments that they are able to steal with one another. Every now and then, you start to wonder if there’s a love triangle brewing with Beau added to the mix, but I don’t think so. Beau remains a constant friend and partner for Ara in her security deals and Q-net activities and I do admire their friendship.

It’s always so hard talking about a sequel within a series because you don’t want to hash out too many details or reveal something from the first book overly much. It took me awhile to read this one because of work, life, and such, but I enjoyed every minute I was able to steal with this book. It was truly one I never wanted to put down but was forced to at times. It’s a real page-turner! The story just grips you tight and doesn’t let up until its most exciting and shocking conclusion! There were things that were revealed that I just did not anticipate and I cannot wait to see what Maria will do next! Whatever will happen is sure to be nothing short of epic!

Chasing the Shadows was an amazing and epic thrill ride! It’s a story that doesn’t let up on the action, suspense, mystery, or teasing romance! It’s a story that you will want to come back to again and again, never wanting to leave. I find all of Maria’s stories to be like this and I will eagerly be awaiting the next (and possibly final, as I am only 90% certain that this is a trilogy) installment!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars