Holly‘s review of Hunting the Shadows (Shadow Ops, Book 1) by Alexia Reed

Amy has spent her life in isolation. Locked away in the Centre, a secret government facility where children with extraordinary abilities are raised as highly skilled fighters, she longs for a normal life. A life where being around people doesn’t overload her sensitive telepathic mind. A life where she can’t see through the eyes of a murderer as he hunts down his next victim…

J.C. Nikolaiev was a top researcher, but when his conscience got the better of him, he tried to destroy his work and free his subjects—and was imprisoned as a traitor. To save himself and prevent more people from dying, J.C. must catch the serial killer stalking the halls of the facility. But his only leads come from a woman whose thoughts have invaded his mind…

Finally out of the psych ward, Amy joins forces with J.C. to find the killer before he closes in on them. Can their growing attraction withstand the truths they uncover?

 I really liked the premise of this. The government created a virus that unlocked psychic potential in humans, then kept the test subjects locked up in the Centre testing their abilities, until they were fully trained as weapons. Now they’ve turned on each other…someone is killing agents and J.C. tries to save them all, but he’s caught and charged with treason. He’s set to be reprogrammed – his memories wiped – but Amy links with him and helps him retain his memories. 

Amy has been kept locked up her whole life. Her ability to force her way into another’s mind and control them is one of the most rare – and most feared – of the program. They want to use her to kill, but her gift is erratic and not easily controlled. When she links with J.C., she feels like she’s finally been given a piece of freedom. She joins with him to find the one attacking them, but it isn’t easy to uncover the truth while hunting the enemy..and being hunted in return.

I enjoy books with psychic elements. That aspect of the book was interesting and well done, though I do wish more detail had been given to explain the abilities of the agents.

Aside from that, I was kind of disappointed in the way the story developed. It started out really strong but the threads seemed to unravel as the novel wore on. The killer was easy to identify and the romance wasn’t very well developed.

Having said that, I’m intrigued enough to want the next book. If the writing tightens up just a bit, this will be an excellent series.

2.75 out of 5

This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.