A Kiss of Shadows

Meredith Gentry, Book 1

By: Laurell K. Hamilton

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

" All it would take was my true name being mentioned after dark, and it would float back to my aunt. She was the Queen of Air and Darkness, and that meant that anything said in the dark was hers to hear, eventually.

"The fact that spotting the missing Elven American Princess had become more popular than spotting Elvis helped. Her magic was always chasing blind leads: Princess Meredith skiing in Utah. Princess Meredith dancing in Paris. Princess Meredith gambling in Vegas. After three years, I was still a front-page story for the tabloids, though the latest headlines had been speculating that I was as dead as the King of Rock and Roll."

In fact, Meredith has been posing as a human in Los Angeles, living as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now Doyle, the Queen's chief bodyguard and assassin, has been dispatched to fetch her back - whether she likes it or not. And suddenly Meredith finds herself a pawn in her dreaded aunt's plans...plans that affect the future of the entire UnSeelie Court.

The requirements of the job: to enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful - and immortal - men in the world. The reward: the crown - and the opportunity to continue to live. The penalty: death.

Fairie tales: listen to another Meredith Gentry fantasy.

©2000 Laurell K. Hamilton (P)2000 Laurell K. Hamilton

Critic reviews

"[A]n edgy story of sex, violence, and magic that manages to be both disturbing and entertaining." ( Library Journal)
"As wild as the novel's premise is, memorable characters and wicked wit make it all delicious, ribald fun." ( Publishers Weekly)
"I've never read a writer with a more fertile imagination." (Diana Gabaldon)

I LOVE IT!!

I could not listening!! I'll even listen before I go to bed!! I can not wait to hear the next one!!

meredith gentry is quite enjoyable<br />

I am a big fan of Anita Blake series and have through all the books .Now its the Gentry serious and Ms Hamilton does not disappoint.There is an attention to detail and creating the worlds for these characters. it was a very enjoyable.

Love this series!!

Love this series.... The narrator is brilliant!!! Good read!!! This is my second time reading this series and love it more each time.

Urban fantasy fun

This book is pure entertainment of the adult kind. The type of book for the nerdy goth girl who may find herself a housewife. It is housewife porn. I find this series extremely fun. What is fun about it you ask, well it is dark and sexy. There are many handsome men to choose from. For the most part our female hero can take care of herself.

Good story

I enjoyed the story line. The performance of the male voices was a disaster. Men described as centuries old outstandingly handsome men sounded like they haled from the Bronx and had been inhaling helium. Not to mention all the ‘He said’ ‘l said’ - very distracting

Great Imagery

Love all of Laurell K Hamilton books. She the best a creating realistic, modern-day worlds. The sex scenes are awesome too!

This series needs a new narrator.

I like the Merry Gentry series, but this narrator it is impossible to enjoy listening to it as an audiobook. The main character is a 33 year old fairy princess. The narrator sounds like Diane Rehm. You can just tell by her voice that she’s an older woman. And her attempts at an Irish accent is pitiful at best. Her portrayal of men’s voices in general is robotic and woefully un-sexy (in a book meant specifically to be sexy).

Good characters, nice sex, and nice politics

My only real gripe is that every woman narrator makes "serious and stoic" men sound like robots. Everyone of them does this. My only real gripe.

Loved the way magic was done. Its an energy and not just *poof* done. The spells and power are a fluid thing and I like that in stories.

The characters are interesting. I wanted to meet more of them. I would have liked to meet more women, but all the focus was on the men. I did want to know more about Doyle, even though he sounded like a robot he was interesting.

Bad Narrator 😞 Very Murder She Wrote

I read this book a while back and have loved it. I'm listening because I wanted to hear it, but the narrator is AWFUL for this series. She sounds like your grandmother playing in Murder She Wrote and talking about sex and using swear words. I truly hope I can get past this. Additionally, the voices she used for males sounds robotic.

Love the book.

I think the reader went a little heavy with the Film Noir accents. Other then that it was a good listen. There wasn't any super annoying voices. Read the book 1st so I had my own voices in my head for some some of the characters.