One with the Shadows

Thief and con artist Kate, alone and undaunted in 1822 Europe, makes a living hustling the aristocracy as a fortune teller, hoping to save up enough for a countryside cottage where she won't be bothered. While working a party in Rome, she meets beautiful, sophisticated Gian Urbano, who sees through her ruse immediately. When, later, she steals a cursed emerald from a shady figure on the street, she's visited by genuine visions and a powerful, violent woman bent on possessing the gem. Fortunately, Gian wants the emerald, too, and he shows up just in time to save Kate's neck. Kate and Gian set out on an international escapade to return the jewel to its proper place, but it isn't long before an accumulation of uncanny details leads Kate to realize the truth: her guardian is an honest-to-God vampire, and so is the woman after them. Full of colorful characters, romantic locales and vivid details of 1820s life, Squires's newest (following One with the Night ) has a delicious pace and plenty of thrills, and her vampire mythos is both mannered—almost Victorian—and intriguingly offbeat. Bound to net a wide audience of paranormal fans, this one may even convert devotees of traditional historicals. (Dec.)