Title: Surviving the Shadows
Series: The Bearer of Truth Book Three
Author: Miranda Turner
Genre: Urban Fantasy
LGBTQ+ Category: Bi, Gay, Trans FTM
Publisher: Self
Pages: 293
Reviewer: Xanthe, Paranormal Romance Guild
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About The Book
Gabriel has been gone longer than predicted, and Evander is growing increasingly worried each day that passes without his return. Confounded by their leaders’ lack of answers, Evander and the team begin to fear the worst.
In the midst of fruitlessly searching Miami for clues to the Daemon Abaddon’s whereabouts, Evander begins to have disturbingly vivid dreams. With a little help from a newly returned and empty-handed Michael and Barabbas, Evander discovers Gabriel has been calling out for help across their nascent bond, and they set off to rescue Gabriel from the depths of the Underworld.
Gabriel is old friends with torture, and his captors haven’t been gentle. Despite growing weaker every day, Gabriel resolves to survive long enough for rescue, or to die fighting, until a Dark Seer begins to dredge up the terror of Gabriel’s horrific childhood, threatening to destroy his mind and soul. Nearing the end, Gabriel manages a last-ditch effort to contact help, reaching out to Evander in his dreams.
Against all odds, Evander and the team fight through the Underworld to reach Gabriel and come face to face with mortality. Sacrifices made for the bonds of brotherhood nearly break them, and Gabriel learns the hard way that embracing the darkness while fighting for the light may be the only way to survive.
From the underbelly of Reno to the glitz and glam of Vegas, Gabriel, Evander, and the men they call family will be tested, and the final confrontation with Gabriel’s maker may be the end of everything they hold dear.
Surviving the Shadows is an approximately 100,000-word LGBTQ urban fantasy with a romantic subplot. It is a direct sequel to Shadowing the Light and reading the first book in the series is essential to enjoying this one. Please see the disclaimer on the Copyright Page for content advisories.
The Review
What a fantastic sequel to book one in this urban fantasy series. Miranda Turner has carried on the superb story line that follows two men and their team as they fight for the side of Light against Dark and look to stop paranormal occurrences/events. The series is a continuing story line so you have to read the books in order and I recommend close together or at least refreshing your memory to ensure you remember where book one left off!
Book two starts very closely to where book one ended and there is already trouble for Gabriel as he has been taken and in need of help from Evander and his team of Bellators (remember to read the glossary!). This is just the start for the group as they get closer in their search for Abbadon, Gabriel’s father. So much happens throughout this story and again, I just wanted to consume it all straight away. There are several epic action sequences that kept me enthralled to see who would come out on top. Different bad guys that you just love to hate kept our team active and on the go, searching out ways to stop them and try to prevent any further consequences. The mystery of who was doing what behind the scenes is something to keep everyone guessing and the daemons that are created to fight against the team sound so gruesome! I’d love to know how the author came up with the ideas for them.
Relationships develop with highs and lows often caused by external forces but also from within the team. There is a huge blow that affects everyone, including Michael and Barrabos, but it makes for heartwarming reading as loss can sometimes bring people together and appreciate what they have even more. Evander does not help himself when it comes to moving forward in his relationship with Gabriel, such as it is, but his own character grows in a lot of ways because of what he’s experienced so far and gets to see things from a different perspective as he and the team work with Gabriel. Gabriel goes through so much in this book and truly shows his inner strength and how much he is willing to fight, especially as he bonds and becomes closer with people, an experience he was not expecting when this task first started. We get to meet a few new characters who help the team in their own personal development and have a great impact on the plot.
There is a lot that I could rave about with this book, along with the first in the series, and I cannot recommend them enough. The first surprised me with how great of a story it was and even though I was expecting it with Surviving the Shadows, I was still blown away and can only say thank you to the author for such an incredibly well thought out story and written world that she has created. I’m so excited for book three to see how the team move forward in their task and if anything more happens for Gabriel and Evander.
5 Stars
The Reviewer
Hello all, my name is Xanthe and I am excited to be a reviewer for the PRG.I read a lot, every night for at least 4-5 hours and I love to get lost in the world that an author has created. The best ones leave you wanting more and at a loss for words to describe just how good it is but I’ll try my best. I live in a small town in South West England, just me and my dog Bonnie. I work part time in administration and really enjoy my job and the people I work with which I am very aware is not always the case! I’ll read pretty much any sub genre within the mm genre. Since discovering it a few years ago, I rarely read anything else. One thing I won’t touch is horror, a definite no no for me! Never ask me what my favourite anything is as I’ll have to give you a list of about ten or twenty things. How am I able to pick one food, book or film out of so many that I love?!
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