I wanted to write this review while fresh from reading Forsaken By Shadow. It’s clear from page one that Kait Nolan is a talented wordsmith. Her novella opens as the central character awakens in a Nevada motel room with his badly burned hands bandaged and his memory nonexistent. Immediately the reader is both sympathetic and curious. In a word, hooked.

A dissociative fugue, the assigned case worker explains the amnesia, most likely brought on by some type of trauma. She is then able to solve the puzzle of this character’s identity using fifteen year old fingerprints. Hmmm . . . a finger-printed eight year old boy? Why, was the question that jumped into my mind. Though Nolan’s tale is intriguing, with likeable and easily related to characters, and sparks of romance (literally), I would’ve liked to have seen her take her tale a step further. To take a bit more time setting her stage and back story, as there’s a jarring leap from that Nevada motel room to the present day, some ten years later.

The return of Cade Shepherd’s memory takes him on a treacherous journey of fire and shadow. Light and dark. Who, from his past, is worthy of trust? With whom can he forge a future? Will an old love rekindle, or will the return of his memory also be Cade’s death warrant?

Action sequences abound in Forsaken By Shadow, and these scenes are well played. They generate excitement, elevate tension and move the story forward at a good clip. A huge plus. However, being relatively new to the supernatural genre, I would’ve preferred explanations of lesser characters and their varying mystic talents worked in throughout the story instead of contained in a glossary at the book’s beginning — which I, unfortunately, had to refer back to. But, and it’s a big but, this inconvenience did not sway me from reading Nolan’s entire novella in one sitting. If you love this genre, even if you’re new to it as I am, Forsaken By Shadow does not disappoint — and proves a promising start to a worthwhile series. I'm giving this one four stars.

You can find out more about Kait Nolan and her writing at http://www.kaitnolan.com/about-me/