Something seems to be going wrong in the isolated underground labs at Donovans Corporation. Unexplained accidents and side effects from a classified military experiment, are claiming the lives of the brave elite soldiers in the care of Dr. Peter Whitney. These men, world-class warriors from the upper echelons of law enforcement and the armed forces, have volunteered to participate in a ground breaking experiment, to enhance their natural psychic abilities and turn them into a state-of-the-art military weapon. Dr. Whitney alone holds the powerful secret to the enhancement of the paranormal abilities of these chosen men, and someone desperately wants that secret.

Afraid for his life and the lives of the brave men who have volunteered to participate in his experiment, Dr. Whitney enlists the help of his talented daughter, Dr. Lily Whitney. With a strong psychic sense of her own, Lily is immediately able to share the fears of the men, Captain Ryland Miller in particular. Caged like a rat, Ryland's psychic abilities have grown incredibly strong - much stronger than his captors realize - and Lily know she must help him control the sensory overload around him if he is to survive the experiment.

When Dr. Peter Whitney disappears, Ryland and Lily know they must rely on each other to get to the bottom of a political conspiracy that may claim both their lives. Ryland and his men - the Ghostwalkers - must escape from the labs before they meet with a similar fate, and together, they must uncover the secrets of her father's past in order to preserve their own future.

Murder, betrayal and greed, oh my! This book is incredibly exciting, and the plot is unique. Shadow Game, like most of Feehan's novels, is fabulously well-written, and a gripping page-turner from beginning to end. The supporting characters are wonderful - I can't wait to read the stories of some of the other Ghostwalkers from this book: Nico and "Gator in particular, and of course the lost little girls from Whitney's earlier experiments.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the Ghostwalkers series as much as I always have Feehan's Dark series, but I have been pleasantly surprised. I'm seldom disappointed with a Feehan novel and this one is no exception. The recurring theme in all her series' of strong men and the independent women who love them is one of the best reasons to read Shadow Game. ( )

A book that I read awhile ago but haven't had the chance to review is Shadow Game by Christine Feehan. Shadow Game is the first in the "game" series (I believe) and introduces us to Lily and a bunch of men that are army trained for their psychic abilities. Lily has psychic abilities herself and forms a strong connection with Ryland the commander of these men. Danger lurks as there are others who don't want these men known as the Nightwalkers to exist.
I'm going to cut to the chase and say that this one was just okay for me. I liked the idea behind the story but it didn't flow very well for me and I didn't connect with any of the characters. I don't mind reading about sex but even those scenes seemed forced in the book and not very realistic. There was almost too much emphasis on Lily and Ryland's sexual relationship and not enough on the actual storyline. I'll admit to being a bit disappointed with this one but curious enough to give the second book in this series a try. If that one doesn't work for me than I'll just figure that this series isn't for me. I know Feehan has other series that I can try as well but I'll have to wait and see. ( )

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( JMJ )

I can't help comparing it to James Patterson's Maximum Ride books: it's inevitable that such similar premises share other elements. Yet I think that the first novel in Patterson's series is better than this first Shadow Walkers book--which isn't very complimentary to Christine Feehan because I thought Maximum Ride was just so-so.

What I didn't like about this book was the dearth of internal conflict. The hero and heroine fall in love almost immediately and their happy ending is all but guaranteed before we're halfway done with the story. The heroine does have some insecurities (as well as some legitimate doubts), but all the hero has to do to overcome them is croon loving words to her over and over again . . . and that's not really conflict resolution, you know.

I just think that a novel written in the great tradition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau must be ready to address some heavy ideas about the human body and those who would turn their fellow men into lab rats. ( )

A good intro to the series. Strong characters with an interesting premise and plot. The suspense was a bit predictable, but still interesting. ( )