Into the Shadow

Written by Christina Dodd

Narrated by Brittany Pressley

From beloved paranormal author Christina Dodd, another addition to her romantic Darkness Chosen series...

For the ability to transform into a heartless predator, a brutal warrior promised his soul—and the souls of his descendants—to the devil. Now, one thousand years later, the Wilder brothers battle the darkness inside them...

Blessed—or cursed—with the ability to change into a sleek, cruel panther, and driven by a dark soul he's accepted as his fate, powerful Adrik Wilder abandons his family and his honor to pursue a life of wickedness. He excels at every vice, kidnapping strong-willed Karen Sonnet and forcing her to welcome the helpless pleasure only he can give her.

But Karen's spirit and passion make him question the force of his family's curse, for she could be the key to their survival. And when a new evil emerges, Adrik must choose whether to enact revenge on his enemies and redeem his soul...or save Karen from a fate worse than death.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713531753

Christina Dodd

New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd writes “edge-of-the-seat suspense” (Iris Johansen) with “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (ALA Booklist). Her fifty-eight books have been called ""scary, sexy, and smartly written"" by Booklist and, much to her mother's delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list at www.christinadodd.com.

Reviews for Into the Shadow

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd
Book #3 in Darkness Chosen
4.5 stars

Synopsis:
Adrik Wilder is a dangerous warlord and a shapeshifting panther to boot. Unaware of the curse that has beset his family from whom he is estranged, Adrik becomes obsessed with Karen Sonnet, the overseer at a nearby construction site. In his attempts to possess her, Adrik turns her against him but they are later reunited by circumstance and must work together to save both Adrik’s family and his soul. Nevertheless, the price they must pay may to do so may be too high.

Review:
The best in the series so far. This one had the background story that was missing in the 2nd book. Adrik is the darkest of the brothers and the one most in need of redemption (a favorite motif of mine) and he has definitely found his soul mate in Karen, the strongest and most resilient of the heroines in the series, as evinced by their chemistry which just sizzles the pages.
Recommendation: A great story. I can't wait to see how it ends.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story first takes place in the Himalayan Mountains, somewhere on the border between Tibet and Nepal, high on top of Mt. Anaya; a place that area natives believe is cursed. Twenty-eight year old Karen Sonnet is on the mountain to oversea the building of a "boutique hotel" for trekkers and climbers looking for the ultimate challenge. She is the on site supervisor representing her extremely wealthy--extremely difficult and demanding--father, Jackson Sonnet. He's the owner of a chain of resort hotels that specialized in extreme adventure vacations, and though Mt. Anaya had a reputation for being "un-climbable" Mr. Sonnet felt that was what made it a very attractive area to build.

After three months of working on the mountain Karen has encountered many frustrating problems during construction; some because she's a woman doing what's considered a man's job. And others because the workers are afraid--they say she seeks to build the hotel on the "Heart of Evil"--and they believe the mountain will destroy anyone who tries to conquer it because it hides the "Evil One's" treasure.

Karen's not happy with the situation, but she's a brave, tough, and disciplined workaholic that won't run from a challenge so easily, or worse, be chased away by local superstitions... even though she's starting to believe them herself. So by day Karen fears the mountain she works on, and now also, the nights that are plagued by the mysterious "midnight lover" who haunts her sleep...

Christina Dodd has the ability to create both strong female and male characters, and this story doesn't disappoint. It proceeds at a good pace and has entertaining dialogue. My one critique is the heroine's "uncaring" father's about-face and appearance at the end of the book was a little too convenient, but this didn't take away from my enjoyment. 4 stars.

[dawn772 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An exciting intense paranormal story with a rather forceful kind of steamy. I liked the wilderness adventures but after awhile I got tired of all the gruesome fighting. Adrick can change into a panther and while he is on the dark side he kidnaps Karen who is trying to build a hotel in the mountains near Tibet.

[colereising · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the third book in the series and the one which I’d read the excerpt from which had drawn me in to read the entire set. Once I realized it was part of a series I sought out the other two which in this particular case was a good thing. You want to read these in order. I was a bit surprised by how things started out but totally fell in love with the characters. Shed a few tears by the end for sure. Definitely on my keeper list of book/series.

[mthomas1975 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is third book in a four book series and I gotta say WOW! These books just keep getting better-and-better. I was really looking forward to meeting the mysterious Adrik and this book certainly didn't disappoint. I loved this book! Part of it was the fact that I prefer shape-shifting cats over wolves and hawks and part of it was that unlike his brothers, Adrik explored his dark side. He was savage and ruthless and I couldn't get enough of him. Karen was spunky and very likable. Though I really like the whole concept of the series, part of me wishes the entire series was just about the two of them. I liked them that much. Yeah all of his brothers found love when they didn't expect it but Adrik pretty much went through hell and the only thing that kept him going was Karen. No matter how cruel he was, he never hurt her. All he ever wanted to do was love her and keep her safe. In the end his love for her is that saved him. That to me is beautiful. Due to the ending that had me saying WTF, I'm glad that I didn't discover this series until now. Waiting to find out now the story concluded would've driven me crazy.

[nicolereising · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is the third book in the series and the one which I’d read the excerpt from which had drawn me in to read the entire set. Once I realized it was part of a series I sought out the other two which in this particular case was a good thing. You want to read these in order. I was a bit surprised by how things started out but totally fell in love with the characters. Shed a few tears by the end for sure. Definitely on my keeper list of book/series.

[texasheartland · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I hadn’t realized that when my sister had borrowed it from the local library that we were reading the 3rd book of a series- so I might be a little biased in my review. But I thought it was a good book. The story was a little scattered for my taste and a little too fast paced. I also thought it ended rather oddly- which I figured a 4th book will pick up where this one left off. But it did have some rather sexy and racy “romantic” scenes. So if you don’t enjoy reading about where characters are making love, you might want to skip those parts. I considered it worth my time to read and couldn’t put it down once I started reading. My heart raced wildly at the thought that everything would turn out okay. Not to mention those steamy scenes where you want to be in love just for the sake of those scenes.

[justy_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As the story of the Wilder family continues we meet Adrik Wilder, the son who was lost. He left home 17 years ago to pursue a life of wickedness. He is Warlord and he takes what he wants, even Karen Sonnet a strong woman working in a mans world. The journey they take as they struggle to find love and in the process break the curse held be spellbound. I couldn't put the book down until I read 'just one more chapter.'

[the_book_queen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The third book in the captivating new paranormal series by award winning author, Christina Dodd, Into the Shadow proves itself to be just as perfectly addicting as the previous two. Adrik, the lost brother, is found, alive and well, but how far into the dark has he fallen-- and can anyone pull him out? Once again, Into the Shadow, like it's sister books, is flawless. It has everything that a reader could possibly want, all well written and delivered. Adrik, aka, Warlord, had sunk low, very low, into darkness, becoming close to the very thing his ancestors had made their original pact with. But when he sees a beautifully intriging woman on the train, Karen, he realizes that she is his mate-- and he will never let her go. He goes to her in secret for weeks, months, on end, bringing her endless pleasure, passion... and possibly love? But a creature like him cannot love, does not deserve to love someone like her... does he? Karen helps to pull him out of the darkness, to save his life multiple times, proving again and again that she is the perfect woman for him-- the only woman for him. I found Adrik and Karen's story to be one of the best I have read in a while. Karen is determined, hardworking, everything that he could possibly ask for....and yet he knows that he doesn't truly deserve her love, her light. It's a touching love story with adventure, mystery, passion and danger. It's not a perfect fairytale romance, but even as unique and rough as it is at times, I still found myself going soft and pliant while listening to them fighting or talking, knowing that in reality, even if they wouldn't admit it yet, they were already deeply connected, completely in love. And during one part towards the end of the story, I was literally teary eyed, crying along with Adrik, wishing so much that I could offer him my shoulder to cry on.....I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that the plot takes a few turns from what we expected when we first picked up Scent of Darkness, but not completely in a bad way, and Christina does it so well, it does not make the story confusing or ruined. And she writes a wonderful ending....One that leaves you hanging on a huuuuge cliff, teetering on the edge, ready to take the plunge if it will only allow you to read the next book, Firebird's story, Into the Flame, right NOW, not wait until it comes out in August. 5/5 STARS! Adrik's story shows you both his hard, rugged side and his tender, passionate one-- and I promise that by the end, you will be completely in love with both of them!

[phyllisd_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book 3 in the Darkness Chosen series. Adrik Wilder is the lost brother. I thought the book was suspenseful but I would have liked to see more of the interaction with his brothers. The cliffhanger was excellent.

[jjmachshev_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fabulous read. It’s been almost a year since book two in the “Darkness Chosen” paranormal series by Christina Dodd, but wow, “Into The Shadow” was definitely worth the wait. This series follows a family whose forebear made a deal with the devil–the ability to change into a predator in exchange for the souls of he and his descendants. After one thousand years, one family is working to break this covenant and the rest of the clan will do whatever necessary to keep that from happening. A very different take on shifters from an author I always enjoy.Adrik is a wild one. Unlike the rest of his brothers, he relishes the thrill of the hunt and the savagery of victory. He left his family seventeen years ago to live life as he chose. Then he met her…Karen, and from that point on, all that was important was her safety. This book is darker than Dodd’s usual fare. It’s a tale of love redeeming a soul fallen into darkness. The heat between these two is scorching while they both fight for precedence, neither willing to concede. What a perfect match they are. The scope of the book takes place over 2 1/2 years, so this isn’t a story of instant love. They both must discover what’s truly important before they are right for each other and ready to fight together. The next in this series, “Into The Flame” will be released in August 2009. I’ll be waiting…