About Black Shore of the White City
by Lydia Nyx
286 pages / 75000 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-261-3
Ebook zipped file contains -
html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub
Jude Coffin enjoys the finer things in life: an exceptional wine, a good
whiskey, non-menthol cigarettes, and a cute guy with a great ass. Despite
being a Siren, or an 'aural captivator' for the supernaturally correct, he
doesn't like paranormal politics, paranormal science, and certainly not
paranormal activists.
Despite this, Jude and his similarly supernaturally-endowed twin brother
Jason are lured to Chicago to undergo study at the controversial Institute
of Supernatural Research. Jude remembers why he stays away from the
paranormal world when the Institute takes his brother hostage. His only hope
of getting him back is enlisting the help of Micha Bellevue, Chicago's
leading paranormal advocate, and Sam Haain, fiery, possibly insane
paranormal supremacist. Tangled up with these two clashing and decidedly
sexy personalities, Jude gets a look at Chicago he never wanted: a city at
war with itself, full of angry supernatural people, conspiracy, and murder.
Review
Jane Davitt, author of Hourglass, writes: 'Black Shore of the White City'
is a gritty political thriller - but the
politics involve the conflict between the people with paranormal powers
and the "normals". Set against a Chicago background, Lydia Nix's novel
introduces us to a host of characters with different objectives who find
common ground in the rescue of a paranormal, Jason, a Siren, from the
Chicago Institute for Paranormal Research.
Compelling and detailed, the intrigue plays out at breakneck speed as
alliances and suspicions complicate the situation to the point where
Jude Coffin, Jason's twin, doesn't know who to trust. Drawn to Micha
Bellevue, a "normal" whose wife was killed when the twins tried to
escape the Institute, Jude's guilt over Rose's death is deepened by what
he did to Micha's mind with his ability to use his voice to compel
obedience.
Twists, betrayals, surprises...this book has them all, as well as a
powerful romance between Jude and Micha that blurs the lines between
normal and paranormal.
I enjoyed the way that the negative side of having powers wasn't glossed
over and that although there were villains there was also a lot of
middle ground, with room for more than one point of view. This is a
fascinating look at an alternative version of our world that leaves the
reader wondering just what would happen if people with abilities like
telepathy or the power of persuasion existed openly in society.
Sample
He sat down on the sofa and looked at the gun.
"I've never fired a gun," he said to Sam. "This thing is useless in my
hands."
Sam sat down next to him and picked the gun up, and turned it over in his
hands. "It's a Glock 26," he said. He pushed something and a narrow cylinder
slid out the bottom. "Fully loaded, you've got ten shots."
"Is the safety on?" Jude eyed the clip cautiously.
"Glocks don't have safeties." He pushed the cylinder back in. "The safety is
in the trigger. They don't fire unless you squeeze it. You can shake it," he
did, and Jude winced, "you can drop it, throw it against a wall, it won't
fire. You have to actually pull the trigger. It's accurate. Very little
recoil, so it won't jerk your arm out of the socket. The only thing that
scares me is Cindy totes it around."
"I'm not sure I have the balls to use it," Jude said. He thought of the
question Sam had asked him earlier, which he couldn't answer.
Sam motioned for Jude to stand up. He did, wary, and watched nervously as
Sam stood up as well and reached around Jude's side.
"We'll tuck it in your belt," Sam said. He stood so close Jude could smell
him.
"You promise it won't go off?"
"Not unless you reach down and squeeze the trigger." He made a space between
Jude's belt and jeans. "You don't have to be afraid." He smirked, right in
his face. "You can handle this gun." He worked the muzzle into his belt.
"Why are you still helping me?" Jude asked. "Is this really benefiting you?"
"I hate the Institute. I'd do anything to make them pay." Sam drew back.
Jude felt the weight of the gun on his hip, heavy and menacing.
"It has to be more than that," Jude said. "You sound like you've got enough
evidence to fuck them up royally. You don't need my plight to help you
accomplish anything."
"Do you want me to say I care about you? That I've taken some kind of liking
to you? Maybe I have."
Jude looked away. "You don't care about me. You don't know me. You don't
know anything about me."
"I know you're willing to risk your life to save your brother."
"I ran when they took my brother."
"If you hadn't, you wouldn't be able to save him now. Things happen the way
they do for a reason. I know what's inside you."
"You don't." Jude snapped his gaze back to his face. "You see me in this
situation, fighting because I have to. I'm not like you, Sam. I'm not proud
of this thing I have. I grew up ashamed of what I am, when I saw it kill my
sister and break up my parents. I never embraced it and I never will. I'm an
artist. I tattoo people. I hang out with my friends in shitty bars. I like
whiskey and wine and I suck cock. I just want a normal life."
"I know what you want," Sam said, his voice even. His eyes were dark,
intensely dark. Almost black. "I know why you act the way you do, why you
look the way you do. You draw attention to everything else so no one notices
the one thing you want to hide."
Jude took a step back, an instinctive wall going up. "I'm not this thing
inside me," he said. "I don't give a fuck about the paranormal community,
and activists, and science. This world just wants to make me a lab rat. You
don't know me, Sam, because you've only seen me trying to escape my
inevitable persecution."
"Jude," he said, as though addressing a temperamental child.
"Listen to me." Jude held a hand out. "Everything you've done for me is
fucking phenomenal. I will be indebted to you until the day I die, which
hopefully won't be anytime soon. But please, don't think I have some
emotional connection to you or anyone else here, not even Micha. I just
wanna get my brother and go home, and after that I never want to see this
city again."
Sam suddenly reached out, grabbed the back of Jude's head, and jerked him in
close; he was surprisingly strong. Jude widened his eyes.
"Just shut up and kiss me goodbye," Sam whispered, close to his mouth. "I'll
regret it if you don't."
Jude looked into his eyes, so close. "Who do you think you are?" he asked,
though the words didn't come out as severe as he wanted them to.
"I know who I am, but you don't know me. You mistake me for a selfless
person. Trust me, I'm not, and it's better that you're leaving. Now do as I
say, like you've been doing all along."
Jude did, though he wasn't sure if the kiss was of his own volition or if
Sam forced him. Sam's lips felt the way they had at the Pier only much more
yielding. When Sam broke the kiss and drew back Jude felt heat in his cheeks
as if he had a fever too. Sam turned away.
"Don't get yourself confused with someone else," he said, snatching up his
mug from a table. He looked back at Jude. "You'll realize who you are,
before this is over."
Jude patted his hip and the gun under his waistband. He didn't know what to
say, or how to react. He licked his lips and tasted Sam's mouth, the taste
of coffee and something dark and dangerous and exotic. With a sinking
stomach, he knew those words foretold the end of his life as he knew it.