Adlai Bringer is a thief who can steal with the slip of her shadow. But when one of her marks turns out to be a killer, she becomes his next target. As she flees his grasp, she is certain of only one thing: her shadow is a gift worth killing for.
Description
You can only teach your shadow one trick . . .
Adlai Bringer remembers going to the desert market with her father: The colorful tents, the wink of gold, and her father’s shadow, black as night, as it moved of its own accord and stole whatever trinket she wanted. He called it the Shadow Game.
After her father disappears, Adlai keeps going back to the market determined to find some trace of him and stealing what she can with her shadow. Until one day she picks the wrong mark—someone who knows her little trick and tries to take her shadow for himself.
Everything Adlai thought she knew about her shadow is turned upside down, and her father’s disappearance takes on a new light as she’s forced to flee the city or risk being hunted. From the desert to the shadow world to even more unlikely places, Adlai knows one thing for certain: her shadow is a gift worth killing for.
For readers who enjoy Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal, The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty and Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett.
Reviews
“Without a Shadow is without a doubt a fast-paced, engaging and compelling debut fantasy novel.” —Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of The Study of Poisons
“H. J. Reynolds’s debut novel is a brilliant work that will leave you reeling and thirsting for more.” —E. M. Leander, author of Wren and the Tarnished Tiger
“Adlai uses her shadow to steal—but it’s never occurred to her that someone would try to steal her shadow . . . The mythology and lore of shadow powers are well developed and convincing. The classic magical orphan story gets a refreshing twist.” —Kirkus Reviews