Sandy M’s review of The Departed (FBI Psychics, Book 2) by Shiloh Walker
Paranormal Romance published by Berkley Trade 3 Jan 12

This is the second book in Shiloh Walker’s FBI Psychics series and I’m hooked. Along with her characters, it’s Ms. Walker’s ability to make the reader feel emotion that draws me back to her books time after time. Add in the paranormal element, and these books are awesome.

Taylor Jones and Desiree Lincoln work together in a special branch of the FBI. He’s her boss. They’re attracted to one another, but they’ve kept that attraction under control for quite a while now. Dez is able to communicate with the dead, try to help them overcome whatever issue it is keeping them from crossing over. Taylor has no psychic ability, he’s just always honed in on what to do and how to do it when a case comes to his attention. And he has ghosts of his own, the tragic loss of his young sister so many years ago, something that still haunts him to this day.

Everything changes between them in the blink of an eye – or the speed of a bullet. Dez is shot just as she and Taylor are about to make their escape with a child they’ve rescued. The image of her lying on the floor bleeding tears Taylor apart. His determination to take care of her after being released from the hospital goes south. They spend a night of passion together, but afterward Taylor puts distance between them again. Dez has no success in breaking down his barriers, so she walks away from it all – the job and Taylor.

Working on her own, Dez takes cases wherever spirits call her. Then she meets Nathan, a young ghost who needs Dez to help him save a girl in Taylor Jones’ hometown. As she discovers more about the girl and the boys who want to hurt her, Dez calls for backup – the only man she knows who will drop everything to help. Heading home for an anniversary he dreads but gets through every year, Taylor is close by when he learns Dez needs him. It’s been more than a year since he’s seen her, and not one thing has changed when he gets his first glimpse of her.

Taylor and Dez work together to solve her case, all the while an underlying smoldering surrounds them. When they finally come together again, it’s as raw and intense as the first time. Now Taylor is determined to keep Dez in his life, no matter what he has to do. Breaking through the field of feigned indifference will be the most difficult. Dez has learned not to hope where Taylor is concerned. Even when it seems he’s sincere and wants her with him, she has a hard time letting go to believe him.

The emotion in this book is spectacular. From the exhaustion that dogs Dez as she goes from case to case for months to the fear of the victims she helps to the confusion of the spirits who need her to the sensuality and longing between Taylor and Dez, nearly every page tugs at your heart, drags you deep into despair, tosses you into the throes of passion, pulls anger and grief in equal measure from the depths of your soul. Especially after all is said and done in Dez’s current case but another spirit is keeping her nearby, and this time it’s Taylor who has to live through tragedy and heartache once again.

I hope this series goes on for several more books, that Ms. Walker has plenty of stories in mind for these FBI psychics. It’s intriguing as hell and I love it all. I’m very anxiously awaiting the next book, though this one just hit the shelves and it’s going to be a long wait. It’s definitely worth the wait, however.

Grade: A+

Summary:

A LIFELONG OBSESSION

FBI Special Agent Taylor Jones has made it his mission to save those in harm’s way by any means necessary—including employing psychic agents like Desiree “Dez” Lincoln, who can communicate with the disembodied spirits of the dead. Taylor is haunted by his own ghost, his kid sister, gone missing at age six. For a quarter of a century he has been tortured by her loss and the mystery of her disappearance.

A NIGHT’S INDISCRETION

When Dez is seriously wounded, Taylor can no longer hide his feelings for her. Getting involved could spell disaster for both of them—not to mention those who rely on them for help—but once Dez lays her hands on him, he can’t resist the fierce attraction. But after giving in to his desires, Taylor pulls back, and Dez strikes out on her own.

AN INESCAPABLE PASSION

Responding to the call of another anguished spirit, Dez is led to Taylor’s old hometown. As the two are forced to come together to save a girl in peril, Dez may be able to help Taylor finally find the answers he’s been looking for…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: