Sau'ilahk, the wraith, like vampires, consumes the essence of humans to feed. He seeks a return to a corporal body. His god, called Beloved by him, granted his wish for eternal life, but left him a wraith. He seeks the texts to learn how to free himself and his god and regain a body. He trails Wynn in the belief she can find the texts.

Meanwhile others, including the Duchess Reine, want to keep Wynn and Sau'ilahk from the texts. They fear destruction of the world should she succeed. Wynn discovers just how complicated a task she has set herself.

Chane, the vampire, loves Wynn, but has no hope because of his nature. He must feed from time to time and that means the death of someone else. Shade remains loyal to Wynn, but hides some of her abilities from her. Shades abilities are key to unraveling and overcoming the obstacles they encounter. Deaths trail their path.

The Hendees provide interesting characters and plenty of action although much evolves in messy fragments. Wynn zigzags her way to resolving the questions she must answer to find the texts at high costs to others. She misreads some of the signs and must regroup to find the right path. Some she considers enemies are friends and some apparent friends reveal themselves as enemies.

The novel relates much of the backstory via different characters and Shade's captured memories. Those who have read the popular original series will already know most of this. The main characters from series one don't appear in this set. The first book, In Shade and Shadow, of the new series appeared in January 2009 and the third, tentatively titled Of Truth and Beasts, will appear in 2011.