Shadow Wraith

Queen's Wraith #1

by G.K. Lund

What if the biggest liar inside the organization you’re loyal to and depend upon… was you?

Duty is all Nadia Navarra knows as one of the Queen’s Wraiths in the subterranean city of Agartha. Working as an enforcer and assassin of rogue paranormal beings, a seemingly normal case turns unpredictable when the ghost of a child emerges—a ghost who is angered, powerful, and dangerous.

To make matters worse, Nadia’s old flame, Darrow, returns to the city, taking an interest in both her motives and the possibilities of the heightened powers of the ghost she is hunting.

Werewolf-vampire hybrids are killed on sight in Agartha, so why has he returned? Monsters like him are shunned, and yet Nadia begins to suspect he is not working alone… but who would join forces with an abomination such as he? And to what end?

As a Shadow Wraith, Nadia should kill him, or turn him in… but revealing her old and almost forgotten connection to him risks exposing the greatest secret of her life. One that cannot be revealed as long as Darrow breathes…

Shadow Wraith is the first installment in the Queen’s Wraith series of dark urban fantasy books.

Genres: Fantasy

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2022

Reviews

[Lorrie (Clockworkbookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 Reads #662/250

Read for the Sights of Sweden Challenge 2024-2025
September 20, 2024 - January 10, 2025

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[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book one of the Queen’s Wraith series and the main character is Nadia Navarra and the story takes up some nine years after the events in the first book. She has sacrificed a lot to go from a Bolt Wraith an apprentice Wraith, to Shield Wraith and now to her current position as a Shadow Wraith, an enforcer and assassin of rogue paranormal beings, often within the Shade, a dangerous area outside of the underground city of Agartha. Wraiths are trained from the age of twelve to be able to handle the onslaught. A simple case in the Shade, where she finds a rabid werewolf, turns out to be so much more, when she also sees the ghost of a young girl. She hasn’t been in the Shade long and must have been part of a family group travelling from another realm. The child ghost has been affected by the Shade and makes her very angry and dangerous. The matter isn’t helped by the sudden reappearance of her ex-boyfriend, Darrow, hunted after he was turned by a vampire and went mad, killing many people. Nothing has been heard of him in years. Somehow, he is managing to control the ghost and feeding her more power, making her so much more dangerous.
Also, the werewolf she managed to kill, had a tattoo similar to one she spots on Darrow. What this means is unclear and she doesn’t get anything out of him, but he somehow senses she has been hiding something from him! She can’t allow him to know of her secret, a secret she managed to keep from the rest of the Wraith organisation, with the help of her good friend Victoria. Loyalty is one of the key requirements in the Cube, where they all live and study, and lying about her past and having broken one of the key rules of Wraiths, should have seen her banished from the job she wants forever. A werewolf vampire hybrid, that used to have a touch of humanity in him, but no longer, are supposed to be killed on sight. But he is much stronger and harder to find and kill than any other foe she has faced. She couldn’t kill him when she saw him before and now he has aged, something unusual for a vampire, and now he seems more put together and not as unstable, but she can still see the madness whirling in his eyes! She can’t make mention of seeing him at first, as others higher up, may well remember her relationship with him as a teenager and asks questions about her loyalty and ability to kill him on sight! It might also uncover her biggest secret, which she would rather die first rather than reveal. Why he is back, she doesn’t know, but it seems strange another werewolf was in the Shade with the same tattoo. Does this mean he is gathering an army, or is he working for someone more powerful, for some nefarious reason? When he shifts into werewolf form and tries to chase her down, after she uses silver on him, she is lucky to reach a Wraith checkpoint and other Wraiths shoot him with silver crossbow bolts that should have killed him on the spot, but don’t!
A new connection for Nadia, is with the new Chronicler, Harmiston, who used to work with the Queen’s Ghosts, the Queen’s personal bodyguards, a position Nadia herself would love. He isn’t as smelly as the previous Chronicler, which is a huge improvement, but he talks incessantly and hasn’t quite worked out all of the different roles within the Wraiths. He has changed up how things work within the archives and has even changed some rooms into a lab where he keeps all the magical artifacts and weapons Wraiths bring in through their work. He helps her figure out what Darrow might be using to control the ghost girl, but there is not much information on the item. She has had to report Darrow’s presence in the Shade to her superiors and just hopes she has got away without them looking at her any closer due to her previous closeness to him. I hope we get to see more of Harmiston in the next book and that they can work out what Darrow is up to, before Nadia’s secret can be revealed. This may be book one of the series, but there is a prequel to the series, Silver Dust, which I would recommend people to read before this, as it will fil in a lot of the background to Nadia’s past and her role as a Wraith, as well as what her secret is. Another great read, with loads of danger and action on Nadia’s part, as well as a softer side at times, especially when she visits her brother. I look forward to reading what happens next with Nadia and co in the next book. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nadia's Challenges . . .

Nadia Navarra is one of the Queen’s Wraiths in the subterranean city of Agartha, an enforcer and assassin of rogue paranormals. A powerful and dangerous ghost child brings a new challenge with unpredictable power fired up by anger.

Then a former love interest she rejected shows up, showing an interest in the ghost’s powers. Any association linking to her old flame can put her in a very bad position, so she needs to deal with him carefully. But why has he returned?

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. The world seems well thought out. It manages to be a bit unusual while having familiar landmarks. Nadia is definitely not perfect but she is compelling. And I enjoyed this entry in her journey.


I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the writing for Nadia's character and the storyline as it progressed throughout the book. I agree with others about how good the word building is. Looking forward to the next book.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (9/15/2022)! 🎁

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved It

I cannot wait to start the next book. Werewolf, Vampires, Dimensions and so much more. Action, silver, bullets, bolts,and swords oh my.