Textile archaeologist Dani Warren has really got herself into it this time. She is skulking through the streets of Lhasa, Tibet, waiting to purchase an ancient scrap of silk. Dani is not the only party interested in the silk. When shooting starts, Dani decides to trust a dark stranger who offers her his hand. Shane Crowe has to admire Danis pluck if not her stupidity in getting involved in this mess. Shane, an operative for the private security company Risk Limited, has been hired by the Tibetan Azure Monks to retrieve their piece of holy Buddhas robe. That scrap of silk represents the heart and soul of the Tibetan people. Russian Madam Katya Pilenkova and her assassin lover Ilya Kasatonin have the silk and plan to smuggle it out of Tibet. Katya needs it as a gift to cement the relationship between The Harmony, a group of crime syndicate bosses, and a corrupt and powerful Japanese businessman. Once she understands the true significance of the silk, Dani is determined to help in its recovery. Forced into partnership, Shane and Dani must delve deep into a Byzantine world of deadly and dangerous deceit.Ann Maxwell will set readers nerves on edge with her gritty, heart-stopping thriller. SHADOW AND SILK is another sensational achievement by a master storyteller.

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Not the best I've read by this author, but it was still a good book, and I didn't consider it a waste of time to read.

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Elizabeth Lowell originally released this under the penname Ann Maxwell. All of the paperback editions that I have seen are using the Ann Maxwell name. The Kindle edition however seems to be listed under the Elizabeth Lowell name.

This is romantic suspense at its best. It roams from Tibet to the Caribbean and on to the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound with a few stops in Washington DC along the way.

The heroine, Dani Warren, is a professor specializing in textiles and textile preservation. She is in Tibet, having just finished several months along the Silk Road living with the native tribes studying their textiles. She is approached by someone offering a piece of ancient silk for purchase. Not a legitimate purchase of course, its obviously a cultural treasure. But she plans to purchase it anyway she fears the rough handling of the thief will destroy the silk. Which is why she is walking into a dark alley in Lhasa to meet the thief, even though she realizes its both stupid and dangerous.

Of course shes being followed, by various bad guys, and one good guy, Shane Crowe. Shane works for Risk Limited, and is trying to retrieve the silk. It is both a cultural and religious artifact and was stolen from the Azure monks who believe it was the Buddhas own robe. The Red Chinese and the Harmony (the kind of organization that gives the Mafia nightmares) both want the silk to further their own ends.

They all end up in that dark alley with Dani and the thief. The thief ends up dead, and Shane rescues Dani rather than the silk. The Harmonys chief thug gets the silk, the red Chinese continue their search, and Dani and Shane escape across Tibet. And thats just in the first eight chapters

Dani and Shane continue to pursue the silk from the Caribbean to Puget Sound while their attraction gets steadily more intense. But there is a complication (isnt there always?) Shane has sworn a limited vow of celibacy, something that heroine doesnt find out until its much too late. And then there are the heroines trust issues concerning big men

This is book has a lot of sexual sizzle, but not a great deal of actual sex. At least, not until the hero and the heroine resolve their issues.

I love the characters. Shane is complicated, a warrior attempting to make peace with his soul. Dani is the type of intelligent, determined woman wed all like to be. Cassandra and Gillespie (Shanes bosses) are fascinating in their own right.

The plot is complex and fast moving without overwhelming the love story. The author achieves a nice balance of action and romance I loved it!

There is a second Risk Limited novel out there. Originally released as The Ruby (and under the Ann Maxwell penname), it has been re-released (and I believe re-written) as Whirlpool under the Elizabeth Lowell name.

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