Shadows of Damascus

Lilas
Taha
Genre: 
Contemporary

Adam has a debt to pay.  He would have died fighting in Syria if it wasn't for the help of his friend Fadi.  He promises Fadi that if he ever needs his help, he will be there for him.  Adam is recovering from his injuries, hiding on a dairy farm in Wisconsin when the frantic call for help comes.  It is Fadi’s sister Yasmeen who is in danger. The only way Yasmeen can come to the US if she is Adam’s wife.  Yasmeen is able to escape, and now she is living with a man who is her husband in name only.  It is more than she can bear.  It’s more than Adam can bear too, except they start to communicate and get along, and Yasmeen begins to believe that this could be her life if she wanted it to be.  

 

“Shadows of Damascus” is an incredible tale of a modern day romance born out of the violence in the Middle East.  Readers will be pulled into this spellbinding story, wondering if Yasmeen’s family is alive, if she will adjust to living in the US, and if she and Adam will fall in love.  The sudden introduction of Adam’s estranged father needs more development to be plausible, and this reviewer was disappointed with an abrupt ending with too many threads hanging.  A Book Two is definitely in order, telling the tale of Yasmeen torn between staying with Adam, and returning to Syria to help her family and face certain death.

 

Victoria Z. Burg