Sent to Taipei to track a serial killer, Dean Campbell stumbles across a name from his past in the course of his investigation -- Mirabell Lee, his childhood sweetheart whose murder he thought he witnessed some 20 years previously. Mirabell, an archeologist and teacher, has unwittingly gotten herself involved in the horrific case after discovering a valuable artifact, a heart of red jade, hidden inside a mummy.

Mirabell is stunned to see Dean alive and well. Since he disappeared the night they were attacked, she'd given him up for dead, even though his body was never discovered. Dean, a clairvoyant with the Dirk & Steele agency, a group of humans with mutant abilities, is after a shapeshifter who's wantonly and publicly burning his victims alive. Bad news and bad press for the men and women of Dirk and Steele, who prefer keeping a low profile while fighting to protect the human race. Bad news for Mirabell, too, who only wants to live her life with as little fuss as possible. Now her friend and mentor has been kidnapped and the same bunch of fanatics is after her. And to make a bad day even worse, a man she loves but doesn't really know is bulldozing his way back into her well-ordered life. The crazy is just beginning and Miri is in for a wild ride with Dean as they seek to solve the mystery surrounding the beguiling red heart of jade.

Another winner for Liu, who's become a fan favorite in just over a year. The romance and tension builds as Dean and Miri rediscover each other. Liu is so good at dialogue. Funny, snappy conversations keep readers laughing out loud as these two spar and dance around the edges of their romance. When it finally happens, it fits right into the story arc. Not like the story has been written and the romance added later to appease fans. It all fits. Just perfectly.

Book Summary

The grisly murders are just the beginning. Dean Campbell, ex-cop and clairvoyant, is sent to investigate. He is with the Dirk & Steele Detective Agency, that global association of more-than-human men and women. Shapeshifters, psychics and other paranormals, Dean and his peers are devoted to protecting life. But there are those who live to destroy.

In Taipei, he finds the remains of burned-alive men and women, bits of bone and ash, that reveal a pattern far more deadly than any he has foreseen. Someone knows Dean’s secret. And they know more — of a power that can change the world, and of a woman who can complete him: Mirabelle Lee, the childhood sweetheart he’d once thought dead. Now, all that remains was blinding light and searing pain, potent passion and a purifying fire. And beneath it all is…The Red Heart of Jade.

Read an Excerpt