This is the 3rd book in the Dirk & Steele series. The book has 282 pages on the Nook. I liked this book the story moves at a fast pace but it took longer for me to get into the story then the first book did. I think that all the characters in the Dirk & Steele detective agency are interesting and like finding out more about them and their powers.

This time it's clairvoyant Dean Campbell, set on the trail of a nonhuman criminal in Taipei who is flagrantly setting people on fire. Also in Taiwan is anthropologist Mirabelle "Miri" Lee, who makes a rare discovery at an archaeological site: a 4,000-year-old piece of red jade, embedded in the body of a mummy. When Dean and Miri meet up, it's a shock: Twenty years ago, they were best friends -- beginning to be teenage lovers -- when an accident killed Miri. Or so Dean thought. Now someone is being paid to kidnap Miri and steal the jade. On the way to finding the murderer, Dean discovers an old love, an older magic, and the beginnings of a new future. ( )

Maybe it's the result of reading these two write next to each other, but I saw a lot of SHADOW TOUCHED in THE RED HEART OF JADE. Nothing overt, but Mira and Dean's banter reminded me a lot of Elena and Artur, Mira's feelings for Koni reminded me of Elena's reaction to Artur's team, and Robert and Ricter had a lot in common. Nothing bad, just a sense of deja vu. Loved Mira and Dean, I can't figure out why it took me so long to read these books. ( )

The plot was a complete hot mess, the ending was a complete deus ex machina and confusing to boot, and there was a character identity reveal at the end which I had a) called about 150 pages before and which b) still made me giggle at the sheer silliness of it. Still, Dean and Mira are appealing characters, their relationship with one another was nicely comfortable, and their dialogue had some snap to it, which was really all I was looking for during a slow shift at work. (Also, I kind of want a book about Koni now. Hopefully, there'll be one later in the series.) ( )

I found it slow reading because there was so much going on that I had to re-read portions occasionally. The first chapter made absolutely no sense at all. Dean Campbell is a clairvoyant who works for the Dirk & Steele detective agency (3rd book in the series). He's having a dream where he's burning alive and it took me a while to figure all that out. There seemed to be more blood and guts in this one with an evil dragon shapeshifter that rips people apart and burns them alive. One scene where he rips off a guy's ear and pops it in his mouth to crunch like a potato chip really turned my stomach. That was probably the worst scene.

Mirabelle Lee is a professor of archeology who hasn't seen Dean for 20 years. In fact they were childhood sweethearts who each thought the other was dead. I'm not going to go into the plot because it was very intricate. I loved the setting that starts out in Taipei and moves to HongKong and mainland China. My biggest problem with the book is that it does not have enough romance in it. I would classify it as a paranormal with a smidge of romance. (Grade: B-) ( )

People in Taipei are dying. Not nicely or neatly, but burned to crisps of ash and charred flesh. Thirteen corpses with no apparent connection, and no clues to point to a solution. The official speculation is spontaneous mass combustion, but unofficially -- that's where Dirk & Steele comes in. Dean Campbell's electrokinesis draws him the short straw, and with only a shapeshifter crow for back-up he's pounding the pavement, searching for any hint of a connection or a trace of the killer. When a chance brush with stray energy leads him to the latest victim, he finds a connection he never imagined possible: the dead woman who haunts his dreams.

Miranda Lee -- the not so dead one -- is an archaeologist. A guest of the Chinese government, she's been working with the unentombed bodies of two men and a woman alongside her mentor. But something sketchy is going on. When she's attacked in her hotel room and her colleague disappears, she's left with only a man from her past to trust -- like Alice down the rabbit hole, believing six impossible things before breakfast may just help keep Miri alive.

I read this one out of order, but once you have the general premise down (Dirk & Steele agents vs. the big evil), it isn't a problem. Miri and Dean are the most appealing characters since Hari and Elena in Tiger Eye. I really enjoyed the reappearance of the dragons, and I suspect the two of them may reappear to play a role in the finale, whenever that occurs. ( )