title: The Serpent Gift (The Shamer Chronicles)
author:  Lene Kaaberbol 
description: Grade 610An unusually dark fantasy, skillfully told. In this third book in the series, Dina and her family have settled into a comfortable life of farming and trading. Her mother no longer uses her Shamer's gift of seeing the ugly truths hidden behind peoples' eyes, and Dina's own Shamer's talent has disappeared. Then her father, a Blackmaster who wields the Serpent's Gift of illusion and coercion, comes to claim his daughter. The family flees to a neighboring country where Dina's brother, Davin, and Nico, the usurped teenaged ruler of their homeland, break the repressive local laws and are sentenced to years in the royal prison. In this grim place designed to break the souls of its inmates, Davin learns to respect Nico, and Dina learns to see some good in her father. Dina and Davin's alternating first-person descriptions of the various threats to their family make for a fast-paced read. Prison scenes of physical and psychological abuse are absolutely chilling, all the more so because they sometimes involve children. The book can stand alone but will be more rewarding for readers of the first two books, who will recognize the characters' growing strength and maturity under often-brutal conditions.<i>Beth Wright, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VT</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > > HIGHLANDER’S VENOMOUS SNAKE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > > ALISA ADAMS
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > CONTENTS
  
  > [A Free Thank You Gift](index_split_003.html#filepos4954)
  
  > [Beasts of the Highlands](index_split_004.html#filepos5754)
  
  > [Prologue](index_split_005.html#filepos8017)
  
  > [Chapter 1](index_split_006.html#filepos44236)
  
  > [Chapter 2](index_split_007.html#filepos54916)
  
  > [Chapter 3](index_split_008.html#filepos67001)
  
  > [Chapter 4](index_split_009.html#filepos83458)
  
  > [Chapter 5](index_split_010.html#filepos102310)
  
  > [Chapter 6](index_split_011.html#filepos117421)
  
  > [Chapter 7](index_split_012.html#filepos137443)
  
  > [Chapter 8](index_split_013.html#filepos180207)
  
  > [Chapter 9](index_split_014.html#filepos202454)
  
  > [Chapter 10](index_split_015.html#filepos233552)
  
  > [Chapter 11](index_split_016.html#filepos243305)
  
  > [Chapter 12](index_split_017.html#filepos266278)
  
  > [Chapter 13](index_split_018.html#filepos287700)
  
  > [Chapter 14](index_split_019.html#filepos294498)
  
  > [Chapter 15](i