Lannes Hannelore is used to living a life of secrecy, hiding in plain sight.  As a gargoyle, he can only go into the company of humans if he cloaks himself in a glamour.  After a horrific experience, he’s even more reluctant to trust than ever before.  Despite his reluctance to trust, however, when he finds a woman covered in blood, terrified, with no memory, he feels the need to help her.  He dubs the nameless woman Lethe.  Because he won’t let her go off on her own, he ends up drawn into the strange and terrifying mysteries surrounding her memory loss.

The woman called Lethe knows nothing of her past.  All she knows is she must run.  As she slowly begins to unlock the mysteries of her life, the only person she trusts is Lannes.  Can Lethe discover the secrets of her past before they destroy her, and the man she’s beginning to love?

When I pick up one of Marjorie Liu’s Dirk & Steele books, I expect it to be action-packed, exciting, and emotional.  The Wild Road more than met my expectations.  Lannes is a great character.  He’s strong physically, but emotionally he’s more vulnerable.  Even after all the things he’s endured, he’s still willing to help a woman he doesn’t know.  Lethe is more of a puzzle.  Since she’s lost her memory, I had to learn about her character as she did, which was a neat experience.  Her toughness, determination, and loyalty were admirable.  As always in the Dirk & Steele books, the villains are terrible and powerful.  A couple of other members of the Dirk & Steele team make appearances here as well.  Unraveling the mystery of Lethe’s past sends Lannes, Lethe, and others on a road trip to find answers.  While they find answers, they also find a great deal of conflict.  As always with the D & S stories, there’s quite a bit of violence in The Wild Road, as well as allusions to past torture.  Ms. Liu never goes overboard with gore or gratuitous violence, though.  What is here feels necessary, if disturbing at times.  If you like dark paranormal romance or the Dirk & Steele series, The Wild Road is a must read!  If you haven’t read any of Ms. Liu’s books, what are you waiting for?