RATING: 4/5 stars 
 M/M romance, romantic suspense, dystopian, dark 
 I tend to be lazy when it comes to books that aren't on Kindle. If I can't one-click order it and read it immediately, I groan. Which was why it took me this long to read the first book of the 
 In the Company of Shadows 
 series by Santino Hassell and Ais, despite it having come up several times for me in M/M Romance Goodreads lists and searches for "Enemies to Lovers" on the Romance and Smut book finder. I confess, I'm a cover snob (being a designer by day), and the cover for the original edition puts me off. (It's a personal preference; I don't particularly like drawn covers.) Little did I know, there was a second edition, and little did I know that this universe would be so thoroughly to my liking. I actually read the spin-off, After Midnight, first, before I even knew it was connected to Evenfall. Because it was on Kindle, and even enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, and as I've said, I'm lazy. 
 I also had no idea that In the Company of Shadows is all available for free. In the beginning of the book, the authors warn us that it hasn't been professionally edited, only beta-read, but I would have gladly paid for it. Despite a decent amount of typos (but not so much that it distracted me), I devoured this book in about a day. It has every trope that I'm in love with: the aforementioned enemies to lovers; a bleak and gritty dystopian setting; characters employed as assassins; forced proximity; and very dark themes. (view spoiler)[If you are someone who is triggered by rape/sexual assault, graphic violence, emotional/physical abuse, and/or racism, this book may not be for you. The racism isn't as outright as some of the other themes, but one of the leads, Sin, is treated as subhuman by several characters, and he happens to be of Chinese and Latin descent. (hide spoiler)] 
 Though I had some trouble connecting to Boyd at first, the characterization overall is quite good. The plot is character-driven and infinitely interesting, and I found myself becoming very immersed as the story progressed and tearing up several times as I feared for the leads' emotional and physical safety. At times the plot lacked some believability; I wondered, would a government agency really do that? (view spoiler)[Would they hire a known sex offender, and would he be allowed to get away with such drastic actions on the premises of said agency? Would they actually keep someone as "dangerous" as Sin incapacitated in that manner and treat him so terribly? Would a mother really be so absolutely cold to her own child (might be believable, but it sometimes felt like overkill)? (hide spoiler)] However, I suspended my disbelief if only because those elements usually contributed to how dark things got, and I do love to witness some emotional suffering (though perhaps not so much) before my HEA or HFN endings. Though this is part one of a two-part revised edition, it ends on a satisfying note with no drastic cliffhangers. Luckily, if one wants to continue onto the second book immediately, it's already available. 
 I look forward to reading more work by Santino and Ais. Honestly, I might just buy up every book I can get my hands on.