Heat Stroke
Rachel Caine
Roc, Aug 2004, $6.99, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0451459849

The Wardens controls adverse climatic conditions to insure that no catastrophes occurs on the earth. Until yesterday, Joanne Baldwin was a weather warden, but she lost her life in a battle with some creatures of the Never Never. David, a masterless Djinn converted her into a Djinn. She must learn to use her powers and take energy from the earth to survive because currently she siphons David's life-force and if she soon does not stop they both will die.

Jonathan the first and most powerful Djinn, sends her to Patrick, the only other human to successfully transform. Patrick betrays Joanne leading to her enslavement by seventeen years old Kevin. The teen's stepmother, the sadistic sociopath Yvette uses Joanne as bait to lure David into a trap. While Joanne battles her enslavement, the rip in the inter-dimensional Void widens causing the deaths of Djinn and problems for Wardens. Only David and Joanne can fix the tear, but they are occupied with personal concerns of freedom.

Book Two of the Weather Warden saga is a spellbinding tale that will appeal to fans of romantic fantasy. The love between David and Joanne is so powerful and unique that their feelings change the natural order of the world. Most Djinn detest humans for enslaving their kin to use their powers for the master's benefit but the lead couple's relationship defies even the laws of nature. The enslavement is very mindful of America's slavery in which Rachel Caine makes the case that even when the master is a kind benefactor the relationship remains an abomination. This urban fantasy is a thought provoking action-packed thriller.

Harriet Klausner