Sandy M's review of The Unwanted (FBI Psychics, Book 3.5) by Shiloh Walker
Paranormal Romance novella ebook published by Samhain 30 Jul 13
With every book I read in this series, I'm amazed at the depth of psychic gifts Shiloh Walker gives her characters. On top of the tortured and fascinating characters themselves, it's those gifts that push the series into the stratosphere for me.
I like that not only do these FBI psychics have absolutely out-of-this-world gifts, they sometimes work in pairs to either bolster or filter a partner's abilities. That's the case here with Destin and Caleb. Only the wrinkle is Caleb walked away from Destin five years ago, and now they're being forced to work together again, though they've worked for different entities since their split. Back when they were a team, Caleb was always by Destin's side, filtering the worst part of the job for her so she could concentrate on bringing their quarry down. They were also lovers with a future. Or so she thought.
Caleb warned Destin over and over again that her gung-ho attitude in tracking the worst of the worst would work against her one day. Then when it all became too much for him and she wouldn't listen when he tried to talk to her, he'd had no choice but to walk away for self-preservation. It tore him up to leave her, and it's tearing him up now to be close to her once again and see the woman she's become. But they can get through this one job and then see what's what. Or so he thinks.
Now they have double emotion, double wariness, and double evil to fight while together. Destin learned the hard way the lesson Caleb tried to get through to her all those years ago, and she's paid dearly for that, bearing the emotional scars of a case gone wrong. Caleb's scars are more visible but none less emotional in the guilt he carries around. Amid the danger and evilness they're trying to uncover, working through the past into a possible future is taking its toll. Even when more truths between them surfaces.
As they wade through the images and sounds of a horrific night left at the scene, they begin to suspect someone hasn't been totally truthful with them, and a whole new set of circumstances puts them and their case in danger of going seriously wrong. This is where they need to put their newly found trust to work to make sure all involved come out okay on the other side. I don't know if we'll see these two again in future books, but it would be nice to see how life is for them down the road, how they've resolved their logistics and what life has been like for them. It's nice to see maturity in them, especially since it's so hard won for them both, see them realize their mistakes and then learn to live with the consequences.
As usual, Shiloh Walker keeps me riveted to the page, even in a shorter novella. Characters who worm their way into your heart and soul at first glance, who are put into terrifyingly horrible situations, only to become stronger for it. Love scenes that are raw, intense, and so very sensual, the kind that romance readers crave. This series is one of my favorites lately. I'm knee deep in The Protected, due out in about a week or so. I can't wait to talk to you about that one!
Grade: A-
Summary:
Destin Mortin’s psychic gift comes with an ugly twist—she excels at tracking down violent rapists. But it’s rough on relationships. Once, her partner Caleb was her everything: filter, shield, rescuer, lover. The only man who didn’t think her a freak. Then he walked away.
Destin turned her back on the FBI to work for a private agency, but now a particularly horrendous case has come up, and her boss wants her paired with only the best.
For Caleb Durand, leaving Destin was an act of self-preservation. Every time she flung herself headlong into dangerous situations, every time he nursed her through soul-crushing visions, he’d died a little more inside.
Now they are forced to work together one last time. Tragedy has changed them both, but Caleb knows if he lowers his shields for an instant, he won’t have an icicle’s chance in hell of resisting the temptation to lose himself in her wild power.
But to catch the rapist, it’s exactly what he’ll have to do.
Read an excerpt.
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