Singh, Nalini - Caressed by Ice

Brenna Kincaid was tortured by a Psy serial killer, and though she's healed much faster than expected, she's still got scars. Judd Lauren is an ex-Arrow Psy, a super-secret soldier who used to kill and etc., supposedly to the benefit of the Psy race.

Though the back cover says they're drawn together when a series of murders start happening because Brenna thinks she could be doing it, the book is really more about Judd learning to how partially break Silence and about his angsty past. The mystery of whether or not Brenna's psychic encounters with the Psy serial killer have made her capable of murder is solved fairly quickly, and I was sad that she soon stopped being the focus of the book. I shouldn't be surprised that most of the emotional growth goes with the Psy character, but I was still disappointed.

Also, because the two main characters are already unconnected to the PsyNet, much of the larger, series-specific plot really has nothing to do with either of them. That's too bad, as that was the main draw for me. Judd does have a little to do with the major plans of the Psy Council, but much of it isn't essential to the romance plot, and that weakens the book.

Singh also falls into the trap of constantly telling me things that I don't believe, from people being surprised at a completely unsurprising piece of information to everyone telling Brenna's she's strong. Yes, her past indicates that she is, but I would have liked some proof outside of hearsay. There's also too much of the "Once again, he was amazed by her strength and courage" thing when Brenna reacts to something in a way that I think is fairly normal.

I probably won't continue with the Psy-Changeling series after this; the prose is just too clunky and the characterization isn't good enough to catch my interest.

Liu, Marjorie M. - Eye of Heaven

I swear, I tried to stop my headlong fall into Liu's books so I wouldn't burn out on them, but I don't seem to be slowing down...

Iris McGillis has a strange affinity for large cats, and when Blue Perrineau of Dirk & Steele, the detective agency cum front for psychic do-gooders, comes across her on a quest to find his half-brother, sparks fly.

I have to say, I love that Blue's half-brother literally runs away to join the circus.

I really liked both Iris and Blue, particularly Iris, who is quite a loner. It was neat getting to know Blue more as well, considering that he was the only one of the agents we met in Tiger Eye who didn't make much of an impression on me. I like Blue's gentleness and patience and Iris' wariness a lot, and the dialogue, as usual, is great.

The plot contains: international human organ trafficking, lost family members, a return of the Consortium, the reappearance of some plot points from Shadow Touch, three psychic factions and possibly two non-psychic factions (it's hard to say, as the factions keep metaphorically ripping off a Mission Impossible style mask and turning into other factions), and..... EYE LOSS!

Awesome. I think if Liu keeps going, she is going to hit Kinsale or manga levels of cracktasticness, at least in terms of plot.

I still get a little annoyed hearing about the married agents from previous books, although I was pleased to see that some of them had actual subplot, which made their appearance less gratuitous. I'm also glad that so far, there's only been one kid. I hope Miri gets more plot later, as well as Aggie from Liu's novella.

I was a little irked to see another Asian human trafficker, but then I remembered the existence of non-Asian white human traffickers. And I cheered when we discover that Blue speaks Farsi. Yay multiracial Middle Eastern hero who is not a sheik! I also cheered for the stronger older women, and for the small note that Iris' ancestors were from East Africa, albeit via the Middle East and Europe.

Anyway, I am continuing to enjoy this series, so much so that I camped out in a bookstore this afternoon and read all of Liu's short stories and novellas. I think the Chinese female assassin counter-terrorist secret agent vampire named Six (after the Cylon?) who is part of a squad of Chinese female counter-terrorist secret agents should get a novel, even though she isn't in the Dirk & Steele universe. Also, I want more about Aggie, who is kickass, snarky and made of awesome.