Rating: 
Summary: 100% chance of fun...
Review: Jo is a weather warden. Basically, there are folk in the world who are capable of touching - and manipulating - the elements of fire, air, water, and earth. Jo is has air and water (which very often go together), and is one of the strongest weather wardens around, as she uses her abilities to calm weather patterns, stop as many storms as possible, that sort of thing.
Or at least, she did before all the rest of the Wardens in the world starting hunting her, since she just happened to kill someone and can't quite prove it was, well, self-defense. Sort of. So, Jo is on the run, trying to track down the rarest of the rare, a friend of hers who has access to all four elements (and more importantly, has some spare djinn bottles kicking around, since she also inherited a bit of a terminal problem as well, and it takes a djinn to fix it)...
Meanwhile, the storms are chasing her with mindless intent, her own former co-workers and friends are chasing her down, and her car needs more gas.
Jo is a superb character - if you love a tough-talking, trash-talking, ne'er do well type with an acid tongue, kick-ass attitude, a lot of magical power, dress sense (think leather and/or Victoria's Secret) and a thing for fast cars. She rocks. I jumped immediately into "Heat Stroke" at the end of this book because the ending of this book left me rolling. If you liked Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" series, or if you enjoy "Anita Blake" from Laurell K. Hamilton (but are tired of the over-the-top constant S&M sex that seems to have diluted the story so much lately), this is the book for you.
'Nathan
Rating: 
Summary: For fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and the Dresden Files
Review: Less than one percent of the human population keeps Earth from destruction by managing weather, fire, earth, and water. These wardens magically control the hurricanes, raging fires, and tsunamis under the control of an association with very strict rules and regulations for using their power. If a warden goes rogue, the association strips that person of their powers and erases their memories. The most powerful wardens have their own djinn, magical beings that enhance their powers.Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin is on the run for killing a senior Warden who gave her the Demon Mark. She can't explain the murder to the wardens without telling them about the mark; if they knew about that, they would kill her. She seeks to give the Mark to a djinn owned by the rogue Lewis, the most powerful warden of all. Instead she meets David, a djinn with no master, who will allows her to enslave him and will take the Mark but since they made love she is unable to do it. David doesn't want her to die or free the demon, but she refuses to condemn her beloved djinn to eternal insanity. One of them will have to acquiesce for no other solution seems available. The protagonist learns a lot about herself in ILL WIND. She won't kill an innocent to save herself and she is a very powerful Warden, one that other wardens who are even stronger can't always control. Readers will care deeply about this heroine because she gives without asking for anything back. Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are going to love this fast paced action packed romantic urban fantasy. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A-mazing
Review: Most fantasy is not my "thing" but a friend persuaded me to try this book and, wow, do I owe that friend a favor. Maybe two favors since I see the sequel has just been published and I'm clicking on "Buy" as soon as I'm done typing this. It's fun, frenetic, and page-turning. I'm glad I finished the novel last night since it has been costing me valuable sleep because I just couldn't bring myself to click off the lamp and put this book down for eight hours. Buy two copies and give one to a friend. Then they'll owe _you_ a favor.
Rating:
Summary: A new writer in her element
Review: Sparkling! Suppose you're powerful, really powerful. You have the winds at your command. Unfortunately, you also have a demon inside of you. The only friend that can save you has been missing for a number of years and then djinns start turning up here and there and occassionally in your car. What would you do? (I suggest the same thing as I did: don't put this book down!)
Rating: 
Summary: If only my local weather man were this cool!
Review: The idea behind the weather wardens is very cool. A group of humans have the power to channel the forces of nature, but the price of this power is to be forced to work with a borderline tyrannical orginization that exerts considerable control over your life. With a premise like this, the author could take a number of exciting directions with the plot- the struggle for control of one's own life, battles against villains that could literally rip the earth asunder, ect. But for some Rachel Caine's finished product doesn't seem to gel. The thing that frustrates me is I can't pin-point exactly why.
Maybe I don't see why the Djinn need to be in the story. If in Djinn are fire spirits why do people who can channel the weather need them? Sorry, but the Djinn feel too fantastical and extraneous to really fit into this premise.
Maybe it was the fact that Joanne Baldwin, Weather Warden, has been tainted by a demon mark and is being hunted down by her Warden associates. Come on! A demon mark?! This is like the thrid book I've read this month that had one of those. This is another fantastically element that just sticks out like a pumpkin in a cabage patch.
Maybe it's because of Joanne's unconvincing romance with David. She picks him up while he's hitch-hiking and never seems to question why he wants to come along for the ride when its clear that she's a dangerous person to hang around with. Since this is told from Jo's point of view, I have no idea what he sees in her. For Joanne's part, all she seems to want to do is sleep with him 'cuz he's sooooo DREAMY! Romance is more than just people sleeping together and going 'I'll love you forever and ever' the next morning. I have to have some idea why they feel the way they do, and I don't see that here.
Maybe its the dues ex machina ending. Big life change for Jo at the end but it barely seems to register. It's really abrupt because no hint was given that Djinn could do THAT anywhere in the book.
Maybe its the tiresomely lengthy chapters. This book has only like 4 chapters each one extending 70 to 80 pages long. Could we break it down a little more please? I don't like to put down a book mid-chapter and my time for reading is somewhat limited.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book I've Read in Years
Review: This book is creative, witty, strong, and basically a great read. Better than the early Antia Blake novels. What an unexpected treat. Can't wait for the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Lightening Strikes Again!
Review: This book knocked me out. Author Rachel Caine gives us a heroine, Joanne Baldwin, who is a smart-mouth no-holds-barred type of girl that kicks butt as a gifted weather warden who has gotten in dutch with the baddest of all weather wardens and is running for her very life. Seems everywhere she turns she is either being stalked by very nasty weather running amuck(having lightening search you out personally has got to bite!), pissed off weather wardens and their freaky djinns (they are definitely not I Dream of Jeannie material, more like the Terminator)...and then there is the love interest that brews between Joanne and the djinn in disguise (this guy defies description, he is simply scrumptious). Rachel Caine is an author that is on the fast road to fame with this fantastic new series. She will definitely have a place on my "keeper" shelf and "to watch for" list along with others in her peer group, Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake series), Tanya Huff (vamp series), Suzanne Sizemore (vamp series) and J.D.Robb (Eve Dallas series). Kudos to Ms. Caine. I highly recommend this book to all and sundry for a captivating read. I look forward to more by this author, and more of Joanne Baldwin and the bad-ass weather wardens and their djinn. Rock on Rachel Caine!
Rating:
Summary: Truly awesome
Review: This book was fantastic. What a wonderful place to go for several hours. I was glad to see on the author's website that two more books will be coming out this year - Summer and Winter. Don't pass up this book - you will be cheating yourself of a wonderful, original adventure.
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