"Leopards, Wolves and Psy, oh my!"

In 1969, the Psy Council had to come up with something to stop the violence and serial killers among their kind. What they came up with was "Silence." With this new program, the Psy Council would eliminate all rage among their kind. When this didn't work, in 1979, they decided to eliminate all emotion. Silence has been in effect among the Psy ever since.

Sascha Duncan has always known she was different from the other Psy. Even though she's a Cardinal, and has the eyes to prove it, she doesn't seem to have any special Psy abilities. And worse than that, Sascha feels, unlike her mother, Nikita, the head of the family and a member of the Psy Council. So Sascha has become very good at making shields and hiding behind them. She is terrified the other Psy will find out and she will end up going to rehabilitation. Of course, no one is really rehabilitated, they just have most of their minds taken away and end up as vegetables. This is the very first project she will be in charge of and it's the first of its kind. The Psy and the Changelings will be working together to make a housing development for the Changelings. Now ready to negotiate the deal, Sascha and her mother meet with Lucas Hunter, the head of the DarkRiver Leopard pack. They conclude the negotiations and Lucas arranges for Sascha to have an office in his building so she will be easily available.

Now Lucas, on the other hand, isn't coming into this deal only to make homes. He has a secret agenda. It turns out there's a serial killer on the loose, one who targets Changeling females. They know the killer is a Psy because of the scent found with the bodies and no one is doing anything to stop him. When one of his pack members was found dead by the killer's hand, Lucas became involved and is determined to find and stop the serial killer before he can kill again. And he plans on using Sascha to help him. That is, of course, until he meets her. Once he does, he finds himself intrigued by her and his beast is exceptionally attracted to her. Now he plans on cracking the Psy shell surrounding Sascha.

What is Sascha's Psy ability? She is a Cardinal; it must be something. How is she different from the other Psy? And what is Lucas doing to her with all the emotions she's beginning to feel? Who is the serial killer? Will Lucas and the DarkRiver pack be able to stop him before the SnowDancers, the local wolf pack, get their hands on Sascha? Will Sascha end up in rehabilitation, or dead?

SLAVE TO SENSATION is a fantastic story. Nalini Singh has written a wonderful story of humans, Changelings and Psy and how they interact. The Psy are arrogant and feel humans and Changelings are beneath them. And as Sascha begins to interact with the DarkRiver pack, she learns about them and how their emotions don't make them weak. She also learns about herself. The plot is compelling and very character driven. The characters are very realistically portrayed and remain true to themselves. The danger is there and very real. And I have to admit, I cried when I finished this story. Something which doesn't happen very often and the highest accolade a book can receive. I just hope the author comes out with more books set in this very fascinating world!

Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Courtesy Paranormal Romance
Posted August 29, 2006

A fresh new talent in the realm of paranormal romance, Nalini Singh dives into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind—and none of the heart...

Summary

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of "rehabilitation"—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was...

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation...