Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Bonds of Justice, the eighth book in Nalini Singh's fabulous Pay-Changeling series and two new characters have been welcomed into the fold: Max Shannon and Sophia Russo. Max is a human detective who works in New York Enforcement and has mental shields that the Psy can't break through.
Currently, Max is working a very specific case dealing with Gerard Bonner, a serial killer called the “Butcher of Park Avenue”. Sophia Russo, a J-Psy, who has the ability to retrieve memories from people, has helped crack many cases and will try to go deep into Bonner's mind to find the bodies of the missing women he has murdered and buried.
Something about Sophia makes Max stop and take notice—unfortunately, the same goes for Bonner. Max is taken off the Bonner case and ordered to investigate a crime in San Francisco; someone is targeting and killing the Psy councilors' closest advisors and if this killer isn't stopped, the high ranking councilors may be next.
Max heads off to San Francisco and is in for a surprise when he finds out that Sophia will be his partner. Sophia is more than willing to help because she believes she doesn't have much time left; as a J-Psy, her mental capacities are breaking down. Sophia is at the point where she must wear gloves, because if she touches a person's skin, the amount of emotion she ingests will cause her great pain, leading to her death or put her in a vegetative state.
As Max and Sophia work with both the Psy and the Changeling community to catch the killer, something more sinister is at play—Nikita Duncan, one of the most powerful women in the world and a Psy, is planning her own attack to gain more power. Nikita must keep her eye on her adversary, Councilor Kaleb Krychek, a deadly Psy, who also has something up his sleeve.
Bonds of Justice delivers a jammed packed, adrenaline rush of a story and an amazing couple with Max and Sophia. The majority of Nalini's past heroes are borderline alpha, but with Max, we have a tender and understanding hero. Sophia is damaged, and rightly so, given the horrors she went through as a child.
The only issue I had with Bonds of Justice that stops me from giving it a perfect score is the ending. Something happens with Sophia that comes across a bit contrived in order to make everything come together and make certain that she and Max have their HEA. But otherwise, Bonds of Justice is another welcome addition to this series that I can't get enough of and has me anxious for more.
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Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley (July 6, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0425235447