Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh, UK edition cover.

Title: Bonds of Justice (A Psy-Changeling Novel)
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 26th May 2011

Blurb:

Max Shannon is a good cop, one of the best in New York Enforcement. Born with a natural shield that protects him against Psy mental invasions, he knows he has little chance of advancement within the Psy-dominated power structure. The last case he expects to be assigned is that of a murderer targeting a Psy Councilor’s closest advisors. And the last woman he expects to compel him in the most sensual of ways is a Psy on the verge of a catastrophic mental fracture . . .

Sophia Russo is a Justice-Psy, cursed with the ability to retrieve memories from mrn and women so twisted even veteran cops keep their distance. Appointed Max’s liaison with the Psy, she finds herself fascinated by this human, her frozen heart threatening to thaw with forbidden emotion. But, her mind filled with other people’s nightmares, other people’s evil, she’s standing on the border between sanity and a silken darkness that urges her to take justice into her own hands, to be come judge, jury . . . and executioner . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

The eighth book in Nalini Singh’s A Psy-Changeling Novel series, and the second book in a row to move away from the changeling world focusing on the relationship between a human and a Psy who is unable to leave the Net. The world is changing and the net around the Psys is getting tighter – soon they are going to have to choose to sink or to swim; to break the Silence Protocol, or to reinforce: either choice has potentially deadly consequences, and in this book lines are drawn in the sand.

I found this a very interesting and intriguing book. We are re-introduced to Max, a character who first appears in Mine to Possess as a cop friend of Tally. Nikita is also a prominent, if secondary, character to this book and we get to see a bit more of her relationship with Sascha.

In this book the world of the Psy is balancing on a thread, and more than in any previous book we get to see how precarious that is – how badly Silence isn’t working.

Sophia is an interesting character, perhaps the most human of the Psy women in the series from the start. This is mainly due to her designation as a Justice-Psy, we are told. Sophia is tied to the Net, and unable to leave as she is connected to it in a unique way, but despite this she manages to fall in love.

The mystery of the book – why a Psy Concilor’s closet advisors were targeted and by whom – ties the whole book together, and the resolution is interesting. This event is in many ways the catalyst of what is to come in future books. The fallout of this even has a profound affect on the Psy Council. The implications for future books are intriguing – just what does it mean?

The next book in the series should be an interesting read. I can’t wait.