MINE TO POSSESS

Author: Nalini Singh ISBN: 9780425220160 2/2008 PARANORMAL Publisher: BERKLEY

Clay Bennett is a powerful DarkRiver sentinel, but he grew up in the slums with his human mother, never knowing his changeling father. As a young boy without the bonds of Pack, he tried to stifle his animal nature. He failed...and committed the most extreme act of violence, killing a man and losing his best friend, Talin, in the bloody aftermath. Everything good in him died the day he was told that she, too, was dead. Talin McKade barely survived a childhood drenched in bloodshed and terror. Now a new nightmare is stalking her life—the street children she works to protect are disappearing and turning up dead. Determined to keep them safe, she unlocks the darkest secret in her heart and returns to ask the help of the strongest man she knows... Clay lost Talin once. He will not let her go again, his hunger to possess her, a clawing need born of the leopard within. As they race to save the innocent, Clay and Talin must face the violent truths of their past...or lose everything that ever mattered.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Boy, have I been missing out on some interesting reading! MINE TO POSSESS is my first Nalini Singh book, and it is so emotional, disturbing and sexy that it tempts me to look for its predecessors.

While I admit my fascination with the Sci-Fi paranormal world Singh creates, I must say that the subject matter involving the brutality of children is hard to take. It can be argued that Singh is such a descriptive writer that my mind cannot help but respond to such imagery. But, I also feel that some of the described violence is needless, and at least could be scaled down. Well, regardless of whatever side you as a reader might fall on, there is no argument that such atrocities are horrible.

With its intense characters, storyline, and scenery, MINE TO POSSESS is quite a read. It showcases Singh's talent and shows her to be a writer that will no doubt shine for some time.

Shannon Johnson