As promised, this review is close on the heels of my review of book three (mostly because I pretty much read them back to back). Overall I’m definitely getting into the flow of these books and I’m interested to see how long they will stretch out.
In Chill Factor, Joanne managed to save the world from both the nihilistic tendencies of the god of Djinn under the ownership of a misguided teenager and a dirty cop that switched to drug smuggling to Djinn smuggling (partially due to her own past meddling). And in the end when faced with the choice of joining up with either the newly discovered Ma’at or her old job with the wardens, she opted for neither.
In Windfall, we find Joanne doing her best to stay off of the aetherial radar – most poignantly as a weather girl on a Ft. Lauderdale local TV affiliate. It pays the bills and keeps the wardens from bothering her … mostly. But when strange things start to swirl around her (e.g., freak storms, missing wardens, Djinn standoffs in the streets), fingers start to migrate in her direction. But having a Djinn boyfriend that is barely holding himself together (literally), having limited abilities herself due to her Djinn tether and the unborn Djinn daughter in her belly, and having her recently divorced sister mooching off of her all seem to hamper her ability to do much to clear her name much less save the day. But she manages to make a dent none the less. And in the end, things change fundamentally once again.
While I’ve been enjoying Rachel Caine’s first-person perspective throughout these novels, I have to say that I’ve seen a marked improvement in her writing form in this book. Where many of the past volumes had about 3 or 4 long chapters, this one had about 7 shorter chapters that each had an interstitial arc that nicely wrapped up into the main story arc by the end. It made the story much more interesting to read and added a narrative element that introduced a key alternate perspective as well as pertinent background that would otherwise have been difficult to integrate.
Once again, this story ends with drama in progress, so I will likely be starting book five as soon as I can. Though I’ve taken a brief break from it to read another book recommended by a friend. So I will likely be reviewing that book before another Rachel Caine review appears here.