I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Visions of Heat
by
Nalini Singh
paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Berkley on March 6, 2007 and has 356 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Must Love Hellhounds, Kiss of Snow, An Enchanted Season, Archangel's Blade, Angels of Darkness, Lord of the Abyss, Desert Warrior, Angels' Flight, Tangle of Need, Play of Passion, Archangel's Storm, Wild Invitation, Heart of Obsidian, Archangel's Legion, "Hide and Seek", "Making Dinner", Shield of Winter, "A Conversation", "Home", Angels' Pawn, "New Year's Kisses", Night Shift, "Weapons Training", "Zoë's Workshop", "Wild Night", Archangel's Shadows, Archangel’s Enigma, Shards of Hope, “Fairy Balloons”, “An Unexpected Guest”, Allegiance of Honor, "The Song of the Wolf", Silver Silence, Archangel’s Heart, Archangel’s Viper, Ocean Light, "Elena's School of Horror", Cherish Hard, "Ain’t No Party Like A Bear Party", Archangel's Prophecy, "One Night At The Refuge", "Secret Things", Rebel Hard, Rock Hard, Wolf Rain, "Clean and Dirty", "Wolf School", "Naya’s Most Important Visitors", "Grocery Shopping", "The Cannibal Princess", "A Gift for Kit", "Movie Night", "Kaleb and Sahara’s Meeting with Sascha and Lucas", "Housewarming at the Orchard", "Christmas in the Kitchen", "Stalking Hawke", "Romancing Drew", "Sunday Morning", "Rowan", "Baubles & Ben", Wild Embrace, Love Hard, Rock Addiction, "Music Awards", Rock Courtship, "Rock Courtship Memo"s, Rock Redemption, "Sunshine", Rock Wedding, "With This Memo", "That Lip Ring…", A Madness of Sunshine, "Beary Tiny Ghosts", Alpha Night, "A Wedding Breakfast", "Poker Night", "Knives and Sheaths", "Seedlings", "Star Kissed", "A Walk on the Cliffs", "Wild Cat Blues", Slave to Sensation, Caressed by Ice, Visions of Heat, Kiss Hard, Angels' Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's War, Archangel's Sun, Archangel's Light, Archangel's Resurrection, Last Guard, “A Perfect Moment”, "Music in the Rain", Storm Echo, Resonance Surge, "Mate", “New Year’s Eve”, Archangel's Lineage, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory
Second Psy-Changeling paranormal romance series and revolving around three races: the Psy who have phenomenal psychic powers and no heart, the Changelings who support and love their own, and the humans. The couple focus is on Faith NightStar, a Psy, and Vaughn D’Angelo, a changeling jaguar. If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Psy-Changeling books on my website.
In 2008, Visions of Heat was nominated for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Adult Novel.
My Take
Wow! What would it be like knowing this is how your life “will go”? To discover the most poignant reason for maintaining emotion within one’s life?
Visions of Heat provides a a lot of insight into these first two groups through third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of Faith, Vaughn, various members of the packs, and the Council.
It’s an amazing contrast between the restriction of life in a Psy clan with the openness of a group of Changelings. For Faith learns the truth about the Psy and their methods of conditioning Silence into their young. The Council’s decision to eliminate all Es, and then again, a possible explanation for the Psy horrors.
Cherish the independence the changelings foster, especially when Faith realizes what Vaughn will do for her. Singh also combines the traits of the cats with human thoughts, making these characters even more interesting.
Sneaky. I had to laugh when I read that the housing development project had been sold out before work even began — a joke you’ll understand if you’ve read Slave to Sensation, 1. And Visions of Heat confirms the progress of the alliance between these former enemies, the leopards and wolves. It also keeps you laughing with Hawke’s goading of Lucas with his approach to Sascha.
The Psy are so hypocritical, so focused on business, and they won’t allow the personal to interfere. As for the Council. Yuck. A small group of tyrannical dictators more concerned with their own interests. What do they care about Psy who turn serial killer. That obscure hint Anthony offers up makes me wonder what future stories will hold.
I love the NetMind. It’s such an innocent with incredible power. We’re also introduced to the DarkMind of the Net, the opposite of the NetMind. The conclusion Faith comes to about the DarkMind is terrifying!
Another thing I love about the Psy-Changeling series is how supportive the changelings are of each other, especially the children who receive love, time, and discipline.
As for the Psy, Singh shows us the restricted cold lives they lead, the horror of their Protocol to enforce Silence. Then again, Vaughn does list all the good the Psy have done.
Hmm, that “stink” the Psy exude and that the changelings all remark on gets an explanation. Such a very useful tip.
My one niggle is that Faith’s evolution seems too easy. Yeah, yeah, I know she began to exhibit emotions early on, yet what about that strict conditioning, is what I wanna know.
The Story
A series of psychic attacks are terrifying Faith NightStar, attacks which are disrupted by an unexpected “friend”. A changeling who managed to infiltrate her well-guarded compound.
And so begins the corruption of the perfect Psy . . .
The Characters
Faith “Red” NightStar is an F Cardinal with the gift of foresight, who belongs to the NightStar Clan. Her value lies in her foreseeing business trends and issues. Her father is Anthony Kryiakus, the head of the very powerful NightStar Clan. Marine is Faith’s murdered younger sister. Juniper, an eight-year-old Gradient 8.2 foreseer, is another family member. Tanique Gray is Faith’s half-brother and has a Gradient 9 ability in psychometrics. Xi Yun is one of the M-Psys, assigned to keeping an eye on Faith’s health.
Vaughn D’Angelo, an artistic jaguar with an amazing house, was absorbed into DarkRiver when he was found as a child. Skye is the baby sister he tried to protect.
The Psy are . . .
. . . a race of psychics who rule the world. Specifically, the Council rules the Psy with Marshall Hyde the most senior member. Others include Nikita Duncan (Slave to Sensation), Sascha’s mother, who is known for her mental viruses; Ming LeBon, who is skilled at mental combat; Tatiana Rika-Smythe, who can disrupt the deepest shields; and, Henry and Shoshanna Scott, who present as a couple. Kaleb Kyrcheck is a young contender for an open position. Santano Enrique was a serial killer uncovered in Slave to Sensation.
The Arrow Squad is a secret squad of assassins whose primary goal is to ensure the success of Silence. The Net is a psychic network that is roamed by the NetMind, a sentient being. This PsyNet is what holds the Psy to life. In Slave to Sensation, we learned of a Duncan housing development project contracted out to DarkRiver (in conjunction with the SnowDancers). Jax is a Psy drug that can affect changelings as well. Silence is the choice made in 1979 by the Psy to eliminate all emotion; the Protocol is the process by which they do this. The Cassandra Spiral is a cascade of pain that turns victims into vegetables.
The Changelings are . . .
. . . shifters, divided up into packs of similar individuals.
DarkRiver is . . .
. . . a pard of leopards led by Lucas Hunter. Sascha Duncan is the cardinal Psy, an E (for Empathy), who mated Lucas in Slave to Sensation. Nate is the oldest sentinel with Tamsyn, a healer, Nate’s mate. Julian and Roman are Nate and Tamsyn’s two mischievous cubs. Cian. Other sentinels include Vaughn, the latent Dorian, and Clay, who is a taciturn leopard. Jamie and Desiree are promising soldiers. Kit, Cory, Jase, and Nicki are some of the rebellious juvenile wolves.
SnowDancers is . . .
. . . a pack of wolves led by Hawke. Indigo is one of Hawke’s lieutenants. Lara is one of their healers. Dalton is the pack’s librarian. Brenna is the wolf rescued in Slave to Sensation. Andrew and Riley are Brenna’s older brothers. The Laurens are a family, a group of Psy slated for rehabilitation in Slave to Sensation who escaped to SnowDancer. Judd Lauren is brother to Walker Lauren who brought his children: the troublesome Sienna, a teenager; Toby; and, Marlee. The LaurenNet is what saved the Laurens.
The Cover and Title
The cover is dark in grays with a subdued orange. A grayed-out background of tall trees with Vaughn’s naked shoulder and right arm covered in the spots of his jaguar has his head turned to us. In the top right corner is an info blurb in white. Angling across Vaughn’s shoulder is the title in a gradiant of gray to a rusty orange. The author’s name is in a scripted white in the bottom right. A testimonial is on the left at the very bottom, also in white.
The title reflects Faith’s Psy designation and her coming into her own Visions of Heat.
