A review by rouver
Inhuman by Eileen Wilks

3.0

Read this novella before starting book 4, Night Season.

This is another novella that introduces new characters. Wilks doesn't have much time to explore all the flavors of the magically 'gifted' in her other books, so she is using this short story to do so. Kai can see auras, tell their moods, know if they're lying, and influence their thoughts while her friend is able to speak to ghosts.

Something is killing gifted humans and Nathan, an officer who works with the Sheriff's office, is trying to hunt it down before his friend Kai is targeted. Unfortunately, Kai has been identified as the killer and a warrant has been put out for her arrest. Nathan is sure that she will die in jail, where he will be unable to protect her. He goes on the run with her.... and bits of this story do not get nicely wrapped up. It also ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, which is the biggest reason why I suggest that this is read before Night Season. I hope that book wraps up some of these loose threads.

In the beginning, I felt like the writing wasn't well edited and the characters appear to just babble as Wilks attempts to quickly reveal information about all the characters. Once the story got moving, however, it was one of her better ones. It ended up on a strong note.

long:
SpoilerKai is a partial 'binder'...able to change people's thoughts & "bind" them to her. But true binders are evil and only think of themselves. Kai is a therapist and only wishes to heal people, and shies away from actually using her gift. She simply reads people's thoughts & emotions without altering them. Nathan is a hellhound, having been sent by the Winter Queen many hundred years ago to hunt down an evil sorcerer. Once he finally completed his task, the magic in the world had dwindled too much for him to transport himself home. He has been trapped in a human body & mind for so long he has changed and would no longer be satisfied being a hound once again. Kai accidentally binds herself to the cat-like creature, named Dell, that has been killing Gifted. It had been illegally used as a familiar, but the magic wind that blew through all the realms killed him and pushed Dell to Earth. Nathan calls upon the Huntsman and the Winter Queen to help him transport Dell back to her home realm, but both with to kill Kai when they see that she is a Binder. Her kind are always to be instantly killed. Nathan convinces them to look more deeply and Kai is allowed to live as long as she completes 3 quests to prove she is not a danger. Their story is to be continued in book 4,Night Season