Sizzle and Burn

Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz

When Raine Tallentyre made the mistake of revealing her paranormal abilities, her most recent romantic relationship came to a hasty end. Her Aunt Vella, a gifted but troubled soul, had told her years ago to keep her talents a secret. And now that poor Aunt Vella-her last blood relative-has died, Raine has resigned herself to a lonely life.

But when she journeys to Shelbyville, Washington, to clear out Aunt Vella's house, Raine's highly developed sensitivity leads her to a horrifying discovery: a young woman bound and terrified in a basement storage locker. The victim has survived, but the culprit is still on the loose. Without warning, a new man enters Raine's life-investigator Zack Jones. Surprisingly, Zack isn't repelled by her powers: in fact, he has them himself. While Raine hears voices, Zack sees visions and within hours of their meeting, Raine experiences an intense, thrilling intimacy-mental, emotional, and physical-she never dared to expect.

There's one complication, however: Zack Jones is working for the Arcane Society. This secret organization, dedicated to the study of paranormal phenomena, shattered Raine's family with an act of betrayal long ago, and she's not about to trust them now. But as a killer makes her his target, and a cabal of psychic criminals known as Nightshade operates in the shadows surrounding them, Raine and Zack must rely not only on their powerful abilities but on each other . . .

--Sizzle and Burn (The Arcane Society, Book 3)
by Jayne Ann Krentz
Copyright ©January 2008 by Jayne Ann Krentz
Published by Putnam Books

My Review

Raine has good reason to mistrust the members of the Arcane Society. They ousted her father for his research into the Founder’s Formula and a member of Jones & Jones—an investigative tool of the Society—torched her father’s lab. So when she meets Zachary Jones of Jones & Jones, she is naturally suspicious of him and his motives.

Zack is hunting Nightshade, a secret cabal whose purpose is opposite that of the Arcane Society. He needs Raine’s help because he believes her father’s research holds the key to breaking the back of the cabal. Yes, the lab was destroyed, but he believes it possible something survived that could help him in his mission.

Raine has problems of her own. She’s been targeted by a serial killer and the last thing she needs is a Jones in her life, especially someone related to Wilder Jones, the man who betrayed her family. But there’s an attraction between them, one too strong for them to deny.

They can help each other, and along the way, find out just how far this fiery attraction can take them.

This story is a continuation of Jayne Ann Krentz’s Arcane Society series. It can be read alone because it does go into detail about the history of the Arcane Society, but it helps to have read the previous books in the series (Second Sight and White Lies).

The writing is smooth and easy to read, though there are some bits of dialog that seemed odd and unnatural, almost as if they were inspired by a bad television drama. Still, the chemistry between the main characters is good and the various story lines surrounding them engage the reader’s imagination. The villain of the story, codenamed “January” does a good job of hiding in her anonymity. The fact that she’s a she is the only clue the reader has until she makes herself known.

Some of the actions taken by the characters are almost comical in nature, like the ideas were lifted (again) from a bad television drama, but they’re handled with a lightness and humor that make them fun to read.

A great addition to the series with more to come.

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.