Ill Wind (Weather Warden Book 1) by Rachel Caine

Ill Wind by Rachel Caine is written well, is entertaining, has an interesting main character, and is one heck of a ride. I read it all in one sitting.

Joanne, the main character, is a weather warden. These are people who can use magic to manipulate the weather. They try to keep floods, tornados and all those other weather nasties from destroying humanity. But it is all a secret; no one knows that the wardens are out there protecting humanity. Joanne is good weather warden, she is more powerful than she knows and works very delicately, sometimes other wardens can't even tell she has been there. But she is a loose cannon of sorts, can't keep her mouth shut, doesn't follow direction well, and has the usual sort of vices like designer clothes, boys, fast cars, and alcohol.

In Ill Wind, Joanne finds herself in a bit of trouble. A senior warden, Bob, forces her to take a demon mark from him, which kills him. The council of the weather wardens (the official ruling head of the wardens) thinks she killed Bob but they don't know about the demon. Therefore, they are chasing her for killing him sending their powerful warden hunter after her. Joanne is more worried about the mark than the council and has to find the only person who might help her get rid of it, Lewis. Lewis is the most powerful warden, ever. But he is hiding from the council because he stole three dijinn (Genies). There are only so many Dijinn available and they are doled out to the top, reliable wardens to augment their powers so the council is real upset that Lewis stole them. And it so happens that only a Dijinn can get rid of the mark. As Joanne goes hunting for Lewis and running from the Council, she picks up a hitchhiker who seems to know a lot more about her situation than he should. Who is he and why is he helping her? Can she trust him? Can Joanne find Lewis and get help before its too late? If she can't get rid of the mark before it drains her, a demon will be born into the mortal plane and wreck havoc on humanity. Read the book to find out the fate of Joanne and humanity.

I enjoyed the heck out of Joanne's characters. She is so funny, interesting, and entertaining. She has such a great voice, she is a great strong female character. But for someone so powerful it is crazy that her thoughts are so filled with clothes and boys. She also loves fast cars. She is such a character, and I enjoyed the ride of Ill Wind very much with her. The hitchhiker, David, is a great character as well. I got a feeling we will see more of him in the next book. He becomes a romantic interest for Joanne throughout the course of the novel.

I like Caine's writing style. The world she set up is an interesting deviation from our reality much in the way of a Kim Harrison novel or a Laurell K Hamilton novel. The plot was simple enough not to be confusing but complicated enough not to be boring. Caine's writing was action filled (without having gory violence) enough to be a page-turner but filled with enough information about the world that you can quite easily figure out how things work. It was also laced heavily with romance but didn't have to center on sex.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. Caine writes good characters and a good plot. I can't wait to venture out with Joanne in the next installment.