UNBROKEN (Outcast Season #4) by Rachel Caine

UNBROKEN (released in February 2012) is the 4th book and final instalment in Rachel Caine’s Outcast Season. A spinoff of Caine’s Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season follows fallen Djinn Cassiel and her lover Luis as they endeavor to prevent the end of the world-literally.

Once again, Pearl the sadistic and power hungry Djinn has taken control of the young Wardens. With their power enhanced by Pearl’s manipulation, the children are now capable of destruction beyond human comprehension, and it is the destruction that Cass and Luis are trying to prevent. With Pearl’s ambition to rule, Mother (Earth) is angry and refusing to stop the elements of destruction. Mother is not pleased.

With the rescue of Isabel (Luis’s niece) it becomes apparent, that Pearl’s abuse inflicted on the children, has created a power too great to contain. 6 year old Isabel is convinced that she would be in a better position to help if she were older, and unleashes a power that will shock and amaze, but one that will push her growth beyond measure. And it is not only Isabel that has suffered at the hands of Pearl. Many of the young Wardens are as powerful as the Djinn themselves. But it is the black void, the emptiness that is feared above all else.

Cass and Luis find themselves on the run throughout Unbroken, and heading from one disaster into another. Plagues, fires, earthquakes and tornadoes have ravaged most of the earth, and the Wardens are powerless to save the humans or the earth. And every step of the way, Pearl’s presence and manipulation is obvious. But it is not until Cass is held ‘prisoner’ in a crystal cocoon, do we see the extent to which Pearl is willing to reap the benefits of the power of the Djinn.

Jo and David (from Caine’s Weather Warden series) return as Warden and Djinn husband and wife, but even their powers can be bottled with a little control. Bottling the powers would ultimately aid the Wardens, but escape is inevitable when the Djinn are willing to break their own rules.

Esmerelda, the serpent/warden continues to antagonize Cass and Luis but it is Es who is neither good nor evil. Befriended by Isabel, Esmerelda is capable of inflicting a quick death with poisonous fangs, but it is with the death of another that the Djinn will finally be able to send Pearl where she belongs.

UNBROKEN is a fast paced storyline with rarely a moment to catch one’s breath. The constant flow of disaster upon disaster, as well as the appearance of many of the Wardens and Djinns from Caine’s previous Weather Warden series, will culminate into a finale that will close both the Weather Warden and the Outcast Season series together.

When asked whether she was going to continue the Weather Warden/Outcast series…well, I guess you have to read our interview with Rachel Caine on May 7.

Reviewed by Sandy