Title: Pathfinder
Author: J.A. Jaken
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: Novel (214pgs)
Publisher: Forbidden Fiction (June 29th 2012)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Shai discovers he is a pathfinder and is desperate to find a genetically suitable partner to prevent his extrasensory talents from running amok. Unfortunately, those talents make him a target for the brutal crime lords and other violent denizens who inhabit the city of Nhil-Rhar. Shai needs to learn how to use his pathfinder senses—no matter how much they terrify him—before he’s trapped in a partnership that will enslave him for the rest of his life.
Warning: Scenes of rape and dubious consent.
Purchase Link: http://forbidden-fiction.com/library/story/JAJ-1.000012
Review: Shai finds out the hard way that he is a Pathfinder. he has been told that he has to have a guide who will be bonded with him, and Shai has no choice about whom that guide will be. Being a Pathfinder places him in danger, when a crime syndicate snatches him, and tries to force a bonding with their very own guide. Now, Shai is on the run with an Outrider guide. A guide who doesn’t want a bond to form, and who Shai is beginning to trust.
This is a great science fiction story of a lost science, which scientists are trying to revive. Shai is just slightly different from the others. Sometimes he just knows things. He works quietly at The Hunted Lord, until the night the Agency sweepers come looking for him. From then on, it is a journey of discovery, fear, and resentment. Lorne is an Outrider. His clan lives out in the outside roaming the land and avoiding the city. Lorne was captured during a raid for medical supplies. Together they escape from their captor and begin a reluctant partnership.
The characters are all well written and the storyline is brilliant. It isn’t a nice and easy relationship and it isn’t a happily ever after. Both Shai and Lorne are in a position that neither of them wanted. But, they try to make a go of it even while they both try to decide what they want to do. Shai has no choice but to find a guide. And Lorne might be the only one that he has any real choice in. Lorne doesn’t want another Pathfinder as his last bond-mate died, but as they get to know each other, they decide to take a chance. It isn’t easy for either of them though, as they have the Agency and a crime syndicate looking for them.
I will give everyone fair warning Shai is 16 years old and to some of you that will be underage. There is also rape and dubious consent. But, being honest, it actually adds to the plot and storyline. It is all drawn together and makes an unfortunate kind of sense. No matter how you look at it, the baddies are desperate and only care for results. The characters are all good and you can see where the Agency is coming from, but it doesn’t mean you agree. And the Outriders seem to be the only ones who are still truly free and believe in free will.
I will recommend this to those who love futuristic, science fiction, escapes, chases, trying to make the right choices and having a slight hope of a true romance.