Heat Stroke is the second book in the adventures of Joanne and David, picking up right where Ill Wind left off and is every bit as compelling and well written.

Not being able to save her from the firestorm created by Star, the person Joanne had considered her friend, David breaks several of the most basic tenants of Djinn Law and siphons off part of his life force to bring her back as a Djinn. Joanne faces a steep learning curve as a newly made Djinn and is completely unaware of what David laws has broken or of the cost to himself.

Pretty much still on the run, but this time in a Viper, named Mona, Joanne convinces David they need to stop in at Joanne's Memorial service and to try and connect with Lewis Orwell, her friend and former fellow Warden and one of the most powerful, and unassuming, Wardens in history only to run across one very nasty minor warden who will intimately make life very ugly for them all and set into motion events that my well bring the Wardens to their knees.

When David is forced to bring Joanne to Jonathon, the most powerful Djinn, and leader of the free Djinns, Joanne begins to understand what David did when he brought her back to life as a Djinn and what its costing him to keep her "alive" as a Djinn. The consequences of David's love and his actions are monumental and the ripples are starting to create some major waves in the stability of the universe and Jonathon is very displeased with them both.

When Joanne is tricked into servitude to a troubled, abused teen named Kevin, she learns first hand what the Djinn have been suffering for eons at the hands of the Wardens, but its about to get far worse. Traumatic events in Joanne's past are about to gain extra significance and the game about to take some unexpected twists when David is enslaved trying to save her.

This book adds to the suspense and storyline started in Ill Wind with the continuation of the struggle between Djinn and the Wardens but nothing happens in a vacuum and while they are fighting to gain some control over their own circumstances, Joanne and David and also neck deep in Warden /Djinn politics with something else just on the periphery and it looks like its going to get much worse before it gets better.

An EXCELLENT series, destined to become a classic must read series for anyone enjoying paranormal, fantasy or alternate earth genres.

Joanne Baldwin is a weather warden: a person with the ability to control the weather by manipulating wind and water – at least until she was accused of murder and then killed trying to save the world. Following her funeral and the subsequent clearing of all charges Joanne finds herself reborn as a Djinn.

However discovering that you have supernatural powers is not all it is cracked up to be and unless she manages to control her new abilities she could be "claimed" by a human, trapped in a bottle and forced to obey his every command.

While trying to seal a tear in the fabric of the universe Joanne discovers a hazard infiltrating the Earth's atmosphere. Human beings cannot detect it and it threatens to destroy everything. But getting other people to believe in the existence of this entity is only the first step to saving the world – but will her new powers be sufficient?

Heat Stroke is the second book in the Weather Warden series and follows the continuing experiences of Joanne Baldwin as she tries to save the world (again) whilst getting to grips with her new abilities. It has often frustrated me, when reading similar storylines, that the main character inevitably has the uncanny ability to instantly control their powers no matter how extreme the situation. In this book things are a little different. Joanne struggles to learn how to use her new abilities and has to be taught by more experienced Djinn just how things really work.

There is an additional aspect of her recent transformation that adds an extra detail to her character. As an ex-human Djinn, Joanne finds herself considered second rate compared to those "born" as Djinn. This enables the author to consider a new aspect of social inequality.

This is a great story and carries on seamlessly from the first volume. The concept is original and the writing style is extremely entertaining. A superb read from start to finish. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next instalment - I just hope that Rachel Caine can maintain the high standard she has set herself.