"Chains of Fire" by Christina Dodd. Book 4 of The Chosen Ones series.Really liked this book. Samuel and Isabelle have a past which is hinted at throughout the series. In this book, we find out what that past is as we read the story of what is happening to them now.Samuel is a lawyer. He is also a Chosen One with the power to control peoples' minds, which comes in really handy when you're a lawyer. But now he has to work with Isabelle, another Chosen One, and because they have a past together their relationship is kind of awkward.Isabelle has the power to heal people. No longer the leader of the Chosen Ones, she has been sent on a mission with Samuel. But Samuel is not the same man she used to know. But she's not the same woman either. Can they both put the past behind them and work together to save a young boy? More importantly, can they work together to stay alive?Very well written. The past rememberances flow really well with the current story and give you an insight as to why Samuel and Isabelle are the way they are. I really enjoyed the story line.Can't wait to read the last installment. Setting: bank in Monastere, Switzerland; Patricia’s showcase Switzerland home; basement of abandoned castle/lodge after avalanche covers them; Irving’s home; Osgood’s new building; Theme: love; betrayal; another chance; owning up to one’s own depth of feeling; Characters:Isabelle Mason: upper-class Boston Masons (adopted/loved); healer (physical empathy); though well loved by parents, her mother instilled in her a high standard of public awareness and high society, a desire to do good, and to not draw attention to herself with her gift; has loved Sam since they were kids; terribly betrayed by him when he used his mind control power to locate someone she was protecting;Patricia Mason: upper class with a heart, but keeps lines drawn; wants Isabelle to marry well and settle, and dislikes her work as a Chosen One; when 5 year old Samuel tries to pick pocket her, she snags him up, and gets her butler to adopt him (hmmmm) – not the best fit; she does her best for Samuel, but does not want him involved with her daughter;Samuel Faa: lawyer; ability to control minds; on streets until 5 years old – having to steal to eat and insure a place in _____ ‘s mob; very confused when Patricia takes him off street, has him bathed (within an inch of his life), and taken to her mansion. He is waiting for the other shoe to drop. He finally wanders to an upstairs room with a curtained window seat – he sits there quietly; 4 year old isabelle finds him, can ‘see’ his pain, and touches him (in spite of his mean/standoffish words) to take away his pain; they grow up together, though his adopted father doesn’t understand his ambition and wants him simply to follow in his footsteps and be a butler, a servant; at 16 and 17 he and isabelle spend a summer on the window seat learning the physical side of love – until caught, and Samuel sent away; he is blackmailed to become a Chosen One, and he and Isabelle have been doing their best to keep out of each other’s way; he knows he is not worthy of her goodness;Charisma Fangorn: gift of hearing the earth songs in crystals and stones; her insights come into play a few times as they are battling evil;Aleksandr Wilder: college student; no mark, no gift, a loving family; family were, who broke deal with the devil to no longer shift but to no longer do evil; he is in love with Iskra – pretty sure his love is of the Others;John Powell: leader/strong;Irving Shea: 90+ retired director of Gypsy Travel Agency; sacrificed himself in effort to counter the errors of money schemes he implemented in his time, and to lessen power of Others; didn’t die, but slow recovery; Martha and McKenna – supporting the Chosen Ones (housekeeper & butler):Osgood: mastermind in destruction of the Gypsy Travel Agency and builder of Other’s building on same site – with some strange murals and rooms;Dina: Other; Irvings true love; connection to Samuel (mother?) – can mind speak, but with Samuel she can hear him – deeper relationship, or is her gift enhanced because of Irving?; after Irving well enough to go home, she takes off, not wanting them to get into the fallout of her leave from the Others – she’ll be back I’m sure;Summary:Begins with Samuel going to Swiss bank to have Gypsy Travel Agency money transferred to account John Powell can access. They don’t have required signatures (agency and people blown up); Samuel uses mind control – with Dina’s help – both as go between Samuel and Chosen, but also so that he can mind control the bank president (unsuccessful at first, but when linked with Dina, and touches president, the president does as told. Finds out about a security box, but cannot open because needs key… mystery for another book.Then he goes to Isabelle and Patricia’s charity dinner at Patricia’s Swisshome, where Samuel overhears about the ambassador’s son who was kidnapped; he gets Isabelle, they go to the rescue, and find a boy ravished with some terminal illness (isabelle can’t cure him) who has been roughed up (she can heal superficial wounds – and makes some more serious repairs – just not recovery); the boy is smart, is talented (can make his memories into hologram to be viewed by all), and had taken the guard’s gun when and shot the guard already; After returning son, ambassador promises any future aid… and Samuel and Isabelle are on way back to mom’s when Samuel gets a feeling (tree blocking them on road) goes back, to abandoned castle/resort when hear blasts that set off an avalanche… they make it inside, and downstairs. They are in the rescuers locker room, so though freezing, they have equipment – tent, sleeping bags, jackets, lamps, energy food, some water, etc. They spend 4 days/nights buoying up one another with lame jokes especially around movie titles, trying to dig a way out, finally trying dynamite.. Especially Samuel is aware that this is his chance to prove to her how he feels for her (and we get flashbacks to their earlier relationship), and they finally make love; after dynamite, they expect to die, confess an undying love, have passionate, uninhibited sex, and are surprised to wake up… air coming from dungeon below… and a tunnel leading out that only Isabelle can crawl through.. And Isabelle panics, and leaves back to New York without talking to him; the plane she is supposed to take explodes; once both are back home (and Samuel seems to have her mom’s understanding if not blessing), their words say it was the circumstance, but their actions are the opposite – touching, hand holding, sex in closets, while denying deep feelings.Isabelle has another attack, this time Samuel catches one… and we find out that the Others accepted a contract to kill her, and they will not stop until she is dead… another battle, isabelle is mortally wounded; Samuel catches her, holds her, realizes the full depth of his love… he tries to ‘send’ back to her the piece of herself she gave him when she healed him, and she has one heart beat… and he takes her out to the balcony, and using his mind speak ability (new) he calls out worldwide to anyone she had healed, telling them she needed them to give back… and her mother, the little boy, one of the Chosen, etc ‘hear’ him, and step outside and send it back to her… saving her life.So Samuel comes up with a plan… the Chosen need to confront Osgood in his lair – get him to acknowledge that Isabelle died, so his contract is fulfilled – they all go… Samuel and Isabelle taken to his office.. Osgood sees Samuel’s vulnerability to power, and offers him a place in the Other’s organization – and Samuel is tempted (this is what he most fears)… but when Isabelle places her hand in his, he realizes he can only go where his heart is – with her… he faced his greatest fear/temptation and won… Osgood reluctantly agrees contract is fulfilled… while there, Sam and Isabelle taken down hall of tortured souls, and the rest are getting the story of the murals in the lobby… including that Lucifer lost 2 wing feathers… one is in the foundation of this building… but the other (that the prophecy seems to be talking about) is in the safe deposit box in Switzerland… hmmmmAnd Samuel
What do You think about Chains Of Fire (2010)?
Ongoing series of books by Dodd. Awesome as usual.
—franny
