From afar, Sheriff Jackson Deveau has always loved Elle Drake, the youngest telepath of seven sisters. After a long time away she’s finally returning home to the small coastal village of Sea Haven. But someone has been following Elle, someone who doesn’t want her to make it back. And when Elle fails to arrive, her disappearance strikes fear in the hearts of everyone who loves her. Now it’s left to Jackson to uncover the mystery of Elle’s vanishing, and rescue her from an unseen danger. But Sea Haven is no longer safe for anyone, and it’ll take the powers of all the Drake sisters and their men to survive the coming storm.
Sparrowgal's rating - 8/10
Sparrowgal's thoughts - Spoiler Alert
The final book in the Drake Sister series, I would have to say that it was a very controversial book. There were some shocking moments of cruelty which a lot of readers were saying was unnecessary to the book but I think it added a lot of depth and understanding to the horrifying psyche of torture that people endure. I suppose that it had ever occurred to me how sexual torture would work and the psychology behind it, but after reading this, I did.
It wasn't a large part of the book though. Elle, the youngest and most powerful of the Drake sisters, the sister destined to pass on the Drake legacy to her seven children was working undercover trying to crack a human trafficking ring, and instead is captured and tortured by a rich mandate who also has his own psychic gifts. People found it a bit implausible that someone of Elle's power could be so easily subdued but you could see that it was her overconfidence in her abilities that led to her capture, because once her powers were subdued, she was helpless as any other prisoner.
Jackson was tortured once, horribly so, and it was Elle who got him to live through those awful days when he wanted to die. Now that the same has happened to her, it is only natural that the only person who would understand is Jackson. In a previous Feehan novel (from the Ghostwalkers series - Deadly Game) the hero was also tortured horribly but the reality of it seems so much more clear here in Hidden Currents.
Elle's emotional recovery through love was surprisingly fast, and a lot of criticism from other readers was over how quickly she overcame her fear of intimacy with Jackson. However, with pyschic connections perhaps the healing is much faster because barriers were open and communication was frank and she could see how much Jackson loved her and wasn't pushing her into anything intimate, yet letting her come into it all on her own.
As with all Feehan's novels the sex scenes are frequent and steamy, but I think the lower rating I've given this book came from the ease at which she defeated her enemy, given the huge power he had over her. It seemed very tidy and easy, and I think perhaps more climax to the final battle would have made this a better book overall.
Elle and Jackson are a well suited couple, and they compliment one anther seamlessly. That might be because we see them interacting in all the previous books and so we have come to know their characters a lot better.
Despite the 8/10 score I would still score this as one of my favourites in the Drake series.
