Mindhealer [Paperback]

Mindhealer takes Saintcrow's Watcher series in a slightly different direction, but don't fear at the core of the book is still the bonding of the Lightbringer Witch and Watcher pair. Unlike the previous Watcher books, in Mindhealer we are at last are brought into the world of the Lightbringers. In the previous books the four witches and their Watchers stood outside of this society, but here we get a glimpse of the community with both Witches and a garrison of Watchers as it is under attack by the Dark. There also is more of a sense of a larger background plot than the previous books with new and more challenging elements of the Dark for the Watchers to combat.

If you've read the previous books you'll remember that the innately compassionate Witches' souls shine so brightly that they attract evil dark monstrous creatures bent on the Witches' destruction or enslavement. Standing at a Witch's side to keep her safe from the 'Dark' is a Watcher with his vow to 'duty, honor and obedience', equipped to fight the Dark because of his own stained soul and the dark symbiant he carries within himself. The powerful symbiant gives the Watcher strength and healing power, but at a price since the darkness of the symbiant means that the Watcher endures great pain in the presence of the Witch's lightness. But even as he suffers to earn his redemption there is hope for a Watcher, there is the promise that one day he will find the 'one Witch just for him', the one that brings him pleasure instead of pain, the one Witch who will bring him peace.

In Mindhealer witch Caro, who is in denial about her vulnerability to the Dark, has refused to have a Watcher of her own. Her first and only Watcher having sacrificed his life to protect her, she can't stay the thought of endangering another protector. Watcher/Tracker Merrick is walking the edge of Watcher despair, and no longer acts as personal guard to individual Witches instead he patrols the city to keep the Dark at bay. But when Caro stumbles into danger on Merrick's watch, Merrick discovers that Caro is `his Witch' and is released from his other duties to stay at her side and protect her. But keeping Caro safe is going to be no easy job. With new more powerful elements of the Dark targeting Caro's rare mindhealing powers there is more danger for Caro and Caro's own determination to keep Merrick from danger, makes it even more difficult to do his job.

Many of the elements that made the previous books enjoyable are here in Mindhealer, the strong minded heroine and the dark powerful self-sacrificing hero who struggles to accept the 'undeserved' salvation to be gained through the bond with his Witch. This is starting to feel pretty familiar, but I am still not tired of it yet. Like the previous books there is a physical connection between the pair, which doesn't necessarily result in a love scene in all of the previous books, here we did get to see the culmination Watcher/Witch bond but Saintcrow's love scenes are very understated. If you are familiar with Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series, the Witches and Watchers inhabit the same world and if you enjoy Saintcrow's writing you will likely enjoy the Watchers -- they are great dark and tortured warriors -- even though the books in Saintcrow's Watcher series are much more single threaded and shorter than her mainstream novels.

Dark Watcher (The Watcher Series, Book 1)
Storm Watcher (The Watcher Series, Book 2)
Fire Watcher (The Watcher Series, Book 3)
Cloud Watcher (The Watcher Series, Book 4)

Another entertaining dark fantasy series by Saintcrow
The Society (The Society Series, Book 1)
Hunter, Healer (The Society Series)

Saintcrow's dark fantasy mercenary Dante Valentine
Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1)
Dead Man Rising (Dante Valentine, Book 2)
The Devil's Right Hand (Dante Valentine, Book 3)
Saint City Sinners (Dante Valentine, Book 4)
To Hell and Back (Dante Valentine, Book 5)

I really enjoyed the Mindhealer. I wish that this series would continue on and on. I have loved each and every book in this series. I definitely wish that I had a Watcher. My daughter has also read this series and when I asked her what she wanted for graduation she said that she wanted a Watcher. :)

this is a good read even though it is written for YA-13 readers. the story flows well and the action scenes aren't campy.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 9 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars