KYLIE CAIN

Kylie Cain is an agent with the PSI.

That acronym stands for Psychic Sensory Intelligence and represents a little known black ops branch of the American Intelligence community, connected to the CIA, which uses extrasensory abilities in the defense of the security of the country. It works to both gather intel on what other nations and groups are up to as well as fight to stop them from learning about America's plans.

Cain is an audial telepath - a person who can hear conversations miles away. That qualifies her for membership in this group of psychics and provides a powerful weapon to be used on her assignments. That alone, though, is not enough to be an agent since that gift cannot stop fists and knives and bullets from inflicting deadly damage while on a mission. As a result, this beautiful young woman has had the same training every other CIA field operative would have and has proven herself capable of survival in the non-psychic world as well.

Having been an agent for some time, Cain has learned who to trust and who not to, and the former list is a whole lot shorter than the latter. For that reason, she has created numerous bolt holes around the world in case things go badly, including a very nice home in the Maldives she is certain no one else knows about. She has bank accounts in numerous spots as well to have ready cash if disappearing becomes necessary. One problem with such precautions, she knows, is that keeping secrets in an agency of psychics is really tough to do. But having these safeguards is vital because with these powers comes terrible temptations to take advantage of them and a friend today could be an adversary tomorrow. Not to mention a whole lot of people without these powers who are extremely untrusting and nervous about those that do.

Which for Cain means having some folks she trusts and quite a few she does not and who do not particularly trust her.

I really like a spy series with a twist and this twist is fascinating in that it adds the element of the paranormal to the mix. But it does so in a way that is not mystical or supernatural, i.e., spooky-ish, but as additional abilities some rare people have which are found to be highly useful as well as highly dangerous and a lot of people do not trust those with them.

Add in the fact that the writing of this series is fast and fun. Not fun as in funny like in ha-ha or cutesy. Fun as in the characters are interesting to follow and the plots are well developed and the dialogue sounds right. This would have made a good television series as long as the makers didn't go all dark and gloomy and scary.

Case in point as to why I liked the series from the beginning: opening scene with Kylie Cain has her cornered in a hotel room by a bad man she was trying to bring down, clad through circumstances in just bra and panties awaiting her team to come through the doors but they haven't yet and he is getting nasty thoughts and she is forced to improvise and ends up shoving a sharp object into his very sensitive area and then the doors crash open. Now she is in a hotel room with several fellow agents, all male, miffed as heck as their delay and suddenly realizing how she is dressed which just makes her even more miffed.

So you take that kind of scene, quite entertaining, throw in psychic abilities and dangers, and you have the Kylie Cain series. I liked it.