Slade Hunter is the head security enforcer of the E-Zone on the planet Adaven, although there is very little to "enforce" besides the trafficking of illegal substances since it is the vacation place people come to let loose, and just about anything goes. However, he is tortured with guilt by the death of his young partner who was shot because of a drug related situation he feels he should have handled himself, rather then sending the rookie to do it. The boy's mourning sister, Symone Cutcheon, happens to agree with this assessment and is out for blood-both that of Slade and the one who pulled the trigger.

Her need for vengeance is sidetracked by the passion which quickly flares to life between them, and her equally rapid conviction that Slade could not be responsible for her brother's death. In the search for his killer, Symone and Slade get caught in the cross fire of a murderous group of drug peddlers, and an attempt is made to blow them up with a hand-delivered bomb. It becomes increasingly clear that it was supposed to have been Slade who as set up and killed not her brother, and then things get truly ugly when it turns out that one of Slade's own men is the master mind behind the attacks.

As is her style, Ruth D. Kerce's Sins of Adaven is a fast paced erotic thrill ride. Slade is very much the tortured badass hero, and Symone is the classic kick-ass heroine, who occasionally shows more guts than smarts. However, she is in no way stupid, and does not take risk-taking chances once she recognizes the reality of the threat to their lives. Slade in turn does not play the macho man intent on proving himself at any cost. The heat generated between the two (and Symone's true to life sex bot!) is only increased by their location on a planet where no sex act is a sin, and Slade has been a resident long enough to have seen it all. Her willingness to push sexual boundaries is part of her attraction for him, but it is her courage and his strength of character that binds them together in the end. Five Angels

Reviewed by: Lynn