While people on Earth breathe easier knowing that the worst prisoners are off-planet, teams of advanced psychologists known as Teachers treat the captive patients by forcing them to confront their fears in controlled settings.

Previous Jaguar Addams adventures have used space as a way of isolating the cast by emphasizing their distance from Earth. Now, however, Chepaitis turns that idea around by separating Jaguar from her friends and co-workers, cranking up the suspense level.

As Jaguar's boss, Supervisor Alex Dzarny, struggles with his powerlessness watching her being sent away, he discovers that her appointment has been manipulated by someone higher up in the system.

Who sent her there? Why? And to what extent is the military involved?

Chepaitis creates a suspenseful read -- unlike previous novels in the series, Learning Fear avoids revealing the identities of its adversaries early. While the reader knows about certain threats, the primary antagonist remains in the shadows until the book's final chapters.

While Alex worries, more than half of the book focuses on Jaguar's new work teaching in a university in upstate New York.

This means we don't see much of the usual supporting characters. While administrative assistant/computer researcher Rachel and planetoid governor Paul Dinardo make appearances, the main supporting cast here is drawn from Jaguar's new university environment.

These academic characters are well-developed and likeable. We meet chauvinistic dean Ethan Davis, Professor Emily Rainier, who sets herself up as Jaguar's rival for Ethan's attentions, and Professor Leonard Peltier, a futuristic descendant of the jailed American Indian Movement leader of the same name.

Jaguar's students are also a compelling bunch, and their interest in her empathic powers -- which she uses in her psychological work -- drives an important part of the plot.

In Chepaitis' world, the "Empathic Arts" are little-understood and much-feared among the general population. The military also wants to harness these powers for their own purposes.

At least one of the hidden agendas behind Jaguar's new assignment seems involve improving people's understanding about empaths. Elsewhere on campus, the first History of Empathic Arts course is being taught, making the issue a very public one.

Chepaitis's depiction of empaths resonates with discrimination against sexual and religious minorities, and Jaguar eventually addresses the issue openly by teaching her students to tolerate empaths and, by extension, other persecuted groups.

This novel also marks a turning point in the relationship between Jaguar and Alex. The two have always shared a close professional relationship as supervisor and Teacher in the Planetoid System and as fellow empaths in a largely hostile culture.

Now, however, the distance imposed by Jaguar's assignment to Earth forces Alex to confront his own fears about romantic involvement. By the end of Learning Fear, circumstances force him to make a important choice about the relationship which will impact future novels in the series.

Fans will welcome this development, which has been building across the previous two novels. What remains to be seen is how Chepaitis will use this new side of their relationship in future work.