SCARLET (Dead World, Book 2)

Scarlet(Mass Market Paperback) by Jordan Summers Release Date: June 1, 2009 ISBN: 978-0765359155 Thrust into a world full of creatures she never dreamed existed, Gina 'Red Santiago is coming to grips with the fact that shes a werewolf while adjusting to her new life in the small town of Nuria. The transition isn't easy, especially since her boyfriend, alpha werewolf Morgan Hunter, is called away on an important mission. Unfortunately, someone doesn't want Red to get too comfortable with her new life - someone who will resort to anything, including murder, to run her out of town. Alone among hostile strangers, Red must fight to prove her innocence, to catch a ruthless murderer, and to preserve her relationship with an increasingly distant Morgan.

“SCARLET” Book Two in Jordan Summers’ Dead World Trilogy picks up a few weeks after “RED” with Gina “Red” Santiago attempting to shift into her wolf form out in the desert and failing miserably. She is frustrated and worried that if she doesn’t have a controlled shift soon it could mean the end of her and Alpha Werewolf/boyfriend, Morgan’s relationship and possibly the end of her life by Morgan’s hand (who tells her “Failure isn’t an option”). An uncontrolled Werewolf is too dangerous to have around. Red knows this and the town of Nuria knows this and is watching her closely.

When Morgan sees an announcement that a cloning company has developed an inoculation that repairs damaged and  abnormal cells Red has hope that there is a cure for their Werewolf-ism. Morgan is not so sure. The company also announces that they have perfected cloning and are selling clones as a wife, prostitute, child or slave labour, with the models are Morgan’s dead wife and child.

This is where the plot splits into two subplots – Morgan going off on his own to destroy the cloning lab and cells of his dead family; Red left to her own defences and an open target for her nemesis Roark, a whacked, politician who wants to destroy her by manipulating the town to turn against her.

As soon as Morgan is gone, the bodies start piling up in Nuria and all fingers point to Red. With the town turned against her and her lover gone on an impossible quest, Red finds herself turning to Raphael, a vampire that temps her as often as he helps her.

Although this book was not as superior as “RED”, it still was a great read. I’ve seen some bad reviews but I have to disagree with them. I enjoyed the story and I still love these characters and the world they inhabit. Gina “Red” Santiago showed more of her vulnerability in this book. She was more self-conscious and fearful than she had been in RED but she also was more under the microscope in this book and treated like a bug to be squashed by the town. It was interesting how fast they all turned on her, esp. Maggie (what a bitch!), as soon as Morgan was gone. They scrutinized her every move and were easily manipulated into believing that Red was a killer, not a victim.

While Red is dealing with the town folk, the mystery of what is really happening around her, her inability to shift and the fact she is desperately missing Morgan, she also is putting together a Tactical Team to defend the town against Roark. It is no wonder with all this on her plate that she sometimes comes across as weak in the story.

Because this is a Trilogy, I consider “SCARLET” to be a bridge between “RED” and the final book “CRIMSON”, where Red and Morgan are on their own in the wasteland.

My recommendation: If you loved “RED” then keep reading, you’ll like SCARLET”. I think it is a needed story to get you through to “CRIMSON”. “SCARLET” gets a thumbs up from me.

SCARLET is the second book in the Dead World Trilogy.

 mirrored at Lucid Book Reviews

Book Three, CRIMSON is scheduled for release on November 1, 2009.

Contest for City of Souls

Over at  Jeaniene Frost's blog she is offering a signed ARC copy of City of Souls by Vicki Pettersson from the Sign of the Zodiac series. The contest is open until May 22 and the book's release date is June 30.

Also add to your calander's for July 28, 2009

Destined For An Early Grave

Book Four in the Night Huntress Series

Cover Art for Barb Hendee's

"Hunting Memories", due for release October 6, 2009, is the second book in the "Vampire Memories" urban fantasy series by author Barb Hendee. The third book from the same series is called  "Memories of Envy" and  is due fall 2010.

Synopsis for Hunting Memories:

When she read those words, Eleisha Clevon knew she had to respond to Rose de Spenser’s letter and connect with another vampire. Both reluctant predators, they venture outside only when the hunger becomes unbearable, try not to draw attention to themselves—and feel guilty when ending human lives.

    But Eleisha has learned a way to draw blood from her victims without killing them. She wants to share this knowledge with like-minded vampires and create a haven where they can exist together—and forge a united front against Julian Ashton, a vampire who has been hunting down and destroying his own kind for the last century.

    To win Rose to her cause, Eleisha must risk meeting her face-to-face, knowing full well she might be an agent of Julian’s—but never expecting the revelations Rose has to share about Eleisha’s own vampire origins…

Book one of the seris, Blood Memories,  was released fall 2008

  Synopsis for Blood Memories: 

Eleisha Clevon has the face of a teen angel, but she is no angel. Unlike most vampires, she doesn't like to kill, but
self-preservation comes first.

When an old friend destroys himself by walking into sunlight right in front of her, Eleisha is shocked. And what she finds afterward points to how very sick of his existence he had become — piling drained corpses in the basement and keeping records of other vampires' real names and addresses.

Because now, there are policemen on the case: two very special humans with some gifts of their own. They know who Eleisha is, and, even more dangerous, what she is.

Visit the author website:  http://www.barbhendee.com

Little RED Riding Hood grows up

Red (Mass Market Paperback) by Jordan Summers Release Date: Nov 4 2008 ISBN: 978-0765359148 Gina Santiago is a member of an elite tactical team in charge of protecting the world. She’s devoted her life to apprehending the most heinous criminals that prey on society—and now she’s after the worst one yet. On her own, with no backup, the trail takes her to a dusty, tight-knit town on the fringes of society, where everyone’s a suspect. Even the sexy sheriff, Morgan Hunter, isn’t telling her everything. Gina knows he’s trouble, but she’s inexorably drawn to him. The closer Gina comes to finding out the secret of this sleepy little town and its big bad sheriff; the closer she comes to catching the predator, the more scared she gets—because she’s beginning to realize that she has a secret too. A secret that will change Gina’s life… and make her the killer’s prey.

I like the cover of this book.  It grabbed my eye when I saw it on a website. 
What does the cover tell us?  A tough woman dressed in black with a gun and some cool boots;  a wolf howling on an open plain; a bare-chested, muscular guy in the silhouette of a moon.  The word Red splash across the page like blood splatter. The wolf and the hunky guy scream "Werewolf" and the woman's stance indicates a strong protagonist.

I liked this book with the opening line of the story: "Not many people can handle the pain of being ripped apart, of having your limbs twisted and morphed until you are convinced your mind will shatter into a thousand tiny shards. "
 

RED is a Science Fiction, Action Adventure, Paranormal Romance.  It's got a little of everything. 

Author Jordan Summers introduces us to Gina Santiago, A.K.A. Red, a highly trained member of  the International Police Tactical Team (IPTT) where she wakes up in bed  wearing her mud covered combat boots, tatter, blood splattered T-Shirt and mysterious scratches and cuts covering her flesh.   And this is Chapter Two after we spend Chapter One in the mind of a psychopathic killer as he hunts and kills a young woman.   This is a reader catching start.

The story takes place in a post apocalyptic world, where there is no United States, instead there are Republics fenced in against no man’s land where Unknowns and the fable Others reign.  The citizens of the Republics are all micro-chipped to identify the republic they belong to and the Unknowns are hunted down by the IPTT as hostiles.  The Others are unconfirmed former genetically altered soldiers that most believe do not exist.

Red is considered an outsider by the other members of her team.  In fact her whole life she has felt as if she were an outsider.  Raised by her Grandfather, who is also her boss, she has heightened senses that her Team leader, Bannon, dismisses.  In fact Bannon thinks she is just plain nuts and gives her a hard time and degrades her at every turn.  Finding the mutilated body of a young woman, who Red believes was murdered - a theory that her Tactical Team members do not prescribe to - Red sets out on her own to find the killer and get justice for this woman and her family.  

This takes her to a small bordertown called Nuria where she meets a handsome, former soldier, Morgan Hunter, now the town sheriff.  There is an instant attraction and sexual tension between the two characters but thankfully they don’t jump into bed from the start.  Author Jordan Summers arcs the romance between Red and Morgan throughout the story with conflict and deception.   Morgan even takes in a little voyeurism of Red while she is having a private moment Where she ends up crying out his name. *ahem*

It is clear that Morgan wants Red to be his mate.  Morgan is the town alpha but he knows that he must wait for Red to decided to want him.  He knows her even if she doesn’t know herself.  Red is confused by her attraction to him and her feelings that seem to come from someplace inside her that she has never touched upon before. 

When they do get together – graphic fireworks! *wheeee*

There are ensuing chapters, from the killer’s point of view as he hunts and kills and then gets fixated on Red, that keep the story from becoming just another paranormal romance. 

Morgan wanting to protect Red but needing to protect his town, works behind her back  to try and  discover the killer’s identity before she does.  Red’s confusion and mistrust sends her running from Morgan, just as her need to find this killer pulls her back.  Summers cleverly intertwines the children’ s Little Red Riding Hood fable into the storyline in a way that adds flavor to the plot.

Secondary characters that add to the story are a corrupt politician who has his own dangerous, hidden agenda that could adversely affect Nuria  and its citizens.  And the mysterious Raphael Vega who adds an interesting twist to the story.  He is sure to be in the follow up books of this series. And we can’t forget Rita, the navcom, mobile A.I. unit, Red wears on her wrist.  Rita adds humorous dialogue that embarrasses Red more than once.

I figured out who the serial killer was before it was revealed and most readers will but the ride to get there is a entertaining trip.  This book offers great characters, a great story and a really fun read. 

 RED is the first book in the Dead World Trilogy. 

 mirrored at Lucid Book Reviews

Book Two, SCARLET is scheduled for release on June 1, 2009.

Book Three, CRIMSON is scheduled for release on November 1, 2009.  *actual cover TBR

Does the attractive book cover attract the reader?

Well it doesn’t hurt.  

Our society that has become dependent on visual stimulation, from television to movies to the internet and video games.  it has become harder and harder to hold onto the person’s attention for more than a few moments.   How do you get people to read when they have such short attention spans?  Well first you have to grab their attention. A good book cover is a good start.

This is something that publishers finally seem to understand. 

Take, for example Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson Series - the quality of the book covers has improved with each book:

        

Or even better example is Barb and  JC Hendee's Noble Dead Series (the Dhampir cover almost turned me off from starting the series):

 I admit I have to be visually stimulated in order to pick up a book and read the cover jacket.  If the cover doesn’t catch my eye, I just gaze over it and move on.   Not fair to the author’s but there is so much to choose from and so little money to spend on the luxury that I am going to go for the book that grabs my attention first. 

And you better hope that the story lives up to the cover.   If it does, then the book becomes about the author and then about their other works.  If it doesn’t , then the book becomes just another pretty picture and the word gets around that the story did not live up to what was expected and book will disappear into the bargain bins.  People do read the reader reviews posted at Amazon and B&N and Chapters, blogs, forums, etc.  With the price of books as they are you would be a fool not to, especially when it comes to new authors.

This is not to say that you shouldn't take chances from time and time with your book buying.  Sometimes it pays off and you find a new author that just rocks your reading world.

* although with the above example (Noble Dead Series) it is fair to say that the improved covers were in hard cover.