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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark, compelling paranormal romance, November 4, 2008
This review is from: Red (Dead World, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
When a grisly murder occurs in her jurisdiction, Gina "Red" Santiago is determined to ferret out the killer. Only one problem - the powers that be deemed it an attack by an animal and closed the case. If Gina wants justice for the victim, she must work outside the system. The best place to do that? The fringe town where one hunky Morgan Hunter happens to be sheriff. The lawman does things to her long-dormant libido that she doesn't quite understand, but cannot deny. Good news? Morgan has equal difficulty resisting Gina... Meanwhile, the killer strikes in Morgan's town under their noses. Worse, the villain makes it clear he has targeted Gina next. I first discovered Jordan Summers' talent through eBook publisher Ellora's Cave. When the request to review her upcoming Tor Paranormal Romance book came to me, I jumped at the chance, having loved the stories I've previously read by this author. I wasn't disappointed. RED is a fantastic paranormal romance that is all at once dark, hopeful, and sexy. Our kick-butt heroine has no trouble protecting herself, putting her on a more than equal footing with the hero. The result is a stimulating courtship in which Morgan finds himself constantly challenged by Gina, who easily keeps him on his toes. Of course, Morgan is no slouch either. The reigning Alpha of the region, Morgan takes his role as leader of his pack of shape shifters very seriously. He is the epitome of a good Alpha shape shifter - sexy, tough, noble, and empathetic. He may not be perfect, but that just makes him more realistic. There is no doubt, however, that he is the perfect mate for Gina. Watching him convince her of that is only half the fun... I mentioned earlier the story is dark, and I want to stress that there are indeed some very dark passages in the story. We are reading about a serial killer, after all. The parts of the story told from the murderer's perspective are written in first person point of view, putting you inside his head, showing the reader in no uncertain terms how demented the villain is. I also need to point out for the squeamish that these scenes do include some sexual contact while in shape shifted form while the killer is attacking his victims. There is NO intercourse in these scenes, however, simply some contact designed to demonstrate the twisted way this man views his victims. He believes they are in love, but ultimately his lust always turns into blood lust rather than the sexual kind, leaving a trail brutalized of bodies in his wake. These scenes will make the reader very appropriately uncomfortable, but they definitely add to the story. And really, should anyone BE comfortable while reading a murder scene? In RED, Jordan Summers gives her readers an intense story with compelling characters who effortlessly endear themselves to the reader from page one. With a suspenseful plot as important to the story as the romance, the author has crafted a complex story that is easy to love. **Courtesy of Wild on Books**
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Red by Jordan Summers, June 22, 2009
This review is from: Red (Dead World, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
"Red" is the beginning of a mainstream, paranormal/urban fantasy series by Jordan Summers who has also written for Ellora's Cave and Harlequin Blaze so I knew to expect a pretty spicy read...and I got it! But paranormal fans should be warned that this series is a bit dark and broody and takes place in a future version of the United States. Gina is a cop on the International Police Tactical Team (IPTT). She lives in a Northern America ravaged by wars and now divided into strictly controlled territories. Each 'citizen' must be tagged. No tag, no citizenship and no services. For years, rumors of Others have abounded--warriors created in government labs and then destroyed when they became more than their creators intended. Of course, these are just stories told to children and not reality. And even if they HAD existed, they don't anymore...right? Morgan Hunter is the sheriff of a sleepy border town in the Arizona Territory. He's actually more like the big, bad wolf sheriff since most folks in his town belong to his pack. He prefers quiet without visitors and no single females can enter any pack territory unless they are 'claimed' within three days...too many fights among unmated males. So when Gina shows up to investigate a suspicious death with possible ties to his town, Morgan knows she'll make some noise in his quiet town. But it only takes a sniff for him to realize something Gina herself doesn't know. And now the two will need to work together to bring down a crazed murderer who truly 'hunts' his prey. The beginning of the book really grabbed me as the story begins inside the head of the killer. His thought processes and enjoyment of his 'fun' is pretty darn creepy. Summers slowly builds her characters and their motivations through first person POV. Early on each chapter change results in a character change and these gradually come quicker and quicker as the plot and action build. The attraction between the main characters is pretty hot and Summers' experience writing erotic love scenes shines through. The first person POV didn't give me any problems at first, but as the story continued and the action built I began to feel 'distanced' from each character. I'm not sure if it was the quick changes in scene and character or something else, but it became a struggle to feel any connection to the hero or heroine. The hero is very much the Alpha wolf whose character became harder as the story progressed. And the heroine made some pretty stupid moves for an experienced cop. Then Summers began to weave the 'bad, power-hungry politician' part in and it felt a bit jarring to me. Finally, the identity of the bad guy was almost written in neon fairly early on (at least for me). That made the mystery portion of the story rather a bust. I'll still probably read Jordan Summers next book in the series, "Scarlet", to see where this is going, but "Red" isn't one for my keeper shelf.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual to see this kind of world-building in a PNR - excellent possibilities here, May 4, 2009
This review is from: Red (Dead World, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Plot Summary: Approximately 150 years into the future, we see an Earth that has been battered and destroyed by man. The ozone is fried, radiation levels are high, and the dead are recycled into fertilizer for plant food. Red is an agent with the International Police Tactical Team, basically the last body on earth with enough fire-power to maintain the peace. When Red finds a woman's body, horribly eaten and savaged, her search for the killer leads to a small border town where Morgan Hunter presides as Sheriff. The small town is surprisingly friendly, and soon Red realizes that everyone but her is in on some kind of conspiracy. I found this to be highly engaging despite a few minor flaws. First, I loved the post-apocalyptic world that Summers has built here, and the story is set just far enough into the future to make it believable. Wars and waste have decimated Earth's atmosphere, so that formerly verdant areas are now desolate deserts. The technologies that keep humans alive are inventive and realistic, and I gobbled up these details like potato chips. The killer is particularly creepy, and the reader is privy to his thoughts as the story progresses, which gave me ring-side seats to his gory murders. As a plot device, it works very well, and the story feels mature and gritty as a result. Unfortunately, it becomes abundantly obvious who the bad guy is before we're barely halfway through, and I wish Summers could have kept me in the dark a little longer. Red definitely fits the loner, outcast, more-than-she-seems heroine mold, but Summers needs to give her an even bigger pair of balls. I could stand to see a lot more attitude from someone whose nickname comes from all the blood she's spilled. I liked Morgan's character a lot, and he was rugged, tough, and alpha without crossing that line that makes me cringe. The sex was spicy and the interactions between the hero and heroine were charged with tension. Fortunately, we get to see these characters again, because the next book, "Scarlet," (June 09) is going to pick right up where "Red" left off. It's a good thing too, because I was scratching my head over a few unresolved loose ends.
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