Jordan Summers (1)

Needless to say spoilers abound in Scarlet for Red.

Have I mentioned how much I love the covers? No? Let me digress into that for a moment. We got to see Gina/Red on the cover of Red and we got to see the deliciousness that is meant to be Morgan's naked chest as well. On Scarlet we get more Gina/Red looking badass in black and red leather plus Morgan looking badass with injuries, a fierce look on his face and unfortunately completely covered. The third book, Crimson (due out in November), promises to have a beautiful cover as well. I'd be down for prints of those covers if I thought I could get some.

Back to business. We left Gina and Morgan ready to embark on their new relationship after the threat of Morgan's cousin Kane was eliminated, Gina stepped down from IPTT to find out more about her Other self (her werewolf side) with Morgan in Nuria and Roark Mongomery is three fingers down and swearing revenge left, right and center at Gina and Morgan.

Montgomery is like those classic villians who are willing to threaten anything and everything to get what they want. He doesn't scruple to abuse his power (discreetly) or drug people into compliance or blackmail people into compliance...hell he doesn't even scruple to have them tortured and killed if it suits his goals better. The man has no 'this is going to far' switch at all. The only thing that keeps him in check is making sure things stay as secretive and far removed from him as possible. The only moves he wants made are the ones that can be used to deceive the public into doing what he wants. Quite frankly I can't stand the man at all, but I appreciate the unrepentant evil that he represents. The future is bleak, barren and little better then desert tribes for the most part--that sort of atmosphere deserves a man who will do whatever it takes to grab power.

It also deserves a hero and heroine who will do whatever it takes to make it better and Gina and Morgan fit that bill mostly. They are both preoccupied with personal problems throughout the book--Morgan with his dead wife and kid being cloned and Red with her feelings of uncertainty and uselessness. Red's head is definitely more in the game then Morgan's is for this volume. Morgan runs headlong into what anyone with half a brain would recognize as a trap. That left Gina alone in Nuria, with half the town convinced she had purposely gotten rid of Morgan, the other half convinced that she was dangerous because she couldn't control her werewolf side and all of the town convinced she was sleeping around.

The Nurians surprised me the most I think in this book, but then again Morgan is their Alpha. He is the one who kept them in line with just a hitch of his shoulders. The rumblings from last book of wanting to replace him I think never completely went away and with him running off without a word to anyone but Gina, it must have made folks very worried. Scared too. Add to it the frame job that made Gina look like a murdering slut...well...

I bought this book and read it within the same 10 hour window. I am eternally grateful that I have Crimson from BEA to read next because I'm not sure I could wait until November. The end makes for some interesting dynamic shifts and power struggles, not to mention personal developments I am intensely interested in.… (meer)

Red starts out a little bit gruesomely--the first chapter is told from the killer's POV as he stalks and ultimately rips a woman apart in a deluded belief that she is his 'One', his 'mate'. The fact that she tears apart so easily and dies fazes him only slightly, he just figures there is someone better out there after all.

The book alternates like that--we have a mostly third person POV (either from Morgan or Gina's perspective), but occasional chapters are from the killer's first person POV, especially as we get closer to learning the truth of who he is exactly. I liked that--it gave us a sense of who, or rather what, we were dealing with and later when its revealed who it is, helps to round out the character development so as not to seem like it came out of left field.

Overall I had few problems with the book--it did get a little redundant with both Morgan and Gina constantly thinking about how much they wanted to have sex with the other and the list of reasons why they shouldn't or should wait. It didn't help that Gina was largely clueless about herself and her true nature while Morgan (and the entire rest of the town) was not. While Gina was being Gina, Morgan (and the other Others, or paranormals, in town) saw the subtle meaning behind certain gestures she made. Baring her neck to him, backing down in a fight, fierce protectiveness. It made for some interesting reading.

Guessing who the killer is should either be really simple and a 'I knew I was right' moment or a confusing 'really? but I thought...?' moment. I had a little of both. I guessed correctly, but was left confused as to the killer's ability to remain so...not crazed. Reading the killer's POV chapters should make you think this guy was off his rocker and should be caught sooner rather then later, but not so much. Gina is the catalyst in so many ways and for so many plans and people.

My one true gripe with the book is near the end when Gina goes to talk to her grandfather about a sensitive matter. I didn't recognize her at all. The strong, independent, fierce and capable chick was suddenly replaced with a juvenile trying to deny that she had been caught cheating on a test. If I could have slapped her, I would have. Hard. Then run far far away when she pulled a gun or knife on me. I realize that her world was shattering in a matter of moments, but it seemed too overdone to me.

… (meer)