Scarlet

What an incredible and magical world Jordan Summers has created with this series. Sad to see this all end in this final book of the trilogy. Wonderful conclusion and tie of up characters and story. Fans of Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, and Jes Battis should definitely dive into this.

In a futuristic world Gina/Red is part of a crime tactical team. When she believes and no one else does, that a murder has taken place, she heads to the isolated town of Nuria. As soon as she arrives she knows something isn't right about the town, the sexy sheriff, and even herself.
Not what I was expecting but not in a bad way. Even though I bought the book in the romance section, I thought that being published by TOR it would be more fantasy than romance, it wasn't which for me is good.
I have decided that when (sorry for the spoiler) the guy and the girl in a series end up together in the first book that that is enough for me, no further books required. 103/1000

Since there are some great reviews (see Lokki's) already, I'll keep this short and sweet. I loved, loved this book. I will be back tracking to Red and then on with the third in this series Crimson. Enjoyed the storyline and characters. Well written and very entertaining.

Highly recommended!!!

Jordan's third book in her post apocalyptic science fiction trilogy continues the deadly trek in the world of Gina 'Red' Santiago. This time the journey is into the dead zone of the depleted planet Earth. Gina and her mate, Morgan Hunter, are on the run from the law. Accused of a crime they did not commit, they escape to the outlaw territories to hide while looking for a way to communicate to the world what really happened. The territories are deadly for more than one reason and it's a dog eat dog world where the fight to survive is to the death and betrayal can hide behind every corner.

I believe that this is the conclusion to what is a trilogy (at least I'm not aware of another book coming out in the series) and it does manage to wrap up the overall story in a satisfactory way. While this book definitely had a bit more action going on, in some ways the ending was almost anticlimatic. Things wrapped up too quickly and it felt like one particular story thread that Summers started was more of a false start that never led anywhere. It was more like she started to end the book one way, then changed her mind without cleaning up the loose ends. Despite this, it was an enjoyable read and if you have read the first two, you are going to want to read this last book. If you are new to the series, I would recommend you start at the beginning with Red.

In Scarlet, the second book in Summers' Dead World series, the action follows closely on the heels of where the story left off in Red.

******Spoiler if you haven't read Red*************

Gina "Red" Santiago, who found out she is not a 'pureblood', but part werewolf, is struggling to shift into her wolf form but failing miserably. She is frustrated and worried that if she doesn't have a controlled shift soon it could mean the end of not only her relationship with Alpha Werewolf/boyfriend, Morgan, but possibly the end of her life because 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 is selling clones of his dead wife and child he sets out on his own to destroy the cloning lab and the cells of his dead family. With Morgan gone Red is left on own in a town less than happy to have her around. It doesn't help that her nemesis Roark, a whacked politician who wants to destroy her, is manipulating the town to turn against her.

Although this book was not as good as "Red", it still was an entertaining read and a solid addition to the series. As the second book in a trilogy, Scarlet serves as the bridge between the first book and the finale, the recently released Crimson. Because of this, there's not as much action, nor is there any definitive end, instead it sets things up for what I hope with be a gripping conclusion.

I'm not really a fan of the futuristic genre. Authors often get bogged down with describing the technology without sounding either too vague or too specific. J Summers does a pretty good job of making me forget about that in her story. Maybe I'll feel differently when I read it again in a few years, but for now this book hits just the right balance. The combining of the futuristic with the paranormal (vampires/werewolves) was very well done. I was afraid when I started this book that I would feel like the author was being opportunistic: futuristic + romance + urban fantasy + mystery = more readers! But it worked.

I liked the main characters Gina and Morgan fairly well (liked, not LOVED. That's why it's 4 stars, not 5). I thought they had a nice relationship arc, even though it was pretty much solely based on chemistry. Others reviewers have complained that all they really have is the physical and therefore - unsatisfying. I don't agree. I thought they were pretty hot and that RED sets them up for the next book, SCARLET. How many books have I read where the hero and heroine meet and a week later they're madly in love, married with a baby on the way? Bleah. Now THAT'S fantasy.

Red is a hard book to categorize. Is it Sci-fi because it is set in a futuristic, post-apoctalyptic society? Or, is it an Urban Fantasy because it has werewolves and vampires? It could be classified as a Romance but despite the steamy sex, it really doesn't have any romance in it, more like mutual lust. It's a Mystery Thriller, although if you haven't figured out the mystery by the middle of the book, you had better go back to reading Nancy Drew. Whatever you call it, Red is an intense, dark, gritty and very entertaining read.

Gina Santiago, or "Red"- because of all the blood she spills-is a member of the International Police Tactical Team. IPTT is an elite law enforcement group designed to maintain order within and between the various Republics that make up this futuristic world. While on a patrol mission that goes awry, Gina literally sniffs out the dead body of a severely mutilated woman. All signs point to it being a wild animal attack, but Gina has a feeling that there's something more going on. When her pig-headed, immediate superior closes the case, Red takes leave time and goes to the nearest town of Nuria to begin her own independent investigation.

Morgan Hunter is the local sheriff of Nuria. He already knows about the deadly mauling of one local woman, and has no intention of revealing that information to anyone. When Gina arrives in town, Morgan tries to keep the town's secrets while also shutting her out of the investigation.

The details regarding this futuristic world intrigued me. It is sometime after the last world war ravaged the earth causing countries to fall. You also get the feeling that there has been ecological destruction or severe global warming. Water is at a premium and they recycle everything....and I mean everything (including the dead).

The story is very sparse on secondary characters, but Gina herself is a well-developed and multi-layered character. The same goes for Morgan. Both are very likeable characters. For the most part, the story is told in the third person, except when we see the killer, then it is told in first person. I liked how this was done because you really get inside the killer's head and can feel how insane he/she really is. It is during the killer's POV that the story is at it's most graphic and in some ways disturbing.

My only complaint about this book is that it left a very large story thread dangling. In the very beginning, Gina wakes in the middle of the night and discovers that she is fully clothed and splattered with blood. She searches her memory, but cannot recall where she had been or what she had been doing. Throughout the novel, she remains worried about her nocturnal activities. Of course, from the book's premise we aren't really surprised to find out what she's been up to. However, the specifics of those activities are only alluded to and not dealt with at all. Hopefully this will be picked up more in the next book.

Scarlet is a sequel to the Jordan Summers first book Red. It's pretty good. Not something I always say about a sequel.

It basically continues on about a month or two after the first book. Gina Santiago the protagonist is now living in Nuria in the Republic of Arizona on the Dead World.

Things aren't going so great for Gina aka Red. Turns out that while she technically is a werewolf she can't change no matter how she tries.
Her mate/boyfriend/whatever reveals that he was married once before and had a kid. They where killed in WWIII but my god they are now being offered up as cloned slave labour and or sex toys. In the memory of his loved ones he must go to the lab and sabotage it.

Oh yeah Gina's arch-nemisis is back. The wacky evil politician with some serious racial purity issues. He wants revenge against gina for nearly shooting off his hand.

Like I said before, it's a good book. The ending however needs some work. Too much of a cliff hanger.

Wow. This book read like a harlequinn novel not a TOR book. Loads of gratuitous sex. Not a heck of a lot of romance. Unless you count lust/love at first sight.

I've never been in favour of the whole biological attraction over-riding emotional or mental attraction. It's always seems forced/destined/pre-ordained. I'm free will all the way.

I'd further classify this as a mystery romance novel. The main premise of the novel is that there is a murderer on the loose and the two main characters have to work together to find him/her. This closesness causes them to admit/submit to their mutual attraction.

Little problem. If you can't figure out who done it halfway through the book you really need to buy a jr. dectective kit.

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) with a quick chapter 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 . *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. Book Two, "SCARLET" is scheduled for release June 1, 2009. Book Three, "CRIMSON" is scheduled for release on November 1, 2009.

Jam packed full of action from the very first page, along with a crazy mystery, hardcore action, gritty romance and humour to boot, based in a new, terrifying futuristic world. Jordan Summers created a great new world, with amazing characters along with an exhilarating plot with delicious twists and turns. I can't wait for the next one. This one definitely is worth reading again and again!

Red is a paranormal romance, but it is also a science fiction thriller, an action/adventure and a mystery. The story is told from the first person and third person point of view.

We are immediately taken inside the mind of sociopathic serial killer who has stalked, befriended and is giving his latest prey a ride home. The killer does go through a physical metamorphosis and there is a violent death involved. There is however no rape. I thought it was brilliant the way Ms. Summers told the story from inside the killer's mind and we were able to visualize the scene through his warped perspective. The first person chapters with the scenes where the killer is scheming and immersed in his psychotic ramblings are short, they do not overtake the overall storyline.

The setting for this story is in the not too distant future in a world that has been ravaged by war. Society is divided into "Republics" taking up 70% of the land mass and the rest of the world is a no mans land. There is an electromagnetic barbed boundary fence around the southern ½ of the North American continent to keep out 'unknowns'. The world's population is divided into 'pureblood knowns' that are tagged with a computer chip indicating which Republic they belong too and the 'unknowns', who are essentially considered hostiles. There is also a group called the 'Others', who are purported to posess special abilities, however their existence is not confirmed. The International Police Tactical Team (IPTT) was formed after the war for the purpose of patrolling the borders of the Republics for unknowns and keeping peace. Murder has been all but eliminated.

We meet Gina "Red" Santiago a highly trained veteran of the elite IPTT in the middle of a firefight near an abandoned building in the desert. Her second has fallen in battle and she has called in for back up but they haven't arrived. Through a series skilled and cunning battle maneuvers Red manages to dispatch the hostiles despite being seriously outnumbered. When help does arrive it becomes evident that she is considered an 'outsider' as far as the IPTT members are concerned. Her feeling of alienation has been a factor for her entire life experience.

Red has heightened senses that have enhanced not only her abilities as a warrior but also as a tracker. Following the firefight she leads a skeptical team to a woman's dismembered body. The team leader, an arrogant, rude 'chauvinist' type of character concludes that it was an animal attack and dismisses her death. However, Red senses this is not the case and is bent on finding out the truth for the young woman and her family's sake. So, on her own time and without back-up she sets out to the town of Nuria, a border town that is policed by Sheriff Morgan Hunter.

Hunter is an Alpha male, rugged, handsome and a battle-honed soldier. Unknown to anyone outside of the people of the town who are members of his pack, he is a werewolf. Morgan is the respected Alpha who protects his people in the tight knit town where Red, unexpectedly finds greetings of welcome when she anticipates hostility and suspicion because of being with IPTT. The attraction between Red and Morgan is instantaneous, and animalistic but the sexual tension between these two strong characters builds throughout the book. Red doesn't understand her attraction to Morgan all she knows is that the draw comes from something deep inside that she doesn't understand. This isn't a story where the heroine and hero have sex up front, however when they finally do it is a cataclysmic coupling. There is a theme of significant deception written into the romantic plot causing major conflict in the development of their complex relationship.

While the romance between Red and Morgan arcs through this story, there is a mystery subplot with respect to the insane killer that is full of surprising twists and turns. The other plot device, I found wonderful was the way Jordan wove the "Little Red Riding Hood", fable into the story and if you decide to read this book I think you will too.

Nuria is an unusual town full of people with dark secrets and power. I will say that one of the secondary characters 'Raphael Vega', plays a pivotal role in what proves to be a harrowing climax. This guy is mysterious and charismatic with 'special' abilities. I hope we see more of Raphael in the subsequent stories of what is to be a three book series. The other secondary characters are equally strong including a corrupt politician with insane ideas as to how the world should be 'ruled'.

While yes 'Red' is fiction, it touched me deeply as Ms. Summers gives us a look at a post apocalyptic world. IMHO it is a thrilling, unique page-turner that I would highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a cross genre read. Sadly I have to wait until June 2009 to see what will happen to Gina Santiago and Morgan Hunter next!