As part of a highly trained international tactical team,
Gina "Red" Santiago runs with the big dogs. Gina's nickname
doesn't refer to the color of her hair (which is black).
Nope, the guys on Gina's team call her "Red" because of the
copious amounts of blood likely to be spilled when Gina is
on the job. Not surprisingly, none of her colleagues are
standing in line to work with her.
Gina's latest assignment has yielded three dead; two bad
guys blown all to hell, plus a rookie who had the bad luck
that day to be Gina's partner. Cleaning up the crime scene,
the team discovers an additional corpse (someone Gina isn't
responsible for killing), a young woman, viciously
mutilated and mauled. Gina's lieutenant labels the woman's
death an animal attack and immediately dismisses Gina's
claim that "The Others" might be involved.
Gina is well-aware that the mainstream population
views "The Others" as part myth, part paranoia, part urban
legend and all BS, but she isn't backing down, even if it
means working the case on her own time. Gina's new case
takes her to the low desert boundary town of Nuria, located
about 20 miles from what used to be Phoenix, Arizona. After
some quick data downloading, she decides the best place to
start gathering information will be with the town sheriff,
Morgan Hunter. Too bad that Morgan isn't so keen on sharing
what he knows with Gina, who is not only an outsider in the
close knit community, but could be a threat to the town as
well. Everyone is keeping secrets; the government, the
sheriff, the killer...and Gina has one too. The killer has
a
nose for secrets and a very predatory interest in Gina.
Lord knows she doesn't need Morgan to keep her safe; she's
more than capable of doing that herself. But she's itching
to let the lawman get a little closer, and Morgan is all
too willing to let her scratch that itch.
At times fairly disturbing, RED grabs you by the scruff of
your neck on the first page and shakes hard. Although the
story isn't all action, it never lets you relax for long.
The killer's point of view is first person and when he
appears, it reminds me of that old Doors song with the
line, "There's a killer on the road. His brain is
squirming like a toad." Those parts of the book are
creepy, uncomfortable and visceral. He's dangerous and
twisted and the author isn't afraid to make you squirm a
bit. The world is a couple of hundred years in the future.
We're post-apocalypse with a worldwide registered
population. Boundary walls keep out the renegade "unknowns"
and there are rumors that the old government experimented
with human DNA, creating mutants commonly referred to as
The Others. The groundwork has been laid for a well-
structured world that will support at least a couple of
sequels. Sparks fly between Morgan and Gina fueling a
strong romantic subplot, as well. Highly enjoyable, RED is
easy to recommend.
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.
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