Product Description

Once, this was the City of Angels. The angels are no longer in charge. From the extravagant appetites of the vampire world above, to the gritty defiance of the werewolves below, the specter of darkness lives around every corner, the hope of paradise in every heart. All walk freely with humans in a tentative peace, but to live in Los Angeles is to balance on the edge of a knife. One woman knows better than most that death lurks here in nights of bliss or hails of UV bullets. She’s about to be tested, to taste true thirst. She’s about to regain the power she’s long been denied. And Fleur Dumont is about to meet the one man who may understand her: a tormented protector who’s lost his way and all he loved. 9.36 hours Read by Rebecca Rogers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #453024 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 357 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780505526229
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

My kind of heroine
Ever wish someone would write a romance where the heroine kicked ass and got her ass kicked as well every now and again? I don't know about you, but I am not impressed with characters who never feel pain. Fleur feels pain. She gets it in spades in this book. In the heart because of past decisions and present company. In the body when she learns that her training needs to be stepped up a bit after she almost loses her life to a mech.

In this first book of the Crimson City series, you are introduced to the idea of an alternative Los Angeles where demons, werewolves, and vampires exist along side of humans. There is ethnic prejudice galore. For me, Maverick makes a good case of how racial stereotyping makes us look.

If you enjoy this series, I highly recommend the 2176 series that Liz Maverick and Patti O'Shea both participated in. Well done futuristic romances that feature the kind of heroine I like.

Good Plot OK Character Development
I just finished Crimson City in once sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it as a fantasy/sci-fi adventure. But as a romance it was a bit weak.

Pros:
Liz Maverick has created an alternate reality where Vampires, Werewolves, Humans, and maybe even Demons exist together. (I hope to find out more about the Demons in Cyd's story.) There's a hint of a watered down cyber punk feel to the book and the world Maverick created is interesting enough that I can't wait to read what the other authors in the series do with it.

Cons:
As a Romance the hero and heroine were a bit thin for my taste. I liked what I knew about them, but they were not fleshed out and actions they took in the story line didn't have the consequences that we were primed to expect. (I'd be more specific but don't want to give away a plot point.) I know that because it is a romance, things need to end happily ever after, that's one of the main reasons I read romances, but Maverick could have altered the story line a bit to make the conclusion more believable. Honestly, I found myself more interested in Marius' story than I was in the hero, Dain's, story.

Conclusion
Maverick set up interesting characters for future books in the series that I hope to meet again and it is a great sci-fi/fantasy, but not necessarily a great romance with sci-fi/fantasy elements.

a good start
first of all I'd like to say I disagree with some of the reviews. I am a big fan of paranormal romance, i think it's a great genre. However, I think some of them focus to much at times on the hero's great ass or incredible pecs and get away from the human interaction. Dark-Hunter and Anita Blake novels can sometimes do this, and it's annoying because they hit the mark when they focus on the story.

I liked this book for a lot of different reasons. First, the characters weren't perfect, the heroine especially. It would have been pretty stupid if Fleur would have been this bad ass with all the answers. In the real world going through a bunch of drills doesn't give you the experience you need to lead. And politics is all about being cautious and learning to pick your fights.

Second, I think that the author did a good job with Dain. In a way, he was almost an innocent. His world was simple and concrete, and in the end he was only able to re-align himself when he switched one set of simple truths for another. It makes sense if he had no memory that he wouldn't have all of the complex issues tormented heroes normally have. He was not a complex person to the bone.

That said, I'll finish by saying that I read Sins of the Night(the latest Kenyon dark-hunter)the day before this one, and this book was better. The story wasn't propelled by two characters trying to figure out how to get in the sack, and the story didn't get weighed down by science fiction jargon or difficult story lines.

My only hope is that the other authors hold true to the series and don't mess things up. Also, I hope that the author tries to finish the Marius/Jill story. And what really happened to Cyd?

Try this book. The story is interesting and it has some great dialogue. This is a series to watch for.