Title: Raze
By: Tille Cole
Series: Scarred Souls #1
My Copy: Amazon.com
The BookWhisperer's Rating:
To
take back life, one must first face death...
One
man stripped of his freedom, his morals...his life.
Conditioned
in captivity to maim, to kill and to slaughter, prisoner 818 becomes an
unremorseful, unrivaled and unstoppable fighter in the ring. Violence is all he
knows. Death and brutality are the masters of his fate.
After
years of incarceration in an underground hell, only one thought occupies his
mind: revenge...bloody, slow and violent revenge.
Revenge
on the man who lied.
Revenge
on the man who wronged him.
Revenge
on the man who condemned him and turned him into this: a rage-fueled killing
machine. A monster void of humanity; a monster filled with hate.
And no
one will stand in the way of getting what he wants.
One
woman stripped of her freedom, her morals...her life.
Kisa
Volkova is the only daughter of Kirill ‘The Silencer’ Volkov, head of the
infamous ‘Triad’ bosses of New York's Russian Bratva. Her life is protected. In
reality, it’s a virtual prison. Her father’s savage treatment of his rivals and
his lucrative and coveted underground gambling ring—The Dungeon—ensures too
many enemies lurk at their door.
She
dreams to be set free.
Kisa
has known only cruelty and loss in her short life. As manager of her father’s
death match enterprise, only grief and pain fill her days. Her mafia boss
father, in her world, rules absolute. And her fiancé, Alik Durov, is no better;
the Dungeon’s five-time champion, a stone-cold killer, the treasured son of her
father’s best friend, and her very own—and much resented—personal guard.
Unrivaled in both strength and social standing, Alik controls every facet of
Kisa’s life, dominates her every move; keeps her subdued and dead inside...then
one night changes everything.
While
working for her church—the only reprieve in her constant surveillance—Kisa
stumbles across a tattooed, scarred, but stunningly beautiful homeless man on
the streets. Something about him stirs feelings deep within her; familiar yet
impossibly forbidden desires. He doesn’t talk. Doesn’t communicate with anyone.
He’s a man beyond saving, and a man she must quickly forget...for both their
sakes.
But
when weeks later, out of the blue and to her complete surprise, he’s announced
as the replacement fighter in The Dungeon, Kisa knows she’s in a whole lot of
trouble. He’s built, ripped and lethally unforgiving to his opponents, leaving
fear in his wake and the look of death in his eyes.
Kisa
becomes obsessed with him. Yearns for him. Craves his touch. Needs to possess
this mysterious man...this man they call Raze.
I am thoroughly confused with how I feel about this book. I really, really liked it but it also left me
feeling dark and depressed. It was as if
no matter how happy a scene got, I was surrounded by all the darkness in this
book to where I couldn’t see the glimmer of hope. It was a new take for me and reminded me a
lot of the Hades Hangmen series.
I will say that this book holds your attention throughout the
entirety of it and doesn’t let you down.
To even read about the childhood that Raze experienced was heart
breaking and to know that to keep himself alive, Raze had to shut down all human
feelings and become a killing machine just sets the tone of the book.
Kisa, on the other hand, is in a loveless relationship with her
childhood friend who is nothing but controlling (and not in a sexy way) and toxic. She is considered his and only his.
With a dual POV, you get both Raze and Kisa’s depressing view on
their lives until they meet each other.
It doesn’t take long in the story but for me, that is when it started to
pick up and show a small light of hope.
Just a warning, that light dims and grows brighter as the story
continues.
So if you are looking for a fluffy, lovey kind of book, this is
not what you should pick at this time.
However, if you are looking for a gritty, raw book that sucks you in and
veils your world full of darkness, then pick this book up. It will rock you to your core, for good and
bad.
