"Maverick shines!"
REVIEW
"Maverick shines!"
Liz Maverick had the third book in the series of five 2176
for Dorchester Publishing. And she has a hard row to hoe,
as they say. Being the middle child is always considered
being a pain. In Yank baseball, batting third is, I
believe, called hitting clean-up, meaning not only are you
expected to hit as well as the two batters before you, but
are expected to drive them home. That is Maverick's tough
task. As I looked at the other writers of the series, I see them
shining. Grant, the creator of the concept, had the task of
selecting the other books in the series - and she chose
well! She is a strong Sci-Fi Romance writer and she kicked
2176 off in high-flying fashion in April with THE LEGEND OF
BANSAI MCGUIRE, giving her fellow writers a standard to
hit. And boy did Kathleen Nance rise to the occasion with
DAY OF FIRE in May. Nance, always a beautiful writer,
kicked butt with this Canadian saga in the cycle. Book
Four, THE POWER OF TWO is coming up in August under the
skilled hand of a new voice in romance, Patti O'Shea. I am
looking forward to it her because her debut novel RAVYN'S
FLIGHT was such a strong book I have no doubt she will
score a hit. So, Maverick was not only in the hard spot of
book three, having to follow in the path of the two super
books, she is more of an unknown factor. I interviewed all
the ladies for a feature article about the series and found
Maverick's enthusiasm very refreshing, but this book was
coming from a writer that had never written a full Romance
novel! Could she do it? She had written short stories for
the saucy, spicy Red Sage's Secrets and she had a Sex in
the City style Chit Lit novel WHAT A GIRL WANTS (March
2004, New American Library), but could she really do a full
Sc-Fi Romance? Could she step up to the plate and hit a
home run, reaching the quality of Grant and Nance, seasoned
writers? Well, stand back, Liz Maverick proves she can do anything
thing she wants! This book rises to Grant's and Nance's
challenge and proves she has a power to write whatever
strikes her talented fancy! The same energy that came
through to me in our interview, imbues her character Jenny
Red with life. Jenny vibrates with savvy, with a highly
charged sense to stay alive. She had to because she faced
the cesspit of Newgate and lived. Once in history Australia
was a penile colony. So it is again, but just not for
England, this time it serves as the dumping ground of every
criminal, every miscreant that does not fit into the well
order world in 2176. Jenny was an innocent, but that did
not stop Prince Kyber (the bad guy, who is just an
arrogant, misunderstood good guy from Grant's lead novel)
from sending a young woman who had done nothing to Newgate.
Her father was accused of killing Kyber's father in an
attempted taking over of the royal ruling house of new
Asia. The fuss saw Jenny condemned for her father's
actions, as well as Kyber's half brother D'ekkar Han
Valoren. Jenny never knew what D'ekkar went through in the
days after her exile to Newgate, and she had little time to
worry over his fate, because she was scrambling to stay
alive. She crawled out of Newgate, but D'ekkar tracks her down and
needs her help. He is part of an organization called The
Shadow Runners -- a group using Banzai Maguire to spearhead
a worldwide revolution. D'ekkar, once part of that ruling
world, now hates it and hates his brother for his vile
treatment, for being branded illegitimate. He is part of
the Shadow Runners and will do anything to see freedom for
all. Even sacrificing Jenny. Jenny and D'ekkar strike a strong cord. Survivors, yet
underneath are very caring people. They are hard because
they were forced to be. Jenny especially touches the heart
with her in your face woman, who hides the tender bruised
heart who loved D'ekkar, yet blames him for her exile for a
crime in which she had no role. She is hard, but D'ekkar
reaches her as no other and she will walk through fire for
him, even worse, she will return to Newgate where her life
is worth nothing. Maverick toots her horn -- look out she is a writer to
watch. It's a stand-alone book, you don't have to read the
first two -- but I strongly recommend you not missing some
of the hottest edge fiction written today and advice you to
keep on with the two coming. Sci-Fi Romance is blazing hot
and Grant, Nance, Maverick and O'Shea are making their mark
at the top. Kudos for Dorchester doing this gutsy series, giving
writers so much control over their own works, Kudos for
Grant for seeing the talent in her fellow writers and
giving new talent the chance to strut their stuff! Posted June 12, 2004
Reviewed by Deborah Macgillivray
Posted June 12, 2004
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Newgate, Australia: In the 22nd century, history repeats
itself. Part penal colony, part dumping ground for toxic
waste, the land is controlled by "the Parliament," a gang
of dissipated self-styled aristocrats. To survive here,
you have to know the tricks. Like Jenny Red. She's been
Down and made it out to tell the tale.
But D'ekkar Han Valoren.the bastard son of the Emperor
that Jenny's family was accused of destroying.knows Jenny
escaped, and he wants her to take him back in. Okay, maybe
she'll help Deck's team of rebels, his Shadow Runners,
like he asks. But not because he's holding anything over
her. No, she'll do it because of what was once between
them. Because of the revolution of her heart.
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