Red Gambit

The narrator was great. He really got into the characters, making it easy to feel their personalities and keep them separated. Great story, full steam ahead action with good story elements woven through the fighting. I really enjoyed the post-apocalyptic feel with the “Tony Stark-like” Jarek’s quest to get his super suit back, the arcanist Rachel’s goal to just protect the last of her family, and the intrigue of the power struggle. And in the midst of it all, there is some love/hate flirting that makes things really fun. Jarek’s willful snarkiness keeps the desolation of it all at arms-length. The author did note there would be language, and there is a lot of it. It is fitting for the type of story and situation, but if you don’t like reading or hearing a steady stream of heavy swearing, think twice about this one. I give the story a solid 4, the narrator a 5, and it gets an R rating simply because of the f-bombs. There is no sex or even a kiss. Which, I think Rachel and Jarek could have snuck at least one in. Well, maybe not. It was one thing after another with the surviving bit. 1-5 scale and what it means: 1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad 2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing 3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive 3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love 4: Solid mind candy / worth reading 4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read 5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure Movie Ratings in relation to my review: Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen" PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door. PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen sex R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” sex, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always