Death Row: The Hunter

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tales review
Review: By TT reviewer Brenda Edde

In the sequel to Death Row: The Fugitive, Ms Black has continued the riveting story of Dr. Nellie Kan and Kerick Riley. Kerick has escaped the Kong Penal colony along with his friends Xavier and Elijah; they are living in the jungle with Kerick's brother, Kieran, and his new bride Karen. Nellie was captured by Kerick shortly after his escape and held captive. Kerick had plans to make Nellie his wife, but in his arrogance, didn't tell her. Nellie has escaped Kerick and is on the run, braving the dangerous jungle outside the biosphere. Hiding from not only her own attraction to Kerick, who only wants to protect her, but also from men who will do their best to claim her in this world where women are in very short supply. Nellie is determined to make her way to Xibalba, a mythical haven for women deep in the jungle, where she believes she'll find answers and the time to finish the serum. Kerick, devastated by her escape, is right on her heels, desperate to save her from danger and get her back in his arms where she belongs. Meanwhile Xavier and Elijah are busy planning the downfall of the Hierarchy that kept the three of them in prison for over 15 years. The hunt is on.

Ms Black has continued the compelling story of what our future could be like if genetics take a wrong turn. Her lush sensuality adds a special level to the danger stalking Nellie. The twists and turns of her story are well paced. The relationships between Kerick and his brother, friends and Nellie are well developed and better explained in The Hunter. I read thru this story in one sitting and was truly upset when I read the last surprising twist that the end of the book. Now I'm waiting impatiently for the final story of the Death Row trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Intriguing
Review: Death Row: The Hunter begins where The Fugitive left off. Dr. Nellie Kan, the scientist, has slipped her bonds from Kerick, the escaped inmate, and is resuming her quest for the illusive serum that will save mankind from an infection that turns him into a cannibalistic beast with serrated teeth and claws that slice and dice without remorse.
Nellie is roaming through the jungle headed for a network of underground caves where she believes the journal of Margaret Riley has directed her to find the Xilbalba or the entrance to the Underworld.
Kerick is not about to let his chosen one escape unchallenged and follows Nellie's tracks, vowing to find her and make her sorry she ever ran from him. He will master her if it's the last thing he ever does!
Nellie has found the caves but three cave dwellers have also found her. With women being in short supply all over the planet, the three, uneducated buffoons, cannot believe their luck in capturing a female and they quickly subdue Nellie, preparing to take her as their own chattel.
Lucky for Nellie, Kerick intercedes and quickly dispatches the cave dwellers. But his own fate for Nellie is torturous as he uses her own traitorous body against her and teaches her a lesson she will never forget.
Unfortunately Kerick drags Nellie back to the catacombs and away from her goal of finding the Xilbalba. But Kerick is not listening to reason and Nellie knows she must escape again or the world is doomed to infection and sub-human domination.
And so the books ends with a startling discovery that changes everything and the reader must wait for the next installment to satisfy their curiosity and hunger on what will happen next.

Death Row: The Hunter revisits earth in the future, giving a stark outlook for mankind and the role of women in society. Through genetic manipulation man has doomed his race to either extinction or evolution at its worse. Chilling in its context, nonetheless this installment is entertaining and provocative. The sex is sensual and powerful, both raw and compelling as Ms. Black takes readers on another ride through sexual fantasia.

Rating:
Summary: What a Rip Off!
Review: Kerick "the Grim Reaper" Riley and his two friends, Elijah "The Slayer" Carter and Xavier "Romeo" O'Connor escaped from the impenetrable Kong Penal Colony in Death Row: The Hunter and had made it to a series of underground caves where they started making plans to take down the Hierarchy. In the year 2249 in the region of Altun Ha (former Belize), part of the United Americas of Earth, life is very grim for any but the few very wealthy males who control every aspect of life. Scientists had played God by manipulating genes to breed more males, but, after a short period of time, the scientists lost control and there soon was an extreme shortage of females in the population. Women were quickly relegated to the status of a type of slavery. They were taken at 16 and auctioned off to the highest bidder in the marriage market where men who had saved their whole lives tried to buy a wife to have a real woman to make love to instead of the robots that most men were forced to use. Because women were so expensive, it was even common for one family - father, sons, uncles, etc. to share one wife.

Scientist Nellie Kan was an exception to the status quo. She had refused to get married because she knew that she was a gifted scientist. She was so close to developing the serum to cure the sub-humans disease - a viral infection that turned rational human beings into rabid, flesh-eating monsters. Nellie had already escaped from Kerick once, but knew that she wasn't safe and immediately was on the run again. She was determined to find the Underground or the Xibalba to continue her experiments and find a cure. However, Kerick wasn't about to let Nellie go and was relentless in his pursuit. Once he found her, he claimed Nellie and immediately began mastering her so that she would obey his will. Nellie thought that it would be better to please Kerick than make him angry, so she tried to do whatever he wanted while attempting to persuade him to let her continue her experiments. Nellie quickly learns that she has friends on the outside, though, and must make the choice as to trust Kerick or to go Underground and continue with her research...

This book is super short at only a little over a hundred pages and ends very abruptly. What the Death Row series really is is one book that the publisher/author split into three to make 3 or 4 times the amount of money than they usually would. This book is the second in the series and starts right where Death Row: The Fugitive stopped with no introduction for people who have not read the first book, as I am sure will happen with the third book. This world is pretty hot, but very, very sexist with the women walking around naked or nearly so. If they are claimed they wear nipple chains to signify to other men that they are taken and not to be touched. The women really are slaves, bought and sold because they are rare. They have no rights once they are claimed and have to do everything to please the men in their lives. I found quite a few aspects of the world repulsive and would think that someone as strong willed as Nellie would rebel more against most of these societal dictates, but she seems to take it as part of life and not really try to do anything to change it. This book costs so much money (although it is a few dollars cheaper in e-book format) that it just isn't worth it. Go read a book by Dara Joy or C.J. Barry or someone who actually writes a book for the cost of a book.

Rating:
Summary: Twenty-seven dollars for 3 pieces of one book?
Review: This futuristic story is one of Jaid Black's best works, but I am irritated by the fact that in order to get the whole story I will have to spend $27 dollars (the book is in three separate parts). I bought the first two, but it has taken so long for the third part to come out that I have lost interest and I don't want to pay another nine dollars. If Ms Black is going to continue to write her books in this manner, I will no longer purchase them.