Review: Paragon (Vertex, #3) by Soren Summers

The sighting of the second flare has kindled new hope in what’s left of humanity. Perhaps there are other survivors outside the Hive. Maybe it’s the military, finally come to save Pleasance from the horrors of Paragon. But neither flares nor optimism can erase the colony’s bleak realities.

Supplies are dwindling. Food is low, medication running out, and the garden won’t ever grow enough to feed the Hive. And there’s the small matter of the water from the river drying up. The Hive needs a miracle, and fast.

With Gabriel Anderson at his side, Jarod Samuels seeks out the source of the flare and an antidote for the Hive’s plight. But some mysteries are best left unsolved, some secrets left undiscovered – especially when the answers hide deep in the heart of the colossus.

Dear Soren Summers, 

Three books. Three books into the world of Vertex, Paragon and a town that doesn’t resemble its name. There is nothing pleasant about Pleasance nor what goes on there and yet, like a true junkie I keep coming back for more. You had me cringing at every possibility and my anxiety was at max through most of the book. You gave me a flare of hope and ripped it away. You presented new hope to me on the dirtiest of platters with nothing to accompany the new information but a full Return of Saturn via Vertex complete with metallic tentacles. 

Look what you made me do. You made me trust no one and then trust the ones I shouldn’t but just like Jarod, I couldn’t help myself. You made me have bizarre AF dreams about walls and anomalies and truly wondering if the world had simply gone on. 

What am I trying to say with all of this? Thank you. Thank you for a wonderfully, unique, twisted and truly romantic story about love, family and the fight for it all. 

Always a fan, 

Red

Okay. I can’t wrap my head around this book because it was everything. Simply everything and more and the author has one hell of a wicked mind to go where he did.

Best not to keep their hopes up. Just in case, just in case things don’t happen.

Paragon starts shortly after Parasite ends, the flare has been seen and the inhabitants of the Hive are living in a bubble of hope. Everyone is working together for the betterment of their lives to the best of their ability. Jarod is taking care of Gabriel after being attacked by Hortega, Tyler is spending a lot of time in Danny’s apartment, Esther is still fucking amazing – all three of her- and Magpie is still a plethora of knowledge and keeper of noisy baubles. But if you’ve seen any type of movie in the horror genre, you know this sort of idealistic imagery can only lead to a buttload of angst and gore.

 
This review will be vague as there is a lot that happens I can’t even go into detail about without spoiling the book and I’d rather you yell and get jump scared just like I did. Oh yeah, I screamed a few times throughout reading this from shock, from horror, from grief and every other emotion under the sun and moon. Paragon put me through the ringer and though I took my time reading it, the angst and anxiety never eased up.

So, the Hive is buzzing with a gamble of hope after the flare was sighted. Everyone is getting along and we get some sweet and romantic moments with Gabriel and Jarod. Let’s just say that bathing in the time of zombies in freezing water can be extremely sexy when it’s with the one you lust after and love. It was refreshing to see Gabriel and Jarod as happy and content as they were while still having that edge of fear because they are trying to not get dead.

“Tell me.”“Tell you what?”“What am I to you? Please…”“Everything.”

When we get news of a threat to the Hive’s survival and Tyler, Gabriel and Jarod set out to research it, we learn that what we thought we knew is all sorts of fucked up and wrong. I know I sound confusing but trust me, I was confused a few times trying to figure out how any of this was possible. This little trip the trio takes leads to one moment of pure heartbreak at something most would consider trivial. I shed a tear with Gabriel while it happened and thankfully got a chance to giggle at Danny’s reaction to Tyler. These men are still so damn young and all that has happened is bat shit crazy to try and digest so this moment was a nice opportunity to breathe and remember they are just boys.

And yet, that moment was just that… a moment because soon, Jarod gets an unexpected visitor and when they show up I yelled HOLYMOTHERFUCKINGSHITBALLS! I am not going to tell you who shows up but I will say from this moment on the intensity of the story arc gets turned up to eleven. Yeah. It gets nuts and the mix just gets deeper the further we go. I mean, Summers went for it in this book and truly wrote a horror story. I am thankful I wasn’t eating during a few of these scenes because…eww. I will say this book is a reunion of characters I never wanted to happen and each appearance as they slowly show up was a punch to my nerves. Good lord. This was intense.

This can’t be how it ends.

Paragon is one hell of an ending to one hell of a series. I am not sure I can forgive the author for a scene at around 91% nor can I forget the horrors that Vertex has created. This story, this horror story laced with an effective romance is phenomenal and creepy. It’s a blend of two great tastes that should taste weird together but they don’t. Romance and horror can blend when you have the center of the story be one of love, hope and trust.

 
This book was stellar. That end? I can’t wrap my ginger head around the total mind fuck of it all and it wasn’t what I was expecting. None of this was what I expected and I am going to attempt to deal with it being over.

A review copy was provided.

Trivia Question: What's the name of the drag queen character in this AU novel set in Gedda? 15 pts

Random winner will be chosen at (or around) Noon EST 11/15.

Review: Parasite (Vertex #2) by Soren Summers

It’s been one hundred and forty-five days since the world ended. Paragon has swept through the city of Pleasance like a reaper’s scythe. Now the dead walk the earth, seeking the flesh of the living. Still Jarod Samuels refuses to die.

As a hunter, Jarod safeguards the Hive, the ruined mall he calls home. He exterminates zombies to protect the city’s last few survivors, and to keep Gabriel Anderson unharmed, their lives intertwined now more than ever.

But in a city ravaged by Vertex’s corruption, there’s no telling what dangers each day will bring, whether the threats within the Hive’s walls might be deadlier than those without – or whether monsters from the past still lurk and linger in the city’s shadows.​

This romantic horror story is approximately 69,000 words in length.

Dear Soren Summers,

You did it again. I am not sure if I should side-eye you for making me read zombies or thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone. I don’t do zombies and yet I was surrounded by them because I couldn’t get enough of Jarod and Gabriel. And there was the other stuff, just the daily stuff that happens within these 20 days and all that has been declared as a civilization that is now the Hive. There was so much I had to know and though you tossed Tyler in there, I will forgive you because you also tossed in Danny.

Yeah, you are some sort of wizard or just a brilliant and talented author because you made me, the zombie loather, read a book full of zombies.

Also, that end? Did you hear me yell when I read it? Well done.

Still a fan but now with possible side-eye while I wait for the next book,

Red.

This ain’t your normal zombie story…

Before this all happened, Jarod didn’t think that the dead would be able to walk. Hell, he didn’t think people could bleed to death and come back to life. He didn’t think people could move things with their minds.

It’s been 145 days since we left Jarod and Gabriel fleeing the destruction of Vertex and the thing Robbie had turned into. 145 days of them finding the North Pleasance Mall aka the Hive, where they have created an apartment out a storefront and 145 days of them living this budding dystopian world full of zombies and trying to do what Jarod promised Gabriel, not to die.

Getting back to this world took a bit of time for me. I’ll be honest and admit that zombies leave me cold like a naked man in security but I knew I had to read this. I’ve always said I can read anything if the author is good enough and well, Summers is damn talented because he dragged my ginger ass through the mess that Paragon has created and even meet new folks along the way. The new folks were amazing and annoying at the same time… Lord, Tyler tried my patience and for most of the book, I wanted to kick him in the nards. I knew he would have a story and I just didn’t want to like him. I needed not to like him. Dammit.

But then we get Danny and Danny is all sorts of great and this character who pulled at my heartstrings the moment I met him. It’s not the pull of fluff, it’s the pull of all this young man could have been if Vertex could control their whacked experiments and ultimate destruction of mankind. You know?

The best part, perhaps the only good part of being in this hellhole is knowing he’ll wake up next to Gabriel every day, without fail. That’s all Jarod wants now. It’s all he can hope for.

I know, I am getting off on tangents already but this book, it’s one for me that really doesn’t show me how completely brilliant it is until I sit back and take it all in when I am finished. It’s like a Monet you know? Up close it’s a total mess but when you take a few steps back to look at the whole picture, it’s gorgeous. For me that is the best way I can describe this book because it was frustrating to read with the lack of romance between Gabriel and Jarod I was jonseing for because I am a hopeless romantic. But then again, zombies and fucking don’t really go together and once I chilled, I was fine. We do get swoony moments between the couple as they navigate their new relationship in this crazy world they live in and the jealousy added a good amount of angst. The intimate moments between Jarod and Gabriel were perfect and honestly, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I mean, I could because I am greedy but it was enough for this book.

Now while it took me longer to read it than book one, trust me when I say it’s no less brilliant. Goodness. This was amazing.

So, Jarod and Gabriel are living at the Hive and following the new rules that go along with it. Everyone has a job and the couple are hunters who go out and kill the zombies. They go out with Tyler Torres who as I mentioned is an asshole but he is one of those redeemable assholes that happen to be favorites of mine. The hunting provided a lot of action when the men come across clusters of zombies but folks, these are not your run of the mill zombies. These are creature made by Vertex and they are smart because they were created by Paragon, the regeneration drug. I won’t even get into the complexity of these zombies; how they were created, what they can do and who they come after once they are dead and then undead. It’s freaking trippy as hell but so well thought out and just brilliant that there is no way I could paraphrase it all.

But you know how it started.

Yeah, that’s another thing. Folks at the Hive don’t know that Jarod and Gabriel used to wear gray shirts with the Vertex logo on them. They don’t know that they watched Robbie die and them come back as a gurgling mess to then regenerate before their eyes and kill Nessa. They don’t know that the escaped Vertex as the staff was being torn apart by Robbie’s hunger and turning them all into zombies. The only ones who know are Jarod and Gabriel until Esther decides to make Jarod talk. OMG! Do not get me started on Esther because the shit that happened at the end? WTF was that and also how cool was that? The author has thrown in some new ideas with Ester that blew my mind and made me grin. I love her… all of her.

Jarod and Gabriel may have escaped Vertex but that doesn’t mean they have left it behind. When Jarod’s old boss comes for him and we learn more about the zombies it was intense. And then that whole visit on the rooftop with you know who when Jarod needed air? OMG and say what? That was crazy, the revelation of what Paragon was created for was disgusting and yet, I need that man to come back because he needs to be taken care of. Ugh. This book, was so freaking good.

“You made me one promise. I need you to keep it.”

“I promise. I swear. I can do this because you’re always here. You’re always looking out for me.”

“We can do this…Together.”

I feel like I need to add in just one more time about Jarod and Gabriel because this is still a romance. It’s still very romantic it’s just in this crazy setting. Looking back on my notes as I write this review, there are some very poignant and emotional moments between the couple and Gabriel still has a knack for the dirty talk but their relationship was on par for their situation. I think I would have been turned off if there was a butt load *ahem* of sex in this as it would have felt misplaced. Gabriel and Jarod are trying to survive, they are trying to do their best while keeping secrets from the others in the Hive and each other. Yeah, the men have secrets and while Jarod learns what Gabriel has been hiding, Jarod is keeping his secrets buried way deep and are they twisted AF!

Oh boy. I could keep going because I haven’t even talked about Magpie who is wicked smart and shiny. I haven’t talked about the politics of the Hive which I got but couldn’t help but get sad when someone was turned out even though they deserved it. I didn’t go into detail about a lot of things but I won’t either because I want you to read it all and absorb it until you feel goosebumps at the hissing of your sprinklers turning on in the early morning and you wonder if they are whispering your name….

Okay. I am done. I’ll stop now.

Parasite is a stellar follow up to Monster and a perfectly placed and paced book for this series. We get 20 days from start to finish, 20 days of action, of jealousy, of truths and lies and we end on hope. Oh yeah, that end had me yelling and wishing I had the next book because it was stunning.

Wow. Yep, I am hooked.

I read zombies and I liked it.

Go figure.

Review: Monster by Soren Summers

Bloodied corridors. Mangled bodies. Deranged test subjects. Just another day at Vertex, a corporation devoted to perfecting humanity by any means necessary. It's up to Jarod Samuels to keep the hallways pristine and safe, but scrubbing bloodstains and bagging bodies is losing its luster.

Then someone new joins his department, this man with a huge ego and an even huger mouth. Gabriel Anderson is infuriating but intriguing, as brash as he is beautiful, and almost enough to keep Jarod preoccupied. Almost.

But between workplace hazards, psychic sociopaths, and a mysterious formula that alters the human body, Jarod's doubts are surging. Should he stay with the corporation, or run like hell? This is Vertex, after all, where the walls watch with glass eyes, the laboratories groan with secrets - and employee termination ends more than just careers.

This romantic horror story is approximately 88,000 words in length.

Dear Soren Summers, 

When I first came across your book Monster, I was intrigued. I love a good dark story and the blurb along with the cover checked off a few boxes for me. When I began reading, I took it nice and slow to blend in with this world Jarod Samuels was showing me as he went about this day. When Mr. Perfect shows up, I grinned. When he became snarky Gabriel I liked him but when he became the guy who loves stove top mac and cheese and drools while he sleeps, he became so adorable he needed to fit in my pocket. When Gabriel does the unthinkable, but the only thing he could have done for Jarod, I couldn’t turn the page fast enough and damn work or sleep, I needed to read. But all of this, was only at HALF of the wonderfully imaginable, creative, sexy and twisted story about two men finding love in a truly hopeless place. The rest, it sat me on my ass and blew my mind. So for that, I have to say thank you for this story, for Jarod and Gabriel’s story. Soren Summers, you now have a ginger reader who is now a big fan. 

Sincerely, 

Red

This book. It’s way different than I expected and that is such a good thing. I don’t really know what I expected but I expected things to be dark for the entire book. They ARE dark, don’t misunderstand but there are these moments where I hugged my Nook, I laughed, grinned and simply swooned over it. AND there are the moments where I was glad I stopped reading while I ate my lunch so that it wouldn’t come back up.

Let’s see if I can tell you a few things.

Told from the third person present tense POV of one Jarod Samuels, we meet him as he is going about his day at work as a garbageman at Vertex, a research facility. You get the feeling that the world Jarod lives in is not like ours, it’s a sort of dystopian world where we are left to our imagination as to what happens outside the walls of Vertex and Jarod’s apartment. The early glimpses with the research that goes on inside Vertex is vague and the form of Jarod’s job as in waste management comes into play when a call goes out that there is a runner on level 12. A runner, yup a runner is a medical test subject at Vertex who has decided they are done but one cannot be done when they have signed on the dotted line to participate. Jarod, being the fastest runner in his department comes up short when the patient is taken down before he can get there and Jarod isn’t happy about being shown up. The new guy, whom Jarod dubs Mr. Perfect is one hell of a snarky but good looking young kid who immediately rubs Jarod the wrong way and possibly the right, but Jarod doesn’t have time for getting attached to anyone or anything.

...Jarod Samuels. A little bland, a little bleary, five years a garbageman. Maybe even for the rest of his life.

Jarod is a quiet man. He does his job well and keeps to himself. He’s learned the importance of when to listen, to speak and when to agree and states the company’s motto verbatim. The only real person he interacts with other than Esther the lunch lady or briefly with the other Ether, is Vanessa “Nessa” Wong who is Jarod’s best friend. Nessa is a lab technician, a researcher and currently in charge of her own project for a drug called Paragon. Paragon is a new formula create to make the body perfect, to heal all that ails or would kill you and it’s important to Vertex. In Nessa’s own words; “Paragon can heal the body and fix everything that’s wrong with it. It’ll take the disease away, but it won’t make you invincible.” Paragon itself has a paradox within in the story but I won’t spoil that for you. It’s far too interesting to let it get rancid.

When Jarod is called up on by his boss and given the privilege of showing Mr. Perfect aka the new guy aka Gabriel Anderson the ropes, the story begins to open up as well as the characters themselves.

When we first meet Gabriel, he’s cocky and snarky and you wonder how Jarod will ever be able to deal with him. But when Jarod begins giving him a tour of the facility, we get the opportunity to see a different side of the men. We learn that they have a common ground, a schooling at Bairston Public under the guidance and pseudo mothering of Coach Bennet the track coach. Both men are fast, Jarod held the school record for until Gabriel beat it. It’s a sore spot for Jarod but it leads to a sense of camaraderie with the men and provides for excellent banter. With that banter, we see that Gabriel’s cockiness does have a vulnerability and we see that as Jarod shows him into the “white room”. Man, Vertex is one crazy place and these two, they are going to need someone to vent with when the shit gets crazy because, you know it will.

None of Vertex’s training could have prepared any of them for this. Gray, white, orange, black, it doesn’t matter. Tonight, the colossus runs red.

As the story unfolds, we get character development and growth with Jarod and Gabriel. From secrets that lead to friendship, friendship that leads to saving and saving that leads to the care of another person, the man have obstacles yet the small things begin to bring them closer together. The secret Gabriel keeps drives Jarod crazy! He’s come to care for this drooling-in-his-sleep, spider monkey who loves stove top mac and cheese and takes exactly three minutes to dry off after a shower and all he wants to do is help. Jarod begins to recognize that the way Gabriel acts, his self-preservation is like looking in a mirror, but he needs to know why. When he follows Gabriel one night after work, he gets a visual for what keeps his new friend away from home for hours but still doesn’t know the truth and he needs it. That need? It’s translated from words to feelings to one hell of a first kiss to a whole lot of truth spilling and it had me engaged and swooning so much that I read that entire chapter over again.

But Jarod is paranoid and cautious with Gabriel after his confessions though he wants to have blind trust in him. His past mistake in high school gnaws at this conscious but he really needs to let that go. Sure, what Gabriel told him could lead to a world of trouble and maybe injury and possibly death considering how Vertex operates but what can Jarod do? What does Jarod do and what happens to those Jarod trusts and loves?

*whistles*

Yeah, this is a twisted and dark book but the romance elements sat me on my ass and did it with gusto. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of feelings I would get with Jarod and Gabriel. They really are an amazing couple but I also wasn’t prepared to become attached to other characters or even test subjects either.

“I don’t know how much you know about Vertex, but this isn’t your run-of-the-mill research outfit.”
“You don’t say.”

I know I have given details to the story, a lot of them actually and yet I am not even scratching the surface to what is in this. It’s one of those times when I want to sit down and tell you all about Monster, show you all my highlights but I also want to keep those hidden away as the things with suckers and tentacles on level 18. They aren’t ready to be shared so I’ll keep them under lock and key for now.

I will tell you to that this story doesn’t let up. It feels as if you’re given a break but the surprises come out of the dark shadows all the way until the end.

This story, it’s a stellar debut from the author and I cannot wait to get more from this universe. The world building was amazing and I slid into it like warm butter. There was no confusion, just this place that existed and the people with it. I have learned a few things from reading it though like never to deny an anomaly pudding, don’t get attached to the test subjects, the most important people who monitor Armory’s visitation or food are named Esther, and that risking everything for love, even among monsters is worth the risk.

***End Note: If you decide to pick this up, do not pass on the offer of the free companion book, Siren, to read once you are finished as it takes place in the same time line as Monster. I will tell you, it's quite possibly everything I wish I knew while reading Monster and it was a wonderful surprise.

Book link: http://www.sorensummers.com/free.html

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