Title: Raze
Author: Tillie Cole
Age group: Mature new adult
Genre: Dark contemporary romance
Release date: 30th December 2014
BLURB
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.
AUTHOR BIO
Excerpt
“Raze?” Viktor called as I made
notes on my pad, and I heard a dumbbell clatter to the floor. “You need to meet
Ms. Volkova. She runs things around here, for her father. He runs the whole
show.”
Raze turned to face me; it felt as
if a northern wind had gusted in. Scribbling the last note on the paper, I
looked up to see a ripped and cut muscled man standing panting, salty sweat
dripping to the floor. His eyes were downcast, Eye Black smudged underneath
each one to disguise his eyes. But like a pull, a will for him to lift his
gaze, his head lifted and I found myself staring into a pair of brown eyes, the
left iris smudged with a hint of blue… my blue, the color from my eyes…
“Y-you?” I whispered as I drank in
this man. It was him. Him! All
six-four, two twenty pounds of him. Tanned skin covered in scars, marks, and
sadistic tattoos. I saw the recognition flash across his eyes, but in a second,
his stare was numb again, like he was blocking me out, like he was blocking
everything out, except the rage he kept hidden. I grew breathless as his packed
abs and pecs tensed under my scrutiny, his bulging thighs clenched at my
attention, and his traps danced as his jaw tightened the more I stared.
And his face? Finally, I could study
his face in the light, and my God… he was beautiful. Without meaning to, my
lips parted in want and a silent hiss slipped out. Raze’s stern face was
covered in dark stubble, three large scars marring his weathered skin, one down
his cheek, one angled down his forehead, and one slashed under his left eye.
But they didn’t make him any less handsome. Hell, Raze couldn’t be described as
handsome. Rough, raw, dark, dangerous, intimidating… the opposite of handsome.
But I couldn’t tear my gaze from him.
And then those brown eyes with a
hint of blue bored so fervently on my chest, a chest panting a shade too hard,
betraying the effect he was having on my traitorous body. My nipples became
erect, far too sensitive against the material of my camisole. The brush of the
fabric sent jolts of pleasure to my clit, and I had to fight the urge to drop
my hand to my pussy, from palming the flesh of my breasts.
And then one thought broke through
the trance, through the hellish spell I’d found myself under. I had given him
ten grand. He was the buy-in. I had given him the money to get his revenge… and
he’d bought into my Dungeon.
“Viktor, leave us alone,” I ordered
rather too harshly, my demand met with silence.
I stared at Raze and he stared back,
the tension palpable between us. “Viktor, leave,” I commanded again.
“Ms. Kisa—”
“Viktor! Leave!” I shouted. I heard
Viktor sigh and exit the training room, slamming the door.
My heart pounded like a drum in my
chest, so hard I feared Raze could hear it in the few feet between us. His
sheer size was intimidating, his cold stare bone chilling, and I had to fight
the urge to think of Luka.
But this man was not Luka.
Steeling my nerves, I asked, “Why
are you here?”
Raze’s eyes flared and his lips
tightened, but no answer was forthcoming.
Anger infused my blood and I stepped
closer, watching his muscled chest tense, and I snapped, “Why?”
A growl ripped from his throat and
he closed in on me until I smelled that fresh snow smell of his skin mixed with
the scent of his workout.
I gasped as Raze’s large frame
loomed over me, causing me to stumble back until my shoulders hit the wall. I
darted my gaze up to meet his and held my breath.
His brown eyes darkened as he stared
down at me and his face flushed red.
“Raze—”
“Revenge.” The ropes and veins in
his traps bulged in tune with his reply.
“On who?” I whispered, watching a
small bead of sweat running from the bottom of his throat down his chest,
before fluttering my eyes up to refocus on his mouth. His lips were full, his
cupid’s bow defined.
Raze’s palm slapped on the wall
above me, caging me in, and his head lowered even farther, my breasts heaving
at the proximity. He inhaled deeply, drinking in my scent. His face flushed
and, for a moment his eyes closed, a frown pulling on his forehead.
Raze began shaking, his muscles
twitching, and I could see a storm brewing in his acrimonious expression as his
eyes snapped back open.
“On the man who lied. On the man who
wronged me. Condemned me. And turned me into this!” He reared back, slapping his chest. Raze walked to the
punching bag and slammed his fist into it so hard that the heavy chain from the
ceiling groaned. Raze set to a short pace, back and forth, back and forth, and
I remained still against the wall, just watching him.
“What? What has he turned you into?”
I asked cautiously and immediately regretted the question when Raze seemed to
exude resentment. Shivers raced down my spine.
Raze stopped dead and ran his bandaged
hands down his face. His attention immediately shot to me, and he said, “This
killer. This monster who needs blood, needs to kill, maim, slaughter.”
My hands were now shaking, gaze
fixed on the tally marks. Raze obviously caught my stare. Moving to the bench,
he picked up a steel knuckleduster, well used if its look was anything to go
by, yet the spiked sharp blades glinted in the florescent light. A whimper
escaped my mouth.
Raze stalked over my way, slipping
the knuckleduster on his hand, and set me in his sights. Fear froze me to the
spot. I tried to swallow back a cry. Raze didn’t stop until he was almost on
top of me, his hands fisted at his sides, the right clad in steel lifting to
run over his abs, his abs covered in uneven, straggly inked tallies.
“My kills,” he announced coldly, his
voice sounding like he’d swallowed broken glass. The fear I harbored deep
inside intensified. I focused on his mouth, his face, and saw nothing but rage.
It was as though any emotion but hatred had been cast out. No humanity was
evident in his stare… but those eyes… those eyes!
“Over six hundred,” Raze suddenly
added, dragging me back to the here-and-now. I followed the trail of his hand
and realized what he’d just said.
“Six hundred?” I gasped.
Raze’s lip hooked into a humorless
smirk. His spiked hand fisted, and I heard his knuckles crack as he leaned in.
“Over.”
Raze’s feet edged forward again, and
he held out the spike and brought it toward my cheek. I couldn’t breathe as the
metal drifted closer to my skin, only then to witness Raze drag it down his
bare chest and abs to a tally comprising three marks.
Slamming the spike into his skin,
blood instantly pooled, and he dragged it down to make a messy, uneven line.
All the time, he didn’t remove his brown eyes from mine. I wanted to cry. I
wanted to stop him from harming himself. I wanted to gaze into those eyes and
pretend I was here with Luka. My kind, beautiful Luka, brown eyes with a blue
smudge that matched mine.
But this man, this Raze, was fucked
up. Too fucked up.
He wasn’t my Luka, no matter how
hard I wished he was.
Releasing the spike from his torso,
Raze directed his hand my way, and I flinched, bringing up my hand, which
clutched my pad and pen, to defend my face. The pen was ripped from my grasp.
Raze placed the plastic between his teeth and snapped it in half, spitting
shattered pieces to the floor. Ink began to drip on his skin. Guiding the
broken pen to the new gash, Raze stabbed it along the cut and rubbed the ink
into the open wound.
“Raze!” I shrilled. I fought the
urge to knock the pen from his hands. But Raze soon released it from his grip
and, lowering his mouth to my ear, said, “Another kill… your kill, the one I killed for you.”
As I choked back my shock, Raze
backed away. He threw his knuckleduster back to the bench, and resuming a
vacant concentration, he lifted the dumbbells and continued his routine.
Slapping my chest, I worked on
breathing. What the hell had just happened?
Who was this man?
GIVEAWAY
The giveaway is for $100 Amazon gift card, plus a signed paperback of Raze and swag. This is open internationally.
Anytime I stalk Tillie Cole and see she has new books coming out, I tend to get a massive anxiety attack. That's about the time, I start e-mailing the author and the publicist and I tend to seriously become a serial stalker. Sorry!, but not really. :):) You know what I mean.
So my lovely GR friends, we've got another one by Tillie Cole. She continues to amaze me with her dynamic skills. Tillie's ability to write YA and then switch to more darker and seemingly controversial pieces of work is ridiculously flawless. The writing styles while vastly different, always creates picture perfect depiction within the readers' mind.
5 "solnyshko' stars.
Twelve years of surviving HELL.
Living in captivity and conditioned for brutality; pumped full of drugs - to keep him big, strong and angry; beaten and tortured - to remove any traces of his past life. Becoming a soulless monster, fighting to the death, fighting for his life.
Absolutely fangirling myself.
"From now on, you'll be known as fighter 818, and if you want to live, you'll learn to survive here, in hell."
As known, I started swooning instantly, and I hadn't even started the book as yet. Just the prologue.
Escaping the Gulag, Prisoner 818 is going in search of the man who lied. The man that condemned him to this Hell hole. With no recollection of his past, he trusts his instincts and an inscription made on his prison cell wall before he lost it all.
Continents away from the Gulag, Prisoner 818's memories are slowly flooding his mind. All these flashbacks are tormenting him. He doesn't know if any are real. They only serve to further fuel his rage - at what he has become- blood thirsty and angry- at what he doesn't know. All Prisoner 818 knows is that he's going to get his revenge... his retribution... and nothing is going to stop him.
Kisa Volkova, Mafiya Princess, daughter of the Pakhan, the top Russian boss. At twenty-five, Kisa runs an illegal underground gambling ring for her family, full of murderers and psychopaths. Her fiance Alik "The Butcher" Durov, a sociopath himself, rules her life. Her freedom is limited and Alik's insecurities foster animosity and hatred. Trapped in a loveless and brutal relationship. Kisa knows she must perform her duty to her family. Kisa must become the epitome of Russian modesty and adhere to her father's rules. Her honour is the family's honour.
Faith brought Kisa and Prisoner 818 together. Two pieces of one soul, reunited because of death, lies, lust and brutality.
Faith brought Kisa and Prisoner 818 together. Two pieces of one soul, reunited because of death, lies, lust and brutality.
"What is your name?" - Kisa
"Raze. The only name I've ever been called is Raze.
Because I'd raze any fucker that got in my way."
Taken aback by this fierce warrior, Kisa needs to stay clear of him, she needs to perform her duty, she cannot create havoc with Alik, but there is an instant pull and a battle that she loses when it comes to Raze. She can't seem to keep away and sometimes, the little things he does and says, all bring back memories of a childhood friend, her first and only love.
"This killer. This monster who needs blood, needs to kill, maim, slaughter..."
I actually got the fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach and I was jumping around like a silly school girl. lol The feelings that these characters emitted from me were raw and filled with such despair and so much hope.
Retribution led him to her- Kisa. His memories of a blue eyed beauty, sand, beach and sun - his Kisa-Anna. He protected her from a child and will continue to protect her till the end.
"That woman was crashing through my defenses, breaking down walls I didn't want to come down."
There are really no words that I believe can portray my emotions towards this and this author. Tillie Cole has again created a masterpiece.
*ARC provided by Have Book Will Read on behalf of the author for an honest review*
Thanks!! so so much
