Title: RAZE
Author: Tillie Cole
Published: December 30, 2014
Source: ARC provided for a honest review
Synposis
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.
MY REVIEW
There are few authors these days that write outside the box. They write books that are so different from all the others and when they nail them, your heart skips a beat.
Tillie Cole is that kind of author. RAZE is that kind of book.
Lesbehonest, if Tillie Cole writes a book, I WILL READ THAT BOOK. No need to read the blurb, no need to show me the cover, JUST GIVE ME THE BOOK.
When I saw the cover of RAZE, I kind of took a mental step back and thought " HOLY SHIT. That man is scary." I mean look at the way he is standing, the tattoos, the scars. HE KINDA SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME.
Then, then I started the book. I wasn't prepared to fall in love, I wasn't prepared to crying so many tears of joy at the end of the book. I wasn't prepared to feel so much disgust and hatred toward a character, that I was plotting his death halfway through the book.
I WASN'T PREPARED, I tell ya.
This book. Well, this book pretty much blew me the fuck away. I am in book hangover mode. It wasn't just the story, it wasn't RAZE and my need to try and fix him. IT WAS THE WRITING.
Phenomenal isn't a good enough world to describe Tillie's writing. Actually, there isn't a word in the dictionary to describe the writing in RAZE.
It's her best work to date. She just stepped up her game to a level that has placed her in my top 5 authors of all time.
This book made me feel things, hatred, hurt, sadness, love, vengeance and she broke my heart. But she put it back together. I think I started and stopped this book way to many times to count. I just couldn't continue. I was to nervous, to scared, there were too many feelings and I couldn't process them. I didn't want to process them.
This is a book unlike any other. Its a book that will consume you and stay with you. It's a love story that isn't a love story, but a story about a love so deep, so raw and real, you question if you will ever be lucky enough to have that type of love.
I need to mention the flash backs. I DISLIKE FLASH BACKS. They irritate me and I get lost and I can't figure out what happened after. That being said, Tillie owned the shit out of me with her flash backs. It was effortless, it blended and I fit perfectly in with the rest of the story.
SHE NAILED THIS BOOK.
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Excerpt
“Are you okay, miss?” Serge asked as he drove me through the awakening streets of Brooklyn toward the docks.
I pulled my gaze from outside the window and nodded my head, offering Serge an appeasing smile. “It is just a hard day. That's all.”
Serge’s expression turned sympathetic in the rearview mirror. “Luka Tolstoi’s birthday,” he said, and I momentarily lost my breath just hearing those words out loud.
I stared down at my fidgeting fingers and nodded my head. It always pained me to think of Luka. Twenty-six years ago, the three Bratva bosses were all married and each had a son. Luka was born first, then Alik only a few months later. My brother Rodion and I followed a year later—we were twins. And finally, a year after that, Talia was born, Luka’s sister.
We all grew up together, the heirs of the New York Russian underground. We played together, spent
days together in school, or hid together in secret when a threat to our mafiya was made by a rival. It was during these years that I became obsessed with Luka Tolstoi. He, my brother Rodion, and Alik were tight, the three male heirs to the Bratva rule. Rodion was destined to lead, Alik was second to him and Luka the third and final heir.
Luka and I shared something special. From toddlers, we were best friends. Then as the years passed, I knew I had fallen in love with him. I may have only been a child, but I loved him completely. Heart-crushing love.
Mama always said the stars aligned when we were born, that God made us a match. From the first time we saw each other, Luka took me in his arms and swore his protection over me to my mother. Mama used to say she caught him staring into my crib only hours after I was born. Then when she asked what he was doing, he asked her if he could have me. My mama joked and told him it would be my choice when I was old enough to crawl, and from the minute I was old enough to crawl, my mama told me I only ever crawled to one boy… Luka Tolstoi.
I’d agreed to let him have me. After all, God had created us to match.
Luka had a kind smile and the most beautiful dark-brown eyes. But it was Luka’s upper left iris smudged with a small splash of blue that made our mothers think we were destined to be. Mama said God placed a piece of my eye within his so we would always know we shared one soul. Luka was my protector. I adored the way he always held me close, making me feel safe, especially from Alik.
When the three boys became teenagers, it all went to shit. In one fateful night, I lost Rodion and my Luka, leaving Alik the sole heir. That was when he immediately staked his claim on me.
Still now, at twenty-five, I missed Luka as if he’d just died yesterday. The pain was still as raw as the day I’d been told he was gone forever. A part of me just never believed that he did what he was accused of. I’d seen it with my own eyes, and even then, I just couldn’t think him responsible for killing my brother.
“Keep your head up, miss, and the day will pass by just like any other,” Serge said sagely. Laying my head against the leather, I closed my eyes.
I pulled my gaze from outside the window and nodded my head, offering Serge an appeasing smile. “It is just a hard day. That's all.”
Serge’s expression turned sympathetic in the rearview mirror. “Luka Tolstoi’s birthday,” he said, and I momentarily lost my breath just hearing those words out loud.
I stared down at my fidgeting fingers and nodded my head. It always pained me to think of Luka. Twenty-six years ago, the three Bratva bosses were all married and each had a son. Luka was born first, then Alik only a few months later. My brother Rodion and I followed a year later—we were twins. And finally, a year after that, Talia was born, Luka’s sister.
We all grew up together, the heirs of the New York Russian underground. We played together, spent
days together in school, or hid together in secret when a threat to our mafiya was made by a rival. It was during these years that I became obsessed with Luka Tolstoi. He, my brother Rodion, and Alik were tight, the three male heirs to the Bratva rule. Rodion was destined to lead, Alik was second to him and Luka the third and final heir.
Luka and I shared something special. From toddlers, we were best friends. Then as the years passed, I knew I had fallen in love with him. I may have only been a child, but I loved him completely. Heart-crushing love.
Mama always said the stars aligned when we were born, that God made us a match. From the first time we saw each other, Luka took me in his arms and swore his protection over me to my mother. Mama used to say she caught him staring into my crib only hours after I was born. Then when she asked what he was doing, he asked her if he could have me. My mama joked and told him it would be my choice when I was old enough to crawl, and from the minute I was old enough to crawl, my mama told me I only ever crawled to one boy… Luka Tolstoi.
I’d agreed to let him have me. After all, God had created us to match.
Luka had a kind smile and the most beautiful dark-brown eyes. But it was Luka’s upper left iris smudged with a small splash of blue that made our mothers think we were destined to be. Mama said God placed a piece of my eye within his so we would always know we shared one soul. Luka was my protector. I adored the way he always held me close, making me feel safe, especially from Alik.
Alik was jealous that Luka had my heart.
When the three boys became teenagers, it all went to shit. In one fateful night, I lost Rodion and my Luka, leaving Alik the sole heir. That was when he immediately staked his claim on me.
Still now, at twenty-five, I missed Luka as if he’d just died yesterday. The pain was still as raw as the day I’d been told he was gone forever. A part of me just never believed that he did what he was accused of. I’d seen it with my own eyes, and even then, I just couldn’t think him responsible for killing my brother.
“Keep your head up, miss, and the day will pass by just like any other,” Serge said sagely. Laying my head against the leather, I closed my eyes.
I was sick of so much loss… so much death.
About the Author
Amazon & USA Today Best Selling Author, Tillie Cole is a Northern girl through and through. She originates from a place called Teesside on that little but awesomely sunny (okay I exaggerate) Isle called Great Britain. She was brought up surrounded by her English rose mother — a farmer’s daughter, her crazy Scottish father, a savagely sarcastic sister and a multitude of rescue animals and horses.
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