Running Scared

Great paranormal romance. Strong females, delicious, flawed males. This author writes pretty good action scenes.

Running Scared continues the search for more Theronai women and focuses on the much awaited Zach and Lexie story. Lexie was introduced to us in the first book as the feisty waitress friend of Helen's. Lexie has been running since the first book but has been running all her life. Lexie's mom kept a journal of all things she knew about the Sentinel and how to protect yourself from being found by them. Lexie has some pretty distorted ideas about the Sentinels and that just makes things harder for everyone. So, she finally decides she no longer wants to run away from Zach. She actually decides she will trick Zach into thinking she is giving in but actually wants to go back to the compound and blow it up. Apparently there are humans out there, the Defenders of Humanity, that know about the Sentinels and are not happy with them taking up battles on their once prosperous farms, rendering them useless after the battle. The Sentinels kill Synestryns and because everything about the Synestryns is evil and toxic any place they die at dies with them. The Defenders of Humanity have had enough and their radical leader wants to do anything possible to get rid of the Sentinels and at any cost.

I have to say I loved the beginning. I loved the end... Ummm the middle...not so much. The author stayed true to her M.O. and started the book with lots of action. The ending wrapped some loose ends and nicely too but also started some new loose ends. As I mentioned before, Lexie calls Zach to come and meet up with her in Texas. Now, she makes this phone call at the end of book 2 and makes it sound like the Synestryn are after her. She was scared and hung up mid through conversation. Tell me why Zach shows up in Texas a week later! What?! Ok... I let that slide because the rest of the beginning was better. Zach sits Lexie down and tells her everything about the Theronai men dying and needing the Theronai women to survive. He tells her that in time they can come to love one another through their bond but that she can actually choose to love another and still be bonded with him to fight the war. The interaction between Zach and Lexie in the beginning was a lot more real to me than the other books because he took the time to explain things to Lexie and pretty much said hey, I can't promise you love but the truth of this whole thing is I need you to survive because of a, b and c.

The middle of the book was slow... Really slow and man was I irritated by some of the writing. By the middle of the book Zach has already been told by Lexie some of the things her mother told her. For example, Lexie believes that the Sentinels keep the Synestryn as pets. Lexie also believes that Sentinels want to torture humans and enslave them. Again, this has been engraved into Lexie's brain since she could comprehend it by her mother. It also didn't help that she saw her mother her mother in pieces after a Synestryn attack. Zach tells her that the Sentinels kill Synestryn and they are definitely not kept as pets. Zach tells Lexie that they are bound to protect humans and the Earth and the gate to the other world. Zach tells Lexie they are the good guys. In fact Lexie starts to notice things on her own and states that Zach doesn't behave like the monster her mother spoke of. Zach even takes Lexie to the compound Dabyr to see for herself that they house humans and take care of them, that they are good people.
So here is where my frustration sets in BIG TIME. Here is I start to lose faith in the writer and in my desire to continue with this story... Lexie walks the ground at Dabyr and sees all the happy humans lounging and living a good life. Lexie speaks to Helen and the little old lady she met at the dinner in book one. They both tell her how happy they are and how much good is being done in Dabyr. A reluctant, pig headed, mighty stubborn, close minded Lexie starts to believe in the truth and decides she is going to tell Zach about the plan she and the Defenders of Humanity came up with to blow them all up to pieces. She tells Zach everything. He asks her how did she meet them, how long had she known them and some other questions. He finally tells her that this is huge and that although he believes that she is not going to kill them anymore he can't vouch for her because they haven't made much progress on their connection. Without the connection he can't see in her head to see that it's the truth she speaks. Zach has to bring in his leader and that it won't be pretty. So Joseph comes to talk to Lexie and here is where I LOSE IT! Joseph and Zach both start to interrogate Lexie and do you know that Zach asks Lexie the same question that he did before getting Joseph and asks them as if it's the first time he's asking and hearing the answer?! Oh and let's not forget that Lexie goes into her whole story about her mother telling her that Synestryns are the Sentinel's pets. When Joseph gives her the crazy look she says “ What? They're not?”!! GOOD FREAKIN' GRIEF! She already knows they are not because Zach told her in the first third of the book not to mention she say him kill a few already. WTH man!

That is starting to really bug me because I expect the author to know the world she/he has created. I expect the author to want me to want to be a part of that world as much as she/he is and the characters are. I expect the author to be consistent and not have me read something like she wrote one part and then sat it down for about a year and picked it up back again and started typing the rest of the story up from where she thought she/he left off. I mean come on! I'm sorry I do expect the author to keep notes and to know what they heck they have covered in the previous books. I remember those details why can't they?


We come to the end where Lexie and Shannon K Butcher redeem themselves totally. Definitely liked it. I thought it was going one totally different way than it did and that was a great surprise!
I still don't like Andra. I really don't like her. I think it has to do with how the author chooses to express Andra. Andra just seems like a brute to me. A female brute. Still digging Nika and Madoc. Liking the whole Grace and Torr story. The author introduces a few new characters and I'm curious in seeing where she takes this, unless of course she ticks me off again and I have to reconsider finishing the series or at least giving it a break.

I give this book a 4 because of the beginning and the end. I give this book a 4 because of the world she has created and the potential it has to be great. I also gave it a 4 because of Zach and the sometimes annoying Lexie. That middle part was a straight up 1 only cause I can't give it a 0...

I'm done with my rant. On to the next one. :-)