Guest Rating: 5/5🏅
Book Summary:
RuNyx mixes the dangerous underbelly of the mafia and the different faces love takes, with the reality of the effects that childhood trauma can have on an adult. In her Dark Verse series, we first meet Morana Vitalio, the daughter of a mafia member, along with Tristan Caine, the dark shadow that's been following her all her life. The Predator introduces the Dark Verse, a world filled with mafia monsters, and even more terrifying humans that hold power and money, and gain all they have through the skin trade. Tristan Caine is in search of his sister who was taken from him when she was an infant and has a burning hatred for Morana who doesn’t know why. I think that mystery in itself first pulls you into the book. Solving the mystery with Morana, an intelligent computer hacker who gets pulled into Tristan’s life when codes of an important nature get taken from her.
Non-Spoiler Review:
RuNyx was made for storytelling. With high-quality writing, she uses the dark, twisted, and haunting emotions of Tristan Caine, along with the bright and energetic light of Morana to pull together a tale of how love looks through the eyes of someone broken and only just beginning to find a glimpse of peace. We learn the extent of Tristan’s trauma and how that has broken him into pieces his whole life. I will say that RuNyx pulls you into her world, buries you deep in the intricate web she weaves between past and present, and leaves you hanging on a cliff desperately reaching for the next book to put you on level ground again.
Spoiler Review:
Tristan and Morana don’t like each other, they don’t even wish to be in the same room as one another as we begin this story but the universe pushes them together, which causes a tense atmosphere fuelled with passion and hate. There is a lot of hate sex in this book. Tristan is only now learning how to communicate and Morana is fighting to understand why all his hate and anger is pointed at her. It is at the end of the story when things really explode. We learn that Tristan’s little sister and Morana were both snatched by human traffickers as babies but only Morana came back. This is where we really start to understand and see where the second book is headed as these two desperately seek answers in all aspects of their relationship.
*This is an adult romance mafia series with mature content. Please consult content warnings before reading*
