Today, I’m reviewing Extrication and Virama, books one and two in the Veiled Eliminator series by fellow eXasty Books authors Gabrielle Bradley and Taryn Jameson.
Series: Veiled Eliminators
Books: Extrication, Virama, Recreancy, Evanescent
Authors: Gabriella Bradley and Taryn Jameson
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Romance, Adult
Blurb: Earth is a cesspool of poverty and disease ruled over by one government, the World Leadership Organization, known as WLO. They will do anything to protect the wealthy, including sanction and fund the Institute—a highly classified facility that experiments on children and babies, then trains them to become emotionless killers.
Ripped from their families, sold, stolen, or kidnapped off the streets, these children and babies become the tools of the Institute and WLO to eliminate those that stand in the way of furthering their intergalactic agenda.
They are the Veiled Eliminators.
We are unique. We are the best. There is no one on Earth like us, and there never will be. We will succeed. We are strong beyond belief. We are the eliminators, and no one can touch us.
****
Series: Veiled Eliminators, #1
Books: Extrication
Authors: Gabriella Bradley and Taryn Jameson
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Romance, Adult
Extrications are dangerous, and Two is willing to risk it all to escape the Institute.
Blurb: Two is an eliminator, a trained assassin. She has one mission—enter the portal, eliminate a rogue general, then activate her microchip to wipe her memory. But she knows a secret that would rock the foundations of the Institute’s training program. Armed with only a tiny dagger, and the truth of their future, she enlists the help of her partner, Four, to escape their fate.
I never read a science fiction/fantasy romance before, so I was looking forward to digging into the series when I won the first two books in a contest at the Book Carousel (a Facebook Group where eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies readers and authors gather to participate in games, giveaways, contests, etc.)
Since part of my blog is dedicated to reviewing books, I looked forward to reading Extrication.
The series blurb and book blurb say it all, so I’ll get right to the review. First, I’ve been reading a lot of books lately that are co-authored, and I must confess this is new to me, and something that I’m enjoying, because I can’t tell which author is writing which part. Bravo to this duo. They did a great job combining their own voices to blend as one for Extrication.
As for the plot, this was rock solid. I enjoyed the background I was fed that wasn’t overkill. It was simply enough to explain to me the setting and dilemma of Two’s mission. She has her misgivings, and she’s not happy about it, but she’s accepting because this is how she’s been trained since the age of five, I do believe.
Two has a wonderful arc. She goes from an accepting trainee to a woman fighting for her individual rights. And she has help from Four, a man from the men’s institute that’s been appointed to aid her.
As for the heads of the Institute, Schultz and Schmidt are perfect antagonists. Schultz is pure greed, running the Institute to feed his own agenda. While Schmidt actually believes he’s doing something good for mankind, which makes him the more dangerous of the two, since he can’t see that what he’s doing is wrong.
There is one disturbing scene, and Two had my complete sympathy. But she held up strong through it, and this is because of her training.
Since this is a novella, the authors couldn’t dig too deep into the psyche of the characters because the pace has to stay on target of 66k words. But the exploration into Two and Four’s evolution was more than satisfactory. I closed the book, very curious and wanting to read the next installment, so the authors did their job: They kept me reading and ready to open the next book in the series. Bravo!
I highly recommend Extrication. You won’t regret your purchase.
****
Series: Veiled Eliminators, #2
Books: Virama
Authors: Gabriella Bradley and Taryn Jameson
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Romance, Adult
She is an emotionless killer, a virama. Her mission—eliminate the traitors.
Blurb: Seventeen knew no other existence but the Institute and its training program. Trained as an assassin since she was a toddler, she must now face the ultimate test—locate the traitors, Two and Four, and exterminate them.
For years, Seventeen has longed to escape the Institute, but a one-way ticket to Brevona was not her idea of freedom. To make matters worse, her targets were two of their own—Two, a young woman she considered family, and Four, a trainee from the male division. Sometimes you had to take what you could get, and a life outside the Institute was worth it, no matter the cost.
Virama picks up where Extrication left off, so I do recommend reading the full series. Seventeen is tasked with eliminating Two and Four. She has no misgivings about what she’s doing. This is what she’s been trained to do since she was a toddler. And she’s been told Two and Four are traitors.
Just as Two in the previous novel, Seventeen has a great character arc. Kept within the confines of the Institute, her memories erased, and forced to live a life created by the devious Shultz and scientist Schmidt, Seventeen has no idea about what life can truly be if she were able to make her own choices, freely love, discover, and learn, and she’s given this opportunity on Brevona. Seventeen knows the life she leads isn’t what she desires, so she has big choices to make. The authors do this well as Seventeen undertakes her mission.
The plot is tight. And fast-paced. And there’s quite the cliff-hanger come the end of the novel.
Again, Bradley and Jameson bring the reader into a well-painted world with their words. The decisions the characters make is spot on. There is even some romance, but it doesn’t get too deep as it did in the previous novel.
This is a wonderful series crafted by the authors. Each heroine gets her own story but there is a plot within the series that ties all of the books together.
I haven’t read the other two yet, but I will so in the near future.
Do yourself a favour and pick up the series. You won’t regret it.
Have you read the Veiled Eliminators Series? Do you agree with my review? And if you haven’t read the series, are you willing to give it a try?
Maggie Blackbird 