Ravage by Tillie Cole Series: Scarred Souls, #3
Published by St. Martin's Griffin Publication Date: August 16th 2016
Pages: 336
Also in this series: Riot
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Taken by the Jakhua Clan as a teen, 194 was stripped of his name, his identity, and his freewill, meticulously honed to be a ruthless, soulless killing machine, trained solely to spill blood and stop hearts. This is a role he resents with every fiber of his being, but one he embraces to gain back the precious leverage the Georgians wield as their weapon of control: his younger sister, 152.
Mzia Kostava is in shock. After fleeing her mafia family's massacre in Georgia as a child, Mzia lives in secret, hiding from her enemies in the dark shadows of Manhattan. At age twenty-five, believing all her family is dead, word reaches Mzia that her brother Zaal is very much alive... and living with their family's greatest enemy: the Volkov Bratva in Brooklyn.
Yearning to be reunited with her beloved Zaal, Mzia risks her safety and anonymity for the brother she had mourned since childhood. But just as she reaches Zaal's apartment, Mzia is seized and taken captive by a strange man, who is strong, dark, and brutal... Unyielding, he demands her utter obedience as he locks her away in darkness. He is highly skilled in torture and inflicting pain, and demands to know everything about her brother Zaal and everything about her. He is a man that'll do anything to get what he wants.
Sometimes love requires the sacrifice and betrayal of those held most dear. But is finding one's true love worth committing the greatest sacrifice of all?
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
This is my first Tillie Cole novel and what a book it is. The third book in the Sacred Souls series this story is frustrating, extremely dark and so very interesting all rolled up into one. Not having read the first 2 books in the series I was a little worried that I would not be able to follow along but I am happy to say I could and in all honesty that was the least of my worries once I started reading Ravage.
Zoya Kostava has seen her fair share of devastation, after watching her family gunned down in her home country of Georgia she shouldn’t be alive, but she did survive and was taken to the US where she has been in hiding for the last 20 years. Now it turns out that her brother she thought had been long dead is very much alive and as she tries to determine what has been happening she is kidnapped by a man who knows nothing except the pain and suffering he inflicts on his prey, a definite beast.
194 is a killer something he has been trained for all his life when his Mistress assigns him to kill Zoya’s brother and anyone who gets in his way he finds Zoya to be the perfect target to fulfill his mission. He kidnaps her, tortures her to get information but the more time he spends with Zoya the more she sees through the beast and starts to see the man – Valentin he is. Now can he protect her and himself from his capturers to save them all?
One thing that I have to say about reading this story is that Tillie Cole doesn’t hold back in any way. The scenes of torture between 194 and Zoya are graphic, scary and in some cases extremely hard to read. There are quite a few flashback scenes that are also so vivid that I felt I could see exactly what the author wanted me to in my mind. When the story starts to shift and 194 starts to become Valentin the love story between Zoya that is equally difficult though since the story is told in dual POV’s you start to understand why Zoya feels the way she does and why Valentin is really doing this. The writing is well done in trying to humanize the story though I will say it takes a little while to get there and when you think everything is ok the graphic nature of the novel starts again. There is a lot of history between all the characters and in some cases a little difficult to follow but the true heart of this story, Zoya and Valentin is what drives it all and that I did enjoy.
After reading this I will go back and read the first two books and there is a fourth novel that I am extremely curious about so after all is said and done I do recommend Ravage.
