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House Phoenix #2
Devil's Honor
New alliances are formed, dark secrets are revealed, and bonds formed through pain are put to the ultimate test in the second installment of the House Phoenix series...
DEVIL'S HONOR
For all his life, Shiro Kuroda has served the Harada empire--first in Japan, and now in America as a fighter in the organization that spans New York's underground. He also works closely with his sempai, Jenner--a secretive man whose sadistic cruelty is legendary.
Technically, Shiro is Harada's chief assassin, but his deadly skills have never been called into service. Until now.
When Shiro is ordered to hunt down an enemy whose lethal abilities match his own, he is forced to close himself off from those he trusts--his sempai, and his close friend Angel--because his adversary will use any means necessary to stop him. Even if it means going through the people he cares for.
Meanwhile, Angel and Jenner struggle with an uneasy truce, working together reluctantly to help Shiro--before time runs out for all of them.
Devil's Honor is a tense and twisted suspense thriller, with explosive action and shocking revelations.
DEVIL'S HONOR
For all his life, Shiro Kuroda has served the Harada empire--first in Japan, and now in America as a fighter in the organization that spans New York's underground. He also works closely with his sempai, Jenner--a secretive man whose sadistic cruelty is legendary.
Technically, Shiro is Harada's chief assassin, but his deadly skills have never been called into service. Until now.
When Shiro is ordered to hunt down an enemy whose lethal abilities match his own, he is forced to close himself off from those he trusts--his sempai, and his close friend Angel--because his adversary will use any means necessary to stop him. Even if it means going through the people he cares for.
Meanwhile, Angel and Jenner struggle with an uneasy truce, working together reluctantly to help Shiro--before time runs out for all of them.
Devil's Honor is a tense and twisted suspense thriller, with explosive action and shocking revelations.
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2010
4 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
S.W. Vaughn
33 books138 followersS.W. Vaughn lives in "scenic" Central New York, with its two glorious seasons -- winter and road construction -- along with her husband and son. An award-winning author, copywriter, and blogger, she's been writing professionally for over 15 years.
Under Sonya Bateman, she is the author of the DeathSpeaker Codex series (urban fantasy) and the Gavyn Donatti series (urban fantasy / Simon & Schuster).
Under Sonya Bateman, she is the author of the DeathSpeaker Codex series (urban fantasy) and the Gavyn Donatti series (urban fantasy / Simon & Schuster).
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 23, 2012
In the second book of the House of Phoenix series, Angel has made a name for himself as a fighter and has decided to start his own House - House of Phoenix. Angel uses the money from his fighting to establish a gym and paid Marcus Slade, the leader of House Ulysses, an exorbitant sum to take his lieutenant, Jenner, from him. Jenner is the man who spent a year physically and mentally torturing Angel in Book 1. Also in book one, Angel befriended a fighter from House Pandora, Shiro Kuroda, known in the ring as Akuma. Shiro is tasked by his house leader, Tomi Harada, to rid themselves of an assassin or to create Seppuku - death by ritual suicide. With time running out, Shiro must track down this assassin before he kills again. Unable to request help from his friend Angel or Jenner, Shiro must succeed in order to retain both his honor and his life.
I thought this was a good book in this series and I appreciated that the book was not just about Shiro, but gave us a lot more information about Angel, Jenner, and some other fighters and leaders as well. I enjoyed this book in the House of Phoenix series.
As a UFC fan, I would like to mention that this book would be a little more legitimate if there were some mention about actual fighting styles and techniques. While the author does a good job describing various holds, throws, and punches, she never uses any of the technical terms for any of these or mentions any of the myriad of fighting styles that are out there (rear naked chokes, arm bars, roundhouse kicks, hammer fists). I could easily see House Pandora using various asian martial arts - Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, etc. Maybe House Prometheus would use some Gracie style of fighting, or House Phoenix would use a more street style like Krav Maga.
I would also like to state for the record, that this book is listed as M/M but there is so far nothing M/M related in the series.
I thought this was a good book in this series and I appreciated that the book was not just about Shiro, but gave us a lot more information about Angel, Jenner, and some other fighters and leaders as well. I enjoyed this book in the House of Phoenix series.
As a UFC fan, I would like to mention that this book would be a little more legitimate if there were some mention about actual fighting styles and techniques. While the author does a good job describing various holds, throws, and punches, she never uses any of the technical terms for any of these or mentions any of the myriad of fighting styles that are out there (rear naked chokes, arm bars, roundhouse kicks, hammer fists). I could easily see House Pandora using various asian martial arts - Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, etc. Maybe House Prometheus would use some Gracie style of fighting, or House Phoenix would use a more street style like Krav Maga.
I would also like to state for the record, that this book is listed as M/M but there is so far nothing M/M related in the series.
September 24, 2012
Eh, it was an okay book, but the main problem was after the first one, I was only really interested in what happened between Gabriel/Angel and Jenner. I'm not going to say it's not the author's fault because partly it is. (The author should have written enough of Shiro that we'd want to know more about him, something like that) I think this seemed like mostly a non sequitur to the first book.
I ended up skimming most of the book. (The way I see it, a certain number of plots are possible, but only a very few - maybe even only one - is truly feasible, especially within certain genres. As such, I don't really read for plot but for characterization and character development. I didn't think Shiro was that interesting. I didn't think any of them were that interesting, with a few exeptions. Gabriel kind of, but Jenner definitely.)
Vaughn makes the mistake (yes, I'm going to call it a mistake) of splitting off the plots between the characters. They are somewhat connected, but not nearly interconnected enough that each is necessarily to the other. As such, she - in a way - makes it okay for us to ignore the other character. It's the same thing that happened in Lord of the Isles. The only difference is Vaughn keeps it only to a few characters and the rest of the plot is predicable enough that I can deduce what happens from the glimpses I get as I'm reading about Jenner.
I ended up skimming most of the book. (The way I see it, a certain number of plots are possible, but only a very few - maybe even only one - is truly feasible, especially within certain genres. As such, I don't really read for plot but for characterization and character development. I didn't think Shiro was that interesting. I didn't think any of them were that interesting, with a few exeptions. Gabriel kind of, but Jenner definitely.)
Vaughn makes the mistake (yes, I'm going to call it a mistake) of splitting off the plots between the characters. They are somewhat connected, but not nearly interconnected enough that each is necessarily to the other. As such, she - in a way - makes it okay for us to ignore the other character. It's the same thing that happened in Lord of the Isles. The only difference is Vaughn keeps it only to a few characters and the rest of the plot is predicable enough that I can deduce what happens from the glimpses I get as I'm reading about Jenner.
December 21, 2014
Not as good as the first one. Jenner comes off as a big (well, skinny, but...) teddy bear, yet the author tries to convince us otherwise - cold and ruthless and terror-inducing. I haven't seen it, though. Not in this book and very little in the first.
I would have liked to know more about Shonen. What the heck was his problem? It's all hush-hush and not very informative. Why did he turn on Harada? There is little to none on that in the story.
There are some other minor issues, but on the whole I liked the book. Wonder if Angel will ever end up with Jenner =)
3.75 stars.
I would have liked to know more about Shonen. What the heck was his problem? It's all hush-hush and not very informative. Why did he turn on Harada? There is little to none on that in the story.
There are some other minor issues, but on the whole I liked the book. Wonder if Angel will ever end up with Jenner =)
3.75 stars.
July 25, 2017
In the second book of the House of Phoenix series, Angel has made a name for himself as a fighter and has decided to start his own House - House of Phoenix. Angel uses the money from his fighting to establish a gym and paid Marcus Slade, the leader of House Ulysses, an exorbitant sum to take his lieutenant, Jenner, from him. Jenner is the man who spent a year physically and mentally torturing Angel in Book 1. Also in book one, Angel befriended a fighter from House Pandora, Shiro Kuroda, known in the ring as Akuma. Shiro is tasked by his house leader, Tomi Harada, to rid themselves of an assassin or to create Seppuku - death by ritual suicide. With time running out, Shiro must track down this assassin before he kills again. Unable to request help from his friend Angel or Jenner, Shiro must succeed in order to retain both his honor and his life.
I thought this was a good book in this series and I appreciated that the book was not just about Shiro, but gave us a lot more information about Angel, Jenner, and some other fighters and leaders as well. I enjoyed this book in the House of Phoenix series.
As a UFC fan, I would like to mention that this book would be a little more legitimate if there were some mention about actual fighting styles and techniques. While the author does a good job describing various holds, throws, and punches, she never uses any of the technical terms for any of these or mentions any of the myriad of fighting styles that are out there (rear naked chokes, arm bars, roundhouse kicks, hammer fists). I could easily see House Pandora using various asian martial arts - Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, etc. Maybe House Prometheus would use some Gracie style of fighting, or House Phoenix would use a more street style like Krav Maga.
I would also like to state for the record, that this book is listed as M/M but there is so far nothing M/M related in the series.
I thought this was a good book in this series and I appreciated that the book was not just about Shiro, but gave us a lot more information about Angel, Jenner, and some other fighters and leaders as well. I enjoyed this book in the House of Phoenix series.
As a UFC fan, I would like to mention that this book would be a little more legitimate if there were some mention about actual fighting styles and techniques. While the author does a good job describing various holds, throws, and punches, she never uses any of the technical terms for any of these or mentions any of the myriad of fighting styles that are out there (rear naked chokes, arm bars, roundhouse kicks, hammer fists). I could easily see House Pandora using various asian martial arts - Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, etc. Maybe House Prometheus would use some Gracie style of fighting, or House Phoenix would use a more street style like Krav Maga.
I would also like to state for the record, that this book is listed as M/M but there is so far nothing M/M related in the series.
June 2, 2013
3.5/5
I think, Shiro wasn't the best character for me to enjoy. I do love Gabriel aka Angel and Jenner, but Shiro was a pure contradiction in himself.
First of all, he is this stoic Japanese character determined to serve his master with honor. On the other hand he suddenly develops these inexplicable bouts of rage where he kills one fighter because he calls him a derogatory name, and nearly beats to death a homeless person for repeating the same offence. WTF? is all I can say.
The other confusing part of Shiro, was his split personality between lily white Shiro and demonic Akuma, which wasn't explained well at all. The character development wasn't helped by giving almost equal parts in the plot to larger than life Angel and a very scary and mysterious Jenner, so Shiro had to fight not to fade into the background with these two.
Otherwise the plot is straightforward and continues the story started in the book #1 really well. Devil's Honor is not the best instalment of the lot, but it still makes me want to continue with this unique series.
By the way, the book is shelved as MM Romance which is totally not what this is all about.
I think, Shiro wasn't the best character for me to enjoy. I do love Gabriel aka Angel and Jenner, but Shiro was a pure contradiction in himself.
First of all, he is this stoic Japanese character determined to serve his master with honor. On the other hand he suddenly develops these inexplicable bouts of rage where he kills one fighter because he calls him a derogatory name, and nearly beats to death a homeless person for repeating the same offence. WTF? is all I can say.
The other confusing part of Shiro, was his split personality between lily white Shiro and demonic Akuma, which wasn't explained well at all. The character development wasn't helped by giving almost equal parts in the plot to larger than life Angel and a very scary and mysterious Jenner, so Shiro had to fight not to fade into the background with these two.
Otherwise the plot is straightforward and continues the story started in the book #1 really well. Devil's Honor is not the best instalment of the lot, but it still makes me want to continue with this unique series.
By the way, the book is shelved as MM Romance which is totally not what this is all about.
July 24, 2011
This series is really worth the read. Not a romance. Pure adventure and suspense. Brilliant!
February 2, 2022
second book honour and loyalty.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews