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Red Wrath
Heroes always do good.
That’s what Lily believed until a superhero killed her parents. The news reported it as an accident. Lily knew otherwise.
On that fateful day, her life was shattered.
But how do you seek revenge against the most powerful man on the planet?
Lily’s obsession has meant giving up on friendships, love, and anything resembling a normal life. Now she’ll discover that some heroes will do anything to protect their secrets.
To accomplish her goals, she’ll need allies. But Lily has never played nice with others. She'll have to navigate the world of heroes and villains and discover for herself the price of making deadly enemies.
Filled with action and adventure, Red Wrath is a dark superhero thriller which will keep you turning the page!
"It's like if the Punisher tried to take down Superman."
That’s what Lily believed until a superhero killed her parents. The news reported it as an accident. Lily knew otherwise.
On that fateful day, her life was shattered.
But how do you seek revenge against the most powerful man on the planet?
Lily’s obsession has meant giving up on friendships, love, and anything resembling a normal life. Now she’ll discover that some heroes will do anything to protect their secrets.
To accomplish her goals, she’ll need allies. But Lily has never played nice with others. She'll have to navigate the world of heroes and villains and discover for herself the price of making deadly enemies.
Filled with action and adventure, Red Wrath is a dark superhero thriller which will keep you turning the page!
"It's like if the Punisher tried to take down Superman."
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2018
16 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Gerhard Gehrke
35 books88 followersGerhard Gehrke is the author of several science fiction novels including the best seller Refuge and The Minder’s War series, Nineveh's Child, A Beginner's Guide to Invading Earth, and the Supervillain High series.
He's written and produced for local TV and currently creates story content for a video game company.
You can keep up with him at gerhardgehrke.com.
When not writing, he can be found hiking the hills and trails of Northern California with his wife, looking for snakes, insects, and raptors to annoy, and poking dead things with a stick.
He's written and produced for local TV and currently creates story content for a video game company.
You can keep up with him at gerhardgehrke.com.
When not writing, he can be found hiking the hills and trails of Northern California with his wife, looking for snakes, insects, and raptors to annoy, and poking dead things with a stick.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 12, 2018
Superhero Abilities with Supersized Character Flaws Make this Book Fly
Once superheroes were unswervingly virtuous, while supervillains were, without exception, rotten to the core. It was all so simple – pure good vs. absolute evil. But that hasn’t been true for a while, with even Superman, the archetype for all superheroes, turning evil multiple times, sometimes from necessity, sometimes from choice. Author Gerhard Gehrke in Red Wrath focuses on that gray area where a superhero (Chronos) who is adored by the masses also has a dark, alter ego. And the main character, Lily (aka Jade or Red), is obsessed with getting even with him after he killed her parents in one of his dark fugues.
Along with superhuman abilities, author Gehrke bestows ‘supersized’ flaws in several of his characters. Chronos’ split personality has been mentioned, while Jade exhibits a near death wish in her pursuit of him. Reluctantly, she works with Carter, who’s equally obsessed with Chronos but nearly opposite in temperament. He probably would have never left his database of Chronos sightings had it not been for Jade. In fact, their extreme, yet complimentary defects are what makes their team work. And even the secondary characters get larger-than-life personalities, as you’ll probably never meet anyone as protective and dependent as Carter’s sister.
The additional spice added by these extremes helps hold interest, particularly in the first half of the book when the pace is somewhat deliberate. We learn a lot about Carter’s data and Jade’s seat-of-the-pants, assassination methods. But then, the pace becomes frenetic, as it seems no one can be trusted and disputes are settled by throwing cars or slamming someone through a wall. My only reservation about this action is that Jade exhausts all her will and energy just to make a miraculous comeback too often … much like a character that keeps coming back from the dead.
Finally, a word of caution to the potential reader if, like me, you use a book’s genre as a guide. This book was, at the time of this review, listed in the Greek and Roman mythology genre on Amazon. It is true that Chronos is found in Greek philosophy and literature as the personification of time, the forerunner of Father Time. But how Red Wrath is related to mythology escapes me. Maybe that’s coming in the next book of the series, but this one seems misclassified.
Overall, the bigger-than-life characters (superhumans and not) and the intense action in the book’s finale make it an enjoyable escape for an afternoon or two.
Once superheroes were unswervingly virtuous, while supervillains were, without exception, rotten to the core. It was all so simple – pure good vs. absolute evil. But that hasn’t been true for a while, with even Superman, the archetype for all superheroes, turning evil multiple times, sometimes from necessity, sometimes from choice. Author Gerhard Gehrke in Red Wrath focuses on that gray area where a superhero (Chronos) who is adored by the masses also has a dark, alter ego. And the main character, Lily (aka Jade or Red), is obsessed with getting even with him after he killed her parents in one of his dark fugues.
Along with superhuman abilities, author Gehrke bestows ‘supersized’ flaws in several of his characters. Chronos’ split personality has been mentioned, while Jade exhibits a near death wish in her pursuit of him. Reluctantly, she works with Carter, who’s equally obsessed with Chronos but nearly opposite in temperament. He probably would have never left his database of Chronos sightings had it not been for Jade. In fact, their extreme, yet complimentary defects are what makes their team work. And even the secondary characters get larger-than-life personalities, as you’ll probably never meet anyone as protective and dependent as Carter’s sister.
The additional spice added by these extremes helps hold interest, particularly in the first half of the book when the pace is somewhat deliberate. We learn a lot about Carter’s data and Jade’s seat-of-the-pants, assassination methods. But then, the pace becomes frenetic, as it seems no one can be trusted and disputes are settled by throwing cars or slamming someone through a wall. My only reservation about this action is that Jade exhausts all her will and energy just to make a miraculous comeback too often … much like a character that keeps coming back from the dead.
Finally, a word of caution to the potential reader if, like me, you use a book’s genre as a guide. This book was, at the time of this review, listed in the Greek and Roman mythology genre on Amazon. It is true that Chronos is found in Greek philosophy and literature as the personification of time, the forerunner of Father Time. But how Red Wrath is related to mythology escapes me. Maybe that’s coming in the next book of the series, but this one seems misclassified.
Overall, the bigger-than-life characters (superhumans and not) and the intense action in the book’s finale make it an enjoyable escape for an afternoon or two.
January 9, 2019
4.6 stars
A superhero book, heroine is interesting, the arch of the book is good, though more story to be had
Little girl has her parents killed by the most powerful superhero on the planet while fighting a super villain, she wants revenge. Here she gets her revenge.
A arch enemy a woman with endless male thug followers who travel around in a white vans and fights with a pike.
It's tough to do super hero battles, a hero who can dodge a bullet one moment but can't land a punch, physics bending reality is hard to balance this book did well but not perfect.
A superhero book, heroine is interesting, the arch of the book is good, though more story to be had
Little girl has her parents killed by the most powerful superhero on the planet while fighting a super villain, she wants revenge. Here she gets her revenge.
A arch enemy a woman with endless male thug followers who travel around in a white vans and fights with a pike.
It's tough to do super hero battles, a hero who can dodge a bullet one moment but can't land a punch, physics bending reality is hard to balance this book did well but not perfect.
February 10, 2019
This was an entertaining story about a girl determined to get revenge against the superhero who inadvertently killed her parents. Her life revolves around getting revenge to the point she has to do questionable things in order to keep her bills paid. The bulk of her time is spent tracking and plotting revenge on Chronos. This was a fun read with an interesting ending. I recommend this book for any fans of the superhero genre.
November 17, 2018
Great Ride
Ever wanted to “read” a comic in book form? This does that. This is the first superhero book I’ve read and it’s great. The author’s words make the comic pages appear in my head. An exciting read that primes you for the next installment. Lily is a great heroine, and I especially like how the story evolves in her words as it happens to her.
Ever wanted to “read” a comic in book form? This does that. This is the first superhero book I’ve read and it’s great. The author’s words make the comic pages appear in my head. An exciting read that primes you for the next installment. Lily is a great heroine, and I especially like how the story evolves in her words as it happens to her.
November 24, 2018
This story shows a different take on superheroes and supervillains. As such, it is very engrossing and kept me turning the pages up to the end - even at the cost of needed sleep - but oh so good, it was very much worth it. I highly recommend this book and I'm hoping for more!!!
I received this book as an ARC and I am voluntarily giving you my honest opinion.
I received this book as an ARC and I am voluntarily giving you my honest opinion.
November 26, 2018
Book one
Mistakes: none found that weren't intentional speech patterns.
Plot: It's not every day you find a book where the hero sets out to kill another hero.
Characters: the MC has her issues and that is what makes her interesting. The alien part wasn't much of a twist and could have been left out. I think it hurt this book. We shall see in book two.
7.5/10
Mistakes: none found that weren't intentional speech patterns.
Plot: It's not every day you find a book where the hero sets out to kill another hero.
Characters: the MC has her issues and that is what makes her interesting. The alien part wasn't much of a twist and could have been left out. I think it hurt this book. We shall see in book two.
7.5/10
December 4, 2018
This was a bit slow burning to start with but soon developed into an exciting page turner. Our heroine Lily (AKA Jade) looks on as a Superhero called Chronos kills her parents. She wants revenge, does she get it? Read it and see. A good plot with a twist.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next in series Blue Mercy.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next in series Blue Mercy.
May 10, 2022
Nice capes read
This had Good punchy prose.Also had had heroine who did not overload the reader with snarky one liners.Will read the sequel.
This had Good punchy prose.Also had had heroine who did not overload the reader with snarky one liners.Will read the sequel.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews