BOOK REVIEW- SHADOW FALLING (Scorpius Syndrome) by Rebecca Zanetti

Before the Scorpius Syndrome tore through North America and nearly wiped out the population, Vivienne Wellington was the FBI’s best profiler. The bacteria got her anyway. But she survived. She recovered. And when she woke up from a drug-nightmare of captivity, her trust in her fellow man had gone from shaky at best to nonexistent. Her mysterious rescuer wants to convince her he’s the exception. But no matter how tempting he is, with his angel’s eyes and devil’s tongue, Vinnie knows she shouldn’t trust him.

If the FBI were still around they would rate Raze Shadow as one of the bad guys. His military training can’t wipe out his association with the Mercenaries, the most feared gang in a thousand miles. His loyalties are compromised. He won’t even tell Vinnie his real name. But there’s no FBI in the new America of fear and firepower, only instinct and risk. And the way his arms wrap around her tells its own story. Whatever else Raze is concealing, he can’t hide his desire . . .AMAZON 5 STARS

Amazing, simply amazing.  Where does this author get this stuff?  You almost feel like you are in the middle of it all.  If you know going in that it's going to be gritty, sometimes dark, everyone with their own agenda trying to survive then you should be okay with reading this book.  But there will be high tension, edge of your seat action pretty much throughout the book.  Even when the  leadership in Vanguard Territory know their enemies, there is also another surprise that comes out of the woodwork.  

Not only does this book have all the deep action, fighting, chasing and being chased, it also has pretty good character development. 
Jax Mercury and Lynne Harmony are still a big part of this story as well because of course he is the leader of the Vanguard group. It was good to see that continue having been introduced to them in a prior book.  That said, I think a new reader wouldn't have that much trouble getting right into it.  But they might enjoy it even more if they had read Jax and Lynne's story first, it just would have given even more depth.  It's not a deal breaker though.  

I think the author did a great job of getting it across to the reader just how hard it was to survive in this new world.  They had to scrounge for everything and even finding lotion was a huge unexpected luxury.  

Now getting down to the main characters of this book.  Vivienne Wellington,  still suffering nightmares and flashbacks from the torture at the hands of the self-appointed president.  All the heavy duty drugs that were pumped into her during that time, make her wonder half the time if she is even in her right mind.  The first chapter starts out with a bang, really showing her terror.  

Raze is a highly skilled, highly valued warrior in the Vanguard compound but trusted?  No, he has too many secrets and Jax just knows he's got his own agenda going on.  He's just not sure what it was.  Yet.  He just knew that if it endangered his people, he would end him.  Vinnie ever the profiler knew that he was dangerous and he's hiding things but still can't stay away from him.  Against all common sense, she trusts him to keep her safe.

There are plenty of other people in the story who are of interest but I didn't feel overwhelmed by their addition.  One person I would like to see more of and maybe to understand more about is Lena.  A little girl who doesn't speak but does give odd rummaged small gifts that seem to be prophetic in nature. 

Around Chapter 34, I'm going, "No, no no."Things took on an even more dangerous turn.  I think I actually gasped and took a breath in as I read it.  

I'm going to take a small breather and then look up the next book which had a small excerpt in the back of this book.  "Justice Ascending" is about Tace Justice who has been a supporting character through out most of the books.  And there have been hints about Sami and now it sounds like she has some MAJOR secrets that could really turn things upside down.  The two of them together could be really explosive.