Iva Readit has reviewed both, House of Steel and House of Fire by Raen Smith.
Iva rates the Unraveled series as it currently stands as an impressive
House of Steel (Book 1 ~ Unraveled Series)
by Raen Smith
Synopsis
Life has a way of coming undone. One single moment can set the undoing in motion, unraveling our neat, tiny stitch of life. For young art professor Delaney Jones, the treacherous spiral begins when she makes one unforgivable mistake - she sleeps with her student. Her silent Wisconsin winter turns deadly after she witnesses the brutal murder of a man she had fought hard to forget. As Delaney battles to deal with the undoing of her tight-stitched life, the small liberal arts university is devastated by the discovery of a bloody crime scene on campus. A mysterious text entangles her in the violent scandal, and Delaney must follow the rules of the anonymous messenger to stop the perpetuating descent toward death. But the line between good and evil is blurry. And maybe, just maybe, there is no line at all.
Iva's Review
Raen Smith's House of Steel is a terrific suspense novel with twists and turns in every chapter that make it difficult to put down.
Delaney Jones is a 28 year old Art Professor at Leighton University, Wisconsin. Lonely and hurting from her past she makes the devastating error of sleeping with a student. Reeling from this mistake, Delaney is desperate to put it behind her and concentrate on her brother's wedding. But when her car becomes stuck in snow drift during the drive home, she is confronted with a ghost from the past and a man who knows all her horrifying secrets, despite having never met her. Unsure what to do, Delaney finds herself entangled in a web of murder and mystery with the only instructions on how to possibly unravel herself coming in the form of text messages from the enigmatic V.
House of Steel is written from two different perspectives with beautiful flowing prose weaved with emotional undertones. You feel the loneliness and despair of the characters, the tiny rays of hope and the weight of their problems in every word.
Delaney Jones is a woman with a broken past who is unable to break through the walls she has erected around herself. She has relied on herself for so long, making some questionable decisions, that it is easy to imagine how she gets herself lured into the situation contained within the book.
Raen Smith's V character is an enigma throughout the book. She comes across as cold and calculating in her need for revenge but you get the sense of the moral virtue underlying her actions. Other characters are well developed and provide necessary insight into the main characters as well as helping the story to unfold.
The dialogue is brilliant and captures each character flawlessly which really brings each scene contained within the story to life. The plot is riveting with twists and turns, which at times are predictable, but at other times not so much, that it gives it a more realistic and believable storyline.
This is a genre I haven't enjoyed for a while but this book has finally put it back on my reading list, with this author one I will always seek out. (Wouldn't be surprised if this book ends up as a movie.)
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| Read if you liked The girl with the Dragon Tattoo. |
House of Fire (Book 2 ~ Unraveled Series)
by Raen Smith
Synopsis
Five months after Evie Parker’s disappearance, Delaney Jones is dangerously close to leading a normal life with a cancer-free mother, a successful career, and a gorgeous, loving boyfriend. But there’s one hitch: she breathes, sleeps, and eats under the watchful eyes of Holston Parker, a villainous billionaire.
The spring semester at Leighton University has ended, and Delaney is determined to rid Holston from her life – for good. As she digs deeper to uncover his secrets, she finds a tangled web of police corruption and mysterious disappearances. And when the grand opening of Parker Tower brings her mother face-to-face with Holston Parker, her family’s buried past threatens to emerge. Just as Delaney thinks she’s on her own, Evie returns to finish what she started. But time is running out as Holston is about to make his final move, stopping at nothing to get what he wants.
Iva's Review
House of Fire continues the story of Delaney and Evie as they chase the elusive threads of their past and Holston Parker, the man who stands at the centre of it all. It is now 5 months after the ending of House of Steel and Delaney's life has, on the surface, improved remarkably. Underneath however, Delaney is suffocating under the constant watch of Holston Parker. Her need to dissolve this threat has her searching the past and, together with Evie, they make some startling discoveries.
Once again the story weaves a web of intrigue that has you unable to put the book down. Tension builds slowly in the beginning chapters but by the end of the book you are ready to combust. The ending is spectacular giving the reader enough to feel satisfied with the conclusion but still hungry enough to want to read a little more.
Raen Smith has continued telling her story from both Delaney and Evie's perspective with emotive prose. Characters are impressive and come to life with detailed descriptions and fitting dialogue.
Delaney has grown from the first book into a woman with substance. The loneliness that seeped from her narrative in the first book has gone and instead we have a woman who will no longer let others have the upper hand in her life.
Evie's need for revenge is still fierce but she is a little more open than she was in House of Steel. She still has that mysterious undertone in her character but you can sense that Evie's beginning to see a little bit beyond her ultimate goal of ending Holston Parker's life.
Minor characters continue to strengthen the story. Raen Smith gives each of them as much thought and detail as her major characters. Some characters are so well written you can smell them!
With House of Fire the author has managed to pull off a second book that is just as good as the first book. The conclusions in this book are awesome, the characters growth and adjustments well written and the story - just brilliant!
Even if this is not your usual genre, you should read this series. You won't be disappointed.
Links
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