Review: Mars on the Rise by Rae Gee

         Title: Mars on the Rise

Author: Rae Gee

                      Publisher: Torquere Press, Inc.

                         Publication Date: April 24, 2012

                                  Source: received from author for review

* This is definitely a 18 +over read.  Explicit sexual scenes.

Goodreads Blurb:

A storyteller steps off a pier and into a world of steampunk oddities, fearsome weapons, and a dangerous man. Promised fame and fortune by the country's largest weapons manufacturer, Cedo gratefully falls into the arms of Erus Veetu. Dark, dangerous and with nothing to lose, Erus shows him that Svenfur isn't all Cedo thought it was. For beneath the streets is a dark, gas lit world of slavery, human sacrifice, and deadly machines. With the machines waging war in the East, can Cedo stop the country's deadliest man from bringing it to the shores of England? Or is he too late to penetrate the cold exterior of his Master and halt the cogs and gears of progress?

Set in a Victorian world of sex, drugs and steampower, Mars on the Rise tells a dark, gritty story of what happens when our dreams come true. Whether we want them to or not.

My Feelings:

Our protagonist, Cedo, is such a sweet soul.  He is a bit naive for as old as he is and living on his own, but he is a wonderful storyteller.  He seems the most serene when is down by the pier crafting an adventure for everyone to hear.   He always wished for something more but when he gets it, I think he realizes his mistake a little too late.

Erus, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Cedo.  He is strong, harsh, and has been around the block a few times.  When he puts his time and money into people he thinks he owns them exclusively.  He does have a soft side, that only Cedo can find, but it is buried under so many layers of heartache and evil deeds he participates with his macabre creations.  

This love story definitely goes by the adage, "opposites attract" because that is what happens when Cedo and Erus fall in love.  

I understand that Erus is broken and hurt from everything that he has been through but I don't think that should give him an excuse for being such a jerk.  

Just because you didn't really feel loved as a child doesn't give you permission to experiment on people and then just admit, "yeah I feel bad, but I can't apologize for what I do."  

Actually, yeah you can.

I kept hoping Cedo wouldn't fall for Erus' excuses, but, time and time again, he does.  Until it is too late. 

Rae Gee definitely knows how to craft a story.  The prose is beautiful describing the world in so many colorful details, you get lost in the story.  

The novel is very intense with murder, mystery, love, and passions running high throughout it.  

I gave it 3 hearts.

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