Red Queen
by Juan Gómez-Jurado, Nick Caistor (Translator)
DETAILS: Series: Antonia Scott, #1 Publisher: Minotaur Books Publication Date: March 14, 2023 Format: Hardcover Length: 365 pg. Read Date: April 29-May 1, 2024
What’s Red Queen About?
So there’s this international crime-fighting organization, with chapters or branches (I don’t remember exactly how or if we’re told) all over the place. They work around law enforcement, frequently preventing them from doing their job, by covering up crimes in order to get the results they’re looking for.
Those results are keeping their benefactors—the megarich and powerful out of the headlines. Yes, they do stop criminals, save lives, and all of that—but there’s something about their M.O. that leaves a lot to be desired. They do have the best of the best—forensic scientists, laboratories, tech, and investigators. One of those is Antonia Scott—her mind works on levels that others don’t.
She’s also dealing with some severe trauma. Her handler brings in a decent police officer who’s facing discipline charges (legitimately, it should be stressed) to try to get her to leave her apartment and help solve some ritualistic crimes. If Jon Gutierrez can do that, the charges against him will go away.
She’s brilliant and offputting. He’s street smart and able to deal with people—if you’re thinking Temperance Brennan and Seely Booth.
So, what did I think about Red Queen?
I actually liked Jon Guitierrez’s character and thought Gómez-Jurado designed him very well—he’s really the bright point in this book.
The whole not-evil-but-not-good secret organization bugged me—their methods, their attitude, the way they treated/trained/recruited their people. I really hope that this series ends with someone destroying them.
It was good enough—it kept me turning the pages, but..just barely. The writing was cliché and stiff—I don’t know if that’s Gómez-Jurado, Caistor, or a combination. The whole thing felt contrived—and yeah, I know, it’s a novel, it’s all contrived. But this seemed like Gómez-Jurado was trying to manufacture a best-seller rather than write a decent book—but what do I know? It’s an international best-seller.
There were some good twists and turns (many predictable), the pacing was pretty well done, and like I said, it kept me turning pages to see what happened next. But I can’t say I was entertained. I’m definitely not coming back for more.
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