CAGED WARRIOR - Lindsey Piper
Dragon Kings Series , Book 1
Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1-4516-9591-5
June 2013
Paranormal Romance

The Cage - The Present

Audrey MacLaren woke in a four-by-four cage, somewhere other than in the lab. She is dirty and wearing a hospital gown, and worried about her son Jack. Since her human husband was murdered and she and Jack kidnapped, the two have existed in a lab where Dr. Aster has tortured her to discover how she bore a naturally born Dragon King child. In another lifetime she was Nynn of the Dragon King Clan Tigony, but she lacks the vaunted powers of her dying race. She soon learns she is to become one of the cage warriors, slaves criminal cartels use in fighting games while they rake in gambling money. The Aster champion, Leto of Clan Garnis, is to mold her into his partner.

Initially the neophyte fighter Leto has taken on repels him with her filthy condition and her defiance, and then with her anger and her refusal to use the power residing in her. He also feels lust. He has promised old man Aster, however, to mold her into a warrior and partner with her for three games. He will do whatever it takes, even if he must break her. All he has ever done is fight to protect his few remaining relatives. Already a niece has been born thanks to the Aster's fertility research. His new partner doesn't waste time flattering him.

The Dragon Kings are a race behind many human mythologies, the Clan Tigony, for example, began the Jupiter throwing thunderbolts myth with their control over energies. Now, for some inexplicable reason, they verge near extinction and have somehow become the prey of greedy cartels. While fighting, the collars the Dragon King warriors always wear, which prevent the use of their natural talents, are turned off, and these talents add to the entertainment value of the games. The Dragon King warriors have no choice but to fight, but Audrey is determined to save her son from the clutches of Dr. Aster. Can she overcome impossible odds, or is she also doomed to the will of the Asters?

Lindsey Piper is a pseudonym used by an historical-romance novelist whose real name remains undisclosed. The world she has developed is a dark and hostile one that leaves otherwise powerful god-like people to the vicious whims of their captors. Most of the action takes place in the cold and cruel underground training facilities of the Aster Cartel, a Roman Gladiator meets Nazi German medical research torturer world. The relationship between Audrey and Leto, while tense and sexually charged, changes back and forth between enemy and partner. Audrey wonders how she can trust someone the Asters have so thoroughly brainwashed, while Leto doubts her ability and her support in battle. This is a sadistic world with characters filled with spite, revenge, and knife-in-the-back mentalities. Leto commits cruelty on Audrey for her ultimate good, so a reader might wonder about any sexy romance possibilities, and certainly that aspect presents its problems. CAGED WARRIOR, nevertheless, holds promise for a good series with its Dragon King characters, their special powers, and a prophecy at work.

Robin Lee