Guest Review: Fugitive by Cheryl Brooks

Posted January 11, 2010 by Ames in Reviews | 2 Comments

Ame’s review of Fugitive by Cheryl Brooks.

When a Zetithian fugitive meets a beautiful Earth woman, their passion may cost them both their lives…

Manx is a Zetithian fugitive with a feline gene that gives him remarkable sexual powers. He has been in hiding in the remote jungles of Barada Seven ever since being marked for extermination by the violent Nedwuts.

Artist Drusilla arrives on Barada Seven, enticed only by the promise of finding a nature paradise there. But she discovers a wildlife she wasn’t expecting when she encounters Manx. Reckless with desire for the beautiful Earth woman, Manx risks his life to win her as his mate.

It’s only a matter of time until the Nedwuts find them, but it will take all of Manx and Drusilla’s passion, skill, and ingenuity to survive.

Fugitive is book five in Cheryl Brooks‘ Cat Star Chronicle series. Although I enjoyed it, it didn’t compare to Outcast (which I still think is the best of the series so far). Also, although these books are connected, I think if you read the first book, Slave, you’d be ok to read any other book, as the characters from Slave pop up throughout the series, not so much the other characters.

Now before I get into the book, I want to backtrack a bit. In Slave, we found out that Cat’s planet, Zetith, was destroyed. What we found out in subsequent books was that the survivors were rounded up and sold off as slaves. Aliens called Nedwuts are blamed with destroying Zetith and are also out hunting any Zetithians as there is a bounty on their heads.

Manx, the hero of Fugitive, has escaped from the Nedwuts before he could be sold as a slave and he’s been on the run ever since. He is very elusive and has always managed to keep one step ahead of the Nedwuts. Sometimes though, he relaxes his guard and befriends locals of whatever planet he lands on…which leads to betrayal and so he begins to distrust people and avoid them all together. The last time he went on the run, his lover had sold him out to the Nedwuts and he stowed away on a ship and ended up on a peaceful planet called Barada Seven.

The locals have just recently allowed off worlders onto their planet and are trying to lure tourists to their land. The latest visitor is Drusilla, an artist from Earth. She likes to paint birds and her manager has sent her to Barada to get her muse back, so to speak. She’s kind of still in shock that her boyfriend ended up being gay. So away she goes, hoping for peace and quiet. Barada is the perfect place.

Ok, what I liked about Fugitive compared to Outcast is that Manx is the one doing the wooing. In Outcast, the hero was so scarred from his slave experience that he wanted nothing to do with women. However, Manx is starting to feel lonely because its been over a year since he’s had any humanoid companionship. And Manx has a feeling he can trust Drusilla. So he sets out to woo her. And Drusilla is wooed. Zetithians have that crazy penis going for them after all. LOL

Also in Fugitive, there’s more of a focus on trying to discover WHO was behind the destruction of Zetith and who has put a bounty on the Zetithians’ heads. So Jack and her crew (from Slave) are in the picture as well, which was fun. I love Jack, she’s such a fun heroine.

All in all, Fugitive is a good addition to the series. There’s some hot, inventive loving, a hilarious Eltran (lake dweller) and Cheryl’s writing is getting smoother. Fugitive gets a 4 out of 5 (B) from me!

This book is available from Sourcebooks Casablanca. You can buy it here. Fugitive is not yet available in e-format.