A Taste of Crimson

Crimson City #2

by Marjorie M. Liu

“Readers of early Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, and the best thrillers out there should try Liu now.”
— Publishers Weekly “Anyone who loves my work should love [Lui’s].”
—Christina Feehan Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu’s magnificent Dirk and Steele novels are the gold standard of paranormal romance fiction. Stepping briefly away from her unique detective agency of shapeshifters, psychics, and extraordinary beings, Lui enters the dangerous shadows of Crimson City with A Taste of Crimson . Set in a dark and twisted version of Los Angeles—a “City of Angels” from which the angels have long since fled— A Taste of Crimson has a beautiful creature of the night teaming up with an enemy, a slayer, to get to the root of an impending catastrophe that threatens to shatter a tentative peace between humans, vampires and werewolves. A breathtaking blend of sensuous romance with superior urban fantasy in the bestselling vein of Jeaniene Frost and Nalini Singh, A Taste of Crimson is a satisfying feast for every paranormal fan. Perhaps Booklist put it “If you have yet to add Liu to your must-read list, you’re doing yourself a disservice.”

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 30, 2005

About the author

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and she leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop.

Ms. Liu is a highly celebrated comic book writer. Her extensive work with Marvel includes the bestselling Dark Wolverine series, NYX: No Way Home, X-23, and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. She received national media attention for Astonishing X-Men, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Liu also wrote the story for the animated film, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, which was produced by Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Madhouse Inc.

Her newest work is MONSTRESS, an original, creator-owned comic book series with Japanese artist (and X-23 collaborator) Sana Takeda. Published by Image in Fall 2015, MONSTRESS is set in an alternate, matriarchal 1920’s Asia and follows a girl’s struggle to survive the trauma of war. With a cast of girls and monsters and set against a richly imagined aesthetic of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS #1 debuted to critical praise. The Hollywood Reporter remarked that the longer than typical first issue was “world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.”

Ms. Liu is also the author of more than 19 novels, most notably the urban fantasy series, Hunter Kiss, and the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele. Her novels have also been bestsellers on USA Today, which described Liu “as imaginative as she is prolific.” Her critically praised fiction has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, for THE MORTAL BONE (Hunter Kiss #6), and TIGER EYE (Dirk & Steele #1). TIGER EYE was the basis for a bestselling paranormal romance video game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box.

Liu has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, MTV, and been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.com, Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. She is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker, appearing on panels at San Diego Comic Con, the Tokyo Literary Festival, the New York Times Public Lecture series, Geeks Out; and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Her work has been published internationally, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

Ms. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and has lived in numerous cities in the Midwest and Beijing. Prior to writing full-time, she was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Taste of Crimson is book 2 in the Crimson City series, which is written by several different authors. It has been four years since I'd read book 1, Crimson City. All I remembered was that I enjoyed it and, at the time, wanted to continue the series. If not for ending up in a challenge, this book probably would've spent another year (or more) on my shelf. I'm glad it didn't.

As much as I love stories with vamps and weres, I really enjoy a good story which incorporates both. This series, to date, has done so.

Crimson City is an open world where the vampires are wealthy and live well, but the weres live underground. Due to a battle started in book one, the tentative truce between them is on the verge of breaking. The higher ups in both societies are getting together in an effort to strengthen it. But, can the truce continue when vampire bodies start appearing with signs of a were attack?

Keeli Maddox is a were who has a reputation around her pack of having rage issues. When she spots a human about to be raped, she almost kills the attacker. But, Michael the vampire's executioner, stops her, knowing the human's death would cause more problems than either needs at the moment. Not to mention it being against the law.

The two work together, with local police, to try to solve the murders. What they find is something no one (vamp or were) could've expected.

The attraction of these two from different worlds is one that builds just slow enough to be believable. Vampires and weres don't mix in this world or so they think. I loved these two together - A perfect mate for each of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was action-packed with a well-written romance. I hope it doesn't take me another four years to read the rest of the series.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marjorie M. Liu could write a phone book and I would gobble that stuff up. This is one of those odd series were multiple authors write for it. I don't really have any plans of reading the other books in the series, but this one stands well on its own.

There's a war brewing between vampires, werewolves, and humans. If the war happens humans will have the upper hand. The only way to prevent a massacre is for vampires and werewolves to form some kind of alliance. The problem is that there are some deep prejudices running between the two races. Despite the mistrust and hatred, the vampire and werewolf clans have decided to start negotiating on peace treaty. But several vampire murders threaten to end that treaty when it looks like a werewolf is the one doing the killing. In an attempt to save the negotiations our heroes, Michael and Keeli, team up to find out who the murderer is. Keeli the the granddaughter of the leader of the werewolves and Michael is the vampires' executioner. This combined with his past also makes him an outcast among his kind. Together they have to solve the mystery, while also deal with the fallout of their working together.

Keeli and Michael's relationship was really interesting to watch progress. I loved that the conflicts of them working together and eventually having a relationship aren't pushed aside. The only thing I didn't like is how quickly they fell in love. Its only a matter of days before they start declaring their love. That's a pretty huge leap considering how in their world that could mean the death of their social standings and possibly their lives.

Other than that this was a really great read. I only wish the ending didn't seem so rushed. I would've liked to have seen more of what happened to Keeli and Michael after they found out who the murderer was.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realized about 20 pages in that this book is #2 in a series. After I shook off the confusion, I began to fall into the story which is a very kick-butt, action driven paranormal world ALA Buffy the Vampire Slayer except this time the slayer is male and a vampire. He's called "The Punisher" because that's pretty much what he does. He punishes wayward vamps, and kills them when necessary too. Though werewolves and vampires despise each other in this universe they must form a tentative agreement in order to avoid extinction. Keeli is a werewolf and reluctantly joins forces with Michael. She's dismayed and horrified once she realizes she's also attracted to him.

I enjoyed this one pretty much from beginning to end without ever experiencing an overwhelming urge to put it down to pick up something better. The author has a knack for creating an action packed book with equally well developed characters. The love story is believable but isn't the driving force of the novel. The two main characters both have a lot of crap to overcome and from the look of things a lot of crap to overcome in future books as well. I'm looking forward to the next in this series and may even search out book 1 even though it was written by another author.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: I tried to re-read on 01/20/2014, but at 82% I gave up. Not at all that gripping on a second read. I won't change the rating, but I wouldn't give it 4 stars now.


I'm reading this series completely out of order, but even if I'm missing the full story arch, each book can be read as a stand alone.

The series moves along a city, rather than a bunch of characters, and it's at the same time very unusual and uneven. Every author has her own style, so the fact you liked one book doesn't imply you'll like the rest. I loved Ms Jewels and Ms Liu, but could not finish the first book.

Ms Liu's story is a fascinating enemy to lovers book and her talent is such that I can't even whine on the love in two days trope. I liked everything in it: the city, the world, the leading lady :)
It won't be one unforgettable book, but it's an absolutely nice way to spend an evening.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this audiobook a lot more than the first book, thank goodness, because I have the whole series on audiobook. I was hoping I wouldn't have buyer's remorse.

I liked the main characters and a new character Eric. I hope they get more into the mecs in the next book and perhaps about the underground situation.

Usually with a Books in Motion audiobook, the beginning is so stilted, "Let's begin." Like a kindergarten teacher. I literally say out loud "Ugh" whenever I hear it. Some of their narrators aren't very good either but the one who did this book was better than average.

3-1/2 stars.

[Zeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crimson City Series takes us into a futuristic version of Los Angeles where supernatural creatures have come out of the closet- much to the fear of humans everywhere.

In A Taste of Crimson, Urban Fantasy author Marjorie M. Liu gives us a star-crossed lovers tale of an outcast Vampire assassin and a Werewolf living on the fringe of her pack, that manages to remain fresh several years after it was written and despite the fact bookshelves are now glutted with this genre.

Now that the humans know that the creatures formerly relegated to nightmares really do exist- they have reacted in their usual manner. With fear and loathing. The Vampires and Werewolves have no other choice but to form an alliance in preparation for a war they know is coming. But both factions are uneasy- with long held grudges and mutual ridicule how can they not be?

To make things worse, dead bodies are showing up all over the city making it quite obvious that someone in their midst does not want this alliance to come together.

Long ago Michael committed an unforgivable act among his kind. Rather than execute him, they made him their executioner- a weapon to keep any unruly Vampires in check. Though needed, none of the arrogant Vampires want to be sullied by his reputation as a cold, methodical killer of his own kind. Living as an outcast, Michael feels dead in many ways until a chance encounter with a surly shewerewolf named Keeli.

No stranger to living on the fringe, Keeli is ill at east around the Vampire who pulled her back from the brink of killing a would be drunk human intent on rape one night. But when a vampire shows up dead from an apparent werewolf attack, she agrees to help Michael catch the killer even though it means further alienating her own kind.

A fast paced thriller with a paranormal setting, I loved this book. The author does a great job of depicting supernatural characters in such a utterly human way, that I empathized and fell for both Keeli and Michael instantly. The killer- or force behind the killer- was evident early on, but it didn't take from the story one iota because Liu plotted it so well.

Sensual and yes, romantic, this book gets a 4.5 out of 5 from me.

[mlady_rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept trying to get into this book, but it just never "clicked" for me, which is clear from how long it lingered on my currently reading shelf. There was no compelling need to know what would happen next, only my stubborn determination to at least finish the book.

This is part of a loosely coupled series of paranormal romances by multiple authors. Even though this is the second book in the series, I was told it could be read stand-alone. And I was drawn to this one because I've enjoyed works by Marjorie M. Liu in the past.

First off, I didn't like the "world" created for this series. With most urban fantasy/ paranormal romance, I'm expecting a world very similar to our own. This felt almost post-apocalyptic. Everyone was down in the gutters. The werewolves were literally living in tunnels under the city.

I don't like such a lifeless setting. Not in urban fantasy/ paranormal romance, at least. I've had a handful of dystopias I've enjoyed, but I have to be in a different mood for that sort of read. I wanted something lighter, not in plot or anything, but in tone, in mood.

Then there is the fact that I just never connected to any of the characters. They stayed one dimensional to me. Maybe that's because I prefer first person urban fantasy and this was third person paranormal romance. Eric, a secondary character introduced towards the end, was probably the character I most cared for. But he was barely on stage in any meaningful way. He was a pivot point for the story but, in a way, that's all.

I have a few of the other books in the "Crimson City" series. Not sure if I'm brave enough to give another a try. Just not for me.

[Shaitarn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second in the Crimson City series, a set of books written by different authors but set in the same city, a futurist version of Los Angeles where vampires and weres are out and proud. However, the humans have never been overjoyed to see them, and after a war between the species some time ago, there's currently a rather tense standoff. Following the events in the first book, the vampires are seeking an alliance with the werewolves; though they despise weres as 'dogs' they may be necessary allies if war with the humans becomes a reality.

Our two main characters are Michael, the 'Vendix' (executioner) of the vampires: as the result of a long ago crime he is now something of an outcast amongst vampires, who kills those judged guilty of the crime of murder and Keeli, the rebellious daughter of the Grand Dame Alpha of all the werewolves. As is par for the course in PNR, they instantly fall in love and have to work together to find a murderer who's targeting vamps and making the weres look guilty before all hell breaks loose, all the while fighting their attraction to each other because vampire-were love is a big no-no.

Did I like this book? Uhhh - it was okay, but not great. The characters were obviously going to be together from the first time they met, and the identity (and species) of the murderer was obvious all too early so the story felt a little flat. All in all, it was pretty standard PNR, perfectly competent but nothing amazing. If you like PNR, you might well like this; if you prefer your vampires and weres to be monsters, then look elsewhere.

[Leandra Azer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm grinning so hard right now. This, this book was reason I could never forget the world in this series years later. Amazing amazing amazing, from start to finish.

Every character, (from Vilans, to random bar member, to cab drivers!) was fleshed out and given a personality-no matter how small thier role. It really brought the book to life.

And the H/h? They had perfect chemistry, they matched each other perfectly, from personality to humor. Their connection never seemed forced, and never felt like instalove or instalust. Thier relationship developed slowly and picked up speed like a. Snowball going down a hill. I loved that they never tried to deny thier feelings for each other.

Liu took the world of Crimson City and brought it to life. I couldn't help make comparisons to the first book, which left a lot wanting. The biggest difference being the leadership issues for both Fluer and Keeli.

Fleur assumed she was the ONLY one and she HAD to be the leader. Keeli never coveted leading.

Fluer didn't have very good leadership skills, she proved her strength by battling a rogue, but I never got the sense that she was the strongest. Keeli was a natural leader, she spoke her mind, made firm decisions, never ran from the truth, and proved without a doubt that she was THE biggest baddass of them all.

Nuff said, great book. 5 stars.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good but not as good as Crimson City.

I thought the author wrote it well. I truly felt Keeli’s emotions and debates and understood where she was coming from and why she didn’t want to do what she had to do and why she did what she did. A strong woman, she rides on her instincts, even when she doesn’t want to. The war within herself is huge, and with Michael’s help, she gets through it.

I though Michael could have used a little more work. As the Vendix, I got where he came from, the how and why of it all, but I found the constant use of his thoughts a little on the sissy side for a guy who’s supposed to be a ‘tough guy’. Strong, he too rides his instincts and does what he needs to in the heat of any moment.

I do have to say I found the author’s descriptions top notch. I truly felt like the walls were crowding me at times, being underground with so many others. I really hope that, sometime in the series, one of the authors will touch base as to how the world came to be as it is. Mind you, there is always distrust between vamps, weres and humans, regardless of the story, but I’d really like to know how the city came to be as it is in the story. As it is, this novel is a great addition to the sci-fi, urban paranormal fantasy genres and should be read.

[Gina Briganti · Rating 5 out of 5]

◊Plot twists
◊Paranormal love story
◊Terrific, seat-grabbing tension in Keeli’s life
◊Continuation of the Crimson City series storyline from book 1
◊Segue from Crimson City series book 1
◊Beautiful writing from Marjorie M. Liu

I am a Marjorie M. Liu fan, which is what brought me to the Crimson City series in the first place. If anyone knows why Ms. Liu didn’t write more of the series, I’d love to hear it. You know, hear it in my head as I read what you wrote. Alas, she did not write more of the series.

She isn’t included in promos for the series and frankly I don’t get that.
I’ve continued to read the Crimson City series and I think that the future authors handled Ms. Liu’s characters with respect.

I hope you enjoy your foray into “A Taste of Crimson,” should you choose to embark on the journey.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is supposed to be the second in a series, but I have never found the first, and I don't think I needed the prequel anyway... *shrugs*

The high rating is for the world Miss Liu has created :) This book was my second taste of her writing (after the novella "A dream of Stone and Shadows" in the Dark Dreamers anthology) and made Miss Liu an auto-buy author for me. I have since read the entire Dirk&Steele series, which is pretty good, and parts of the Hunter Kiss series, which is very good. :)

[Yvensong · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Romeo and Juliet type of story, but much darker, much more violent. Can a werewolf and a vampire love each other? That is the theme of this novel of two outsiders who find each other facing an investigation of random murders, extreme prejudice, and the grimy, dangerous streets of Crimson City.

I have not read book 1 in the series, but didn't feel like I was missing out on any important information for this story to move forward.

My only disappointment was there were no surprises for me. Well, one minor one, but don't want to provide any spoilers.

[Rachel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not part of Liu's cracktastic Dirk & Steele series, this novel is part of someone else's series but stands on its own and is actually rather less cracktastic, featuring vampires and werewolves (plus a demon ex machina) rather than mermen, the Faerie Queen, organleggers, dragonshifters, and gargoyles.

Keeli is a pink-haired werewolf with anger issues; Michael is a 300-year-old steppes nomad vampire executioner of vampires. Together, they fight crime!

I don't have a ton to say about this, but I enjoyed it.

[Oleander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 5 star rating from me. An excellent book. This book continues the themes of forbidden romance, action, and intrigue. It blends seamlessly into the story from book 1 but has the romance more front and center. I would call this a pnr within an urban fantasy. So well written you could feel the couple falling in love. Some moments were exquisitely romantic

[Books written by POC]

I write and read Dark Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, and these genres suffer as much as all the others as far as a dearth of diversity goes. In paranormal romance, there is the amazing Marjorie M. Liu. I fell completely in love with her when she was writing on the Crimson City series, and I'm working my way through the rest of her work now! She is awesome. [return][return]Marjorie M. Liu rocks my socks. I've devoured her books.

[Bookwormgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I view this as a stand alone. I did not really care for any of the other books in the series and in fact stopped reading the series after the third book.

This was a great book with a dark tortured hero and a heroine who has to face some hard truths and does it with grace. I liked the affection between the two. They talked to each other and treated each other with respect.

An emotional read that rises above the pack in both the Crimson City series as well as in Paranormal Romance.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in the Crimson City multi-author series. It's a good series and it's always neat when different authors use the same Dark Urban Fantasy world like this. This isn't quite your usual Marjorie Liu story so don't expect any Dirk & Steele - type of action. Action, adventure, MAJOR intrigue (sure didn't see some of those coming!), some romance, strong leads, good story and storyline. I'm going to keep moving on with this series.

[Kathrynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #2 in the Crimson City Series and the series is written by different authors. In this tale Keeli Maddox, granddaughter of werewolves, and Michael, vampire law enforcement's are the main characters. You should read this series in order, because these characters come back into play.

I liked it!

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romeo and Juliet with a paranormal twist set against the backdrop of serial murders that may unite the feuding werewolf and vampire societies against humans. An interesting view of the socio-economic structures of the various paranormal factions and the impact upon their respective societies. Very enjoyable.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this much better than the 1st in the series mostly due to the characters of Michael and Keely. They had the outsiders-with-honor vibe going and were really well matched even though their species were traditionally enemies. This entry in the series advanced the storyline quite well and introduced some interesting characters that I hope get their own stories in the future.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the Crimson City series. My favorite thing about the book was the character of Keelie, a young werewolf on the fringe of her pack. She seems like a teenager stuck in a house observing rules that her fierce independence bucks at every opportunity. Good plot. Interesting second jaunt into the futuristic, supernatural Los Angeles.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my this was dire. It could possibly have been made worse by the narrator who I thought did a horrible job but you can't make silk out of a sows ear. Insta love. Stereotypical bad guys and an awful heroine. Really didn't like it but forced myself to finish it so I didn't feel so bad wasting money on buying this one. Grrrr

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure if I was going to continue the series, but this book renewed my interest. I really liked the combination of werewolf and vampire. The dialogue was funny and the chemistry with the two main characters was great. I can't wait to read the next book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains everything a paranormal romance should - an interesting and fast-paced storyline, strong likable main characters and convincing romance as well. More importantly, it was written in an extremely intelligent and beautiful manner - smooth and steady, like the river flow.

[Ela]

A good love story between a werewolf girl and a vampire guy. I didn't like how the girl was too tough, and the overall ending wasn't all that great either. To be honest, the book put me to sleep if it weren't for the chemistry between the two lovers.

[Geraldine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another REALLY GRIM book by Liu. Way too star-crossed for my taste. The world building also really depressing. Vampires and werewolves hate each other, and both are being persecuted by humans. I like my romances more feelgood.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been testing out a lot of Marjorie Liu's works of late. I'm torn on this one. I can definitely see how the author has grown since 2005. The main character's meshed too quickly for me. Seriously you've known the person a day! Then you break out the L word in less than 48 hours, eye roll. The story its self and individual character development were good. I didn't feel as if I was reading about cardboard wikipedia outlines of people. I liked the fact I didn't guess the ending but that being said where I thought it was going was much better than the actual ending. It had such a possibility of being a head turner. Nice, quick, no brainer read. I will dub this airplane material because if I lost the book I wouldn't be terribly sad. If you've never read Marjorie Liu's stuff before don't start here she has been working on the Monstress series which is phenomenal. Dive in there first that is 5 star writing.

[MELANIE · Rating 3 out of 5]

La paix entre humains, loups garous et vampires est toujours très fragile, les tensions sont nombreuses. Les meurtres de vampires continuent et les loups sont suspects. Michael, un vampire, va devoir collaborer avec Keeli, une louve, pour élucider ces meurtres.
L'univers est original, mais comme pour le premier tome, je n'arrive pas à m'immerger dans l'ambiance. J'avais espoir qu'avec le changement d'auteure, je ressentirais les choses différemment, mais non.Je ne m'attache pas aux personnages, l'intrigue est intéressante mais, je ne sais pourquoi, ça ne le fait pas. Malgré cela, j'ai préféré ce tome au 1er, la deuxième partie m'a plu davantage, il y a plus d'action, plus de rebondissements, mais la psychologie, les sentiments ne sont pas assez approfondis.
J'ai les 2 tomes suivants mais je ne sais pas encore si je les lirai ou pas.

[Coucher de soleil · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars (rounding up)

Overall I enjoyed this one. One issue however...

...The central couple knew each other for 2 days or so before realizing they are in loooveee and have never known anyone like the other person etc.

This is unfortunate, because I liked this book otherwise.

*sigh*