Last Escape

by Pauline Creeden

Who’s afraid of the big bad Wolf? Not Scarlet.

Crystal City has a solution to its overpopulation problem. They have enacted “the purge.” No one quite understands what that means, but most residents don’t care—it doesn’t affect them.

Unfortunately, the purge hits too close to home for Scarlet Roma. When members of the Wolf gang terrorize her and the ones she loves with the backing of the government’s authority, she knows she must do something about it.

Will the wolves come for her before she can escape the city, or will she bring the fight to their house instead?

105 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 18, 2018

About the author

Pauline Creeden is an award-winning author, horse trainer, and overall book ninja. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.

Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014 Gold Award for First Place YA Horror Novel.

Reviews

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy. Crap. I picked this book up and didn't put it down for anything besides making food and answering a few quick phone calls. I think I might have stumbled upon a new author to add to my Must Read list.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last Escape is another fantastic YA Dystopian Fairy Tale by Creeden. This author packs so much into a story without ever overwhelming the reader. The story begins by showing us who the main character is and quickly evolves into an action-packed thrill ride that refuses to be put down. The characters are relatable and the pacing is perfect. The world that Scarlet lives in is one that will blow the reader’s mind. I highly recommend Last Escape for any reader who loves a wonderful dystopian/fantasy mashup. I will say that the story leaves me wanting more so I hope to meet Scarlet Roma and her friend, Dean, again soon!

Pauline Creeden is an easy one-click author for me.

[Renee Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel starts with Scarlett hearing something from the alley. It turns out to be an injured dog with a collar and tag that says Seven on it. With the help of her friend Dean, a cab driver, she takes Seven to the vet and adopts her after finding nothing to identify an owner. A good beginning that shows you the type of person Scarlett is. She lives in an apartment in an overcrowded city right across the hall from her grandmother and she's a caretaker for the elderly. Her grandmother is constantly telling her to stay out of the alley and sure enough one day she finds some Wolf gang members up to no good. Thankfully she has some martial arts training and her short sword along with Seven. The government keeps talking about a purge but doesn't really explain it other than it's a good thing and maybe relocation. When Scarlett visits her first client of the day, she starts to understand what the purge might be. When she goes to her employment offices, they are closed and she has an email saying she's fired. She goes straight back to her grandmother only to find that she's been attacked by the Wolf gang and now she's sure what the purge really is. The government is allowing the Wolf gang to kill the elderly to bring the population down. As her grandmother is dying, she gives Scarlett a red gemstone and tells her to always keep it with her along with her pack of herbal remedies and such. Now Scarlett is in a rush to try and save her other elderly patients and needs Dean's help. This book is quite a thriller and I enjoyed every bit of it!

[Brandy Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in just 2 days. Now I was also working so my time reading wasn’t as much as I normally get to read so if I would have went on a weekend to read it, it would have been read in one day. Very fast and easy read

So the biggest reason I gave this book a 4 instead of a 5 is because there is not really a lot of description about the characters or places in this book. Now this is great if you have an imagination, but I felt that this part lacked for myself. I can imagine what the places and people looked like but I also like to know how the author imagined these places and characters.

Now the story is an interesting one! It follows the “purge” and the connection between the main character, her wolf breed dog, and the people she has in her life. There is excitement with what happens and how she has to go from person to persons house and the bad guys she encounters.

It is definitely worth a fast read if you like exciting and twists in a book.

[Katrina Roets · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a long time fan of Pauline's so I was really excited to get this onto my Kindle.

The Good:
Super fast read with a character that I really wanted to know more about. The idea of a purge is a popular one right now and I found Pauline's take on it to be really interesting. After finishing this book, I want a seven for myself.

The Bad:
I'm not really sure that I can put my finger on anything that I didn't like. If anything, it left me wanting more. I want to know more about this world. I want to stories with Granny and her friend. I want more of Scarlett and her cab driving friend. I just want more.

The Summary:
Another hit. I'm going to be keeping my eyes open to find out if there are more with these characters or if there are going to be more to come.

[Brittany Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good

This was a simple story. Definitely action packed and the problem solved quickly. I wish I could have seen more character development, but for a plot driven short story it wasn't bad. Clean in both language and sex it is definitely a good, quick read.

[Teya Teya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is so fast moving I actually restarted it twice on my kindle. It's fast, furious, and intense. Every word propelled the story. Each event built upon another. I truly enjoyed it.