GRR Reviews Brutal (Detroit After Dark Book 1) by K.S. Adkins

Brutal is a contemporary romantic suspense set in the nitty-gritty version of Detroit, between a woman set on vengeance, and the detective who's determined to protect her. While the FMC was kickass, the guy was a bit bland, and the overall investigation angle was left unresolved.

Venessa Cross, aka DJ Karma, is a beautiful girl with an attitude problem. You see, she's a vigilante at night, kicks perp's asses with her martial arts training and a taser (and gun, if need be) to save the few friends she has on the streets. Until she sent a dirty abusive cop to jail, and now Detroit PD is a bit red-faced, and detective Rogan Black, vows to bring in the vigilante... Until he got a lecture from his Captain. You see, Venessa's family (father, mother, little sister) had been slaughtered and she had been gang-raped at 14. Venessa's "extra-legal" activities were... suspicions only. But now, DPD needed her help. Girls had been vanishing from various cities, including Detroit, and someone seems to be after Karma herself. When the Captain assigned Rogan to be Karma's bodyguard, he did not hesitate...

Rogan "Rogue" and Venessa basically have insta-lust. Rogan was the stereotypical big guy and Karma barely comes up to her shoulder, but predictably he's like a teddy bear around her. Plot was forced and the final revelation barely made any sense. The part about girls disappearing was mentioned then dropped, as well as the part about Russian toughs coming from out of state to take over Detroit... never mentioned again. Rogan doesn't have much of a personality, period. I considered rating this lower, but I like the character of Karma well enough.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Female DJ and secret vigilante seem to be under threat; big hulking detective assigned to watch her falls for her

Tropes: disguise, law enforcement

Overall Rating:  3/5