Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Crimson Realm
AUTHOR: Brandon L. Summers
PUBLISHER: Supposed Crimes
LENGTH: 146 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2018
BLURB:
Lexi Beckwith faces the red sky.
As a former Marine, she can take on the apocalypse. Monsters emerge–human, demon, zombie. The true threat is the creator of the terror who wrought the downfall of her city.
Protecting her partner, Lucie, is her first priority. Lexi will fight until she can’t fight any longer, but she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to stay alive long enough to save the world.
REVIEW:
This is my second book my Brandon L. Summers. One of his previous books, Quiet Shy, is set in this same universe, but this works just fine as a standalone story. Though I had some issues with this story, I think Summers is much better at writing grittier, darker themes with more mature female characters than he is at writing lighter, fluffier stories.
Since this is a horror book, proceed with caution. The violence is grotesque and explicit and includes graphic animal cruelty and a horrific maiming of one of the main characters. I don’t mind violence—I’m a huge horror geek, so very little of the blood and guts phase me. This story obviously takes some cues from great schlock horror, like classic zombie movies and the Evil Dead franchise (and I can totally see Lucy Lawless playing Lexi with plenty of sharp-tongued grit). I think it’s difficult to translate such stark violence from screen to page, though. I tended to get bored and skim over pages of Lexi slaughtering zombie after zombie. It moves slower and less fluidly when we can’t actually see the action. I think it needed to be edited down a bit.
I have a total crush on Lucie, the love interest character. She’s an adorable French-Chinese scientist who is completely in love with Lexi, even though they’re very different people. I was less of a fan of the graphic violence and mutilation perpetrated against her, especially since the world needs a little less violence against sapphic women (especially sapphic women of color). To be fair, this is an as-advertised horror book—and don’t worry, it follows the true romance rule of HEA.
Both women seem to act their ages, which is an issue I’ve had in the past with Summers’ characters. Lexi is proud of who she is and how she’s overcome elements of PTSD with Lucie’s help. And she uses her military background to keep her lady safe and exact her revenge on the madman who started this strange apocalypse. I’ll never pass up the opportunity to read about a bad-ass lesbian riding a horse and wielding a sword to take down zombies.
This is admittedly that often falls into “violence for the sake of violence” territory. Some of the side-plots are pretty weak, especially the weird cannibal part. But I really got invested in Lexi and Lucie’s relationship and the different ways they love and protect one another. My favorite work of Summers so far.
RATING: 
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