Great romantic read with low drama. Fast paced novel with a great build world. Perfect read for an afternoon. Arc provided by Netgalley

Friday Barnes has a chip in her memory banks that records everything she sees, and one day she sees something that she shouldn't. Now, her life is in danger and she needs help. She took a poison to block her recall of the information to buy her time and sets out to ask mercenary, Striker, for help. With both of them harboring secrets, and a burgeoning attraction, can they save Friday before it's too late?

DNF'ed at 40%
I had problems connecting with the characters and didn't find them interesting, mostly annoying.
I think it's more a it's not you, it's me - type of thing, it just wasn't for me.

Red Zone by Elizabeth Henderson was such an intriguing read. I had to focus to know what was happening because this is a world like no other, and I love how the author put everything together, and how the story progressed, with it's pacing just right. I love me some sci-fi with great elements of romance, I can't wait to read more from Janet!

Dystopia done right! The world building tells the characters' story, and you never feel like you're being hit over the head with how awful the world around them is. Friday and Striker have awesome chemistry at first, and as they fall in love with each other, we can't help but fall in love with them. Their emotional tie really made the book fly by. I'm ranking this 4.5 stars because I wasn't as engaged with the baddies in the story. Fortunately, the perspectives with them were very short and there weren't a lot. Most of the narrative is Striker and Friday's story, which I really enjoyed. This is a new direction for Janet Elizabeth Henderson, and it proves she's a versatile author who can write in multiple genres. Recommended!

My First Sci-Fi Romance!
Red Zone builds the world of the Territories, ruled by big tech companies, the coalition nations who lost the war and therefore are struggling, and the Red Zone, the wasteland left behind from a bomb that is shrouded in red mist. Striker is part of smuggling ring that can get through the Red Zone but no one knows how or why. Friday is drone in one of the big tech companies but now knows too much and is on the run.
I’ve read paranormal romances and I’ve read a coupe of fantasy romances but have always steered away from sci-fi as I’ve never been a fan of that genre in any medium, but Red Zone was the perfect blend of post apocalyptic world building, paranormal elements, suspense, and romance to keep in tuned in and turning pages!
I loved the development of Striker and Friday’s connection, Sam is freakin’ boot!, as well as the development of the larger series plot. I can’t wait to find out all the teams’ secrets and see what happens next!

A sci fi book (not read one in a while)
This reads a little like Johnny mnemonic and total recall.

In the future your brain let’s you download and store EVERYTHING you see and hear, and Friday overheard something that she really shouldn’t have!!! Taking a poison to stop the “downloading the hardware” in her brain, she now needs to cross “The Red Zone” to get the antidote, otherwise she’s dead in four days..... and the best man for the job is Striker.

He’s a mercenary/smuggler, and a good one, but his team have secrets and abilities that he doesn’t want found out. And helping Friday will bring both Striker and his team under scrutiny, but how can he not? The secrets that she holds in her brain are too important to ignore. And as the story unfolds, Friday becomes important to his team as well as Striker.

So what’s Friday seen? Who wants it and Friday erased?
What is the secret Striker is so hard to hide from everyone?
Will they cross the Red Zone in time?

A well thought out story, and nicely written, the characters were really well thought out. The camaraderie between Striker and his team, the chemistry between Friday and Striker, very descriptive and narrated well.
I did have a few small issues .... I felt more background was needed with Striker and his team, and maybe a little more on why the Red Zone is called The Red Zone!!!



🦋

Totally fantastic read. A sci fi hit. Gripping from the first to the last page. The author brings the reader on a wild ride a hundred years into the future and opens our imagination wide. Friday enlists Striker and his crew on a mission to save her life. There is danger and intrigue. There is also romance and love that blossoms between Striker and Friday. The author wields a tale that will keep you glued to the pages. This is definitely the start of a series that will keep readers coming back for more adventures in the red zone.

I am still in the first half of book. The female character is very annoying. I saw that a few other reviewers agree with me on this point. She is not a team member at all. I find myself wondering whether she supposed to be on the spectrum or have some other sort of issue, because if she were super intelligent in a more well-rounded sense, then she would realize that her behavior endangers the mission. Finally, the cover made me think the male character was a person of color. Not just a dude from the Louisiana countryside. The sexual tension appears too early for me as well. Could have been a good action book with tweaking. Not sure if I will finish.

This is a brand new to me author and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book!

This is a bit of a dystopian thriller with tons of action and it kept me on the edge of my seat right up until the very end, which I loved! Friday is on the run with a very important information in her head and her life literally on the line and there’s only one person who has the ability to keep her alive long enough to make it out safely. Too bad that he’s not really a people person, major understatement here. I immediately fell in love with Striker and his mysterious ways and loved watching the intense interactions between him and Friday. Their immediate chemistry is off the charts explosive and I literally couldn’t get enough of these two together!

This is a kick butt romance with tons of action around every turn, just the way that I like them and I really enjoyed reading this book! I highly recommend reading this to anyone.

A Diamondback with an attitude? Yes, please!

Once again, Janet Elizabeth Henderson has proven why she's one of my few auto-buy authors, pretty much no matter what genre she wants to write in.
I love her romantic supsense books as well as her rom-coms - and putting all of that goodness into a dystopian sci-fi setting works wonderfully.

Friday and Striker are awesome protagonists und had me rooting for them from page one - and let's not forget that damn snake! <3
The story delivers fast-paced action, off-the-charts chemistry between Friday and Striker, a wise- and badass team, all the feels - and it feels pretty much like a "gateway drug" for this whole new series. Can't wait for more Red Zone books!

Witty suspenseful, and thrilling, this sprint against time will keep you entertained til the book's over. I wanted to reread it right away. This is a new to me author and I think I'll be lookingfor more of her work.

i'm a huge Janet Elizabeth Henderson fan and a huge Sci-Fi fan so there is no way that i wouldn't like this book, and luckily i was able to get an ARC from the author in exchange for a review

the story is set in a Blade Runner-esque world were business conglomerate's rule and follows Friday a ComTech worker who is a passive recorder(bio-implants record everything she see's and hears) who see's something she shouldn't have.
Friday takes a poison that will stop her implants from being accessed remotely but will kill her in 4 days and goes on the run.
her only hope of survival is to get across the Red Zone to La Paz(Bolivia) where she can get an antidote to the poison and get the information in her head to the right people.
to accomplish this task she needs to hire Striker an outlaw/mercenary, the only person that can get her to safety but who's team have secrets of their own that they must keep safe at all costs.

i won't go into further detail to avoid spoilers but i will say that i loved this book.
as usual Janet has created a book filled with action, suspense, excellent patter, and great humour with well developed and likeable characaters.
i'm really looking forward to book 2 and hopefully finding out if Friday is right about whether Mace's secret is related to his grumpiness.

I just really enjoyed this book. It was just really easy to get lost in this book. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Imaginative, totally preposterous and I absolutely loved every word ! Friday might be gifted with an enquiring mind but at CommTECH she's just another faceless drone. That all changes when she accidentally sees and overhears a secret meeting. In a future were technology means Friday has a chip implanted in her brain that records everything she experiences this puts her life in danger but Friday has a plan. First she takes a poison that prevents her chip being tracked and then she seeks out a deadly smuggler to help her get away and find the antidote. Trouble is Striker isn't what Friday expected and he's about to show her just how dangerous being on the run really is !
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this new to be author but was instantly pulled in by this book. The chemistry pulsating off the page and the almost dystopian atmosphere just added to the tension as the couple faced a journey like no other. Yes its futuristic, yes there's an almost supernatural edge at times but it's the humour that makes this stand out. Oh who am I kidding because I want a Striker of my own and I loved that he could understand Friday and her idiosyncrasies. Plus there's a supporting cast of characters that need their own happy ever after and if anyone can give them a story to remember it's clearly this author.
This voluntary take is of an advance copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair.

I received a free copy of RED ZONE (Red Zone Book 1) by Janet Elizabeth Henderson in exchange for an honest review. In a future run by corporations, Friday Jones is a drone in a genetics lab. Because Friday has recording technology implanted in her brain, she finds herself on the wrong end of a man hunt when she doesn’t even remember what she saw that she shouldn’t have. Friday takes a drug that will shut down her implants; however, that same drug will turn toxic and kill her if she doesn’t get to the antidote, which is in Bolivia. To evade the corporate hunters, to get through a toxic wasteland called the Red Zone, and to reach Bolivia, she’ll need help, so Friday reaches out to the notorious smuggler called Striker. Can Friday afford the price he’ll demand for his assistance? Running, hiding, dodging, escaping, and sexing all ensue.

I liked the story. It was pretty good sci-fi and a sweet romance. Though there were some pretty detailed sex scenes (not to my taste), the author actually continued the story after the characters started hooking up. I note this because, a lot of times, writers drop all pretense of storyline after the sex starts (soapbox) and just focus on all the different ways tab A can fit into slots A-Z. Brava, Ms. Henderson! I recommend it to readers who enjoy sci-fi romance with erotic scenes.

#RedZone #NetGalley