The boy she’d lost, and finally found again, is not the same boy she remembers. As one of the most powerful Sixes, Kale has changed in ways Dez can’t ignore. He swore he’d never kill, and now he’s out for blood. He swore he’d never harm her, and now he struggles to control his fatal touch. They’ve been to hell and back, over and over, but this time they might not survive the fire. When the … survive the fire.
When the truth at the root of the Denazen Corporation’s origins begins to unfold, those behind the scenes will do anything to keep it hidden.
Dez and Kale will be pushed to their breaking point. As long buried secrets come to light, they must fight for their freedom–and each other–as they never have before.
Kale’s destructive power could win the battle, if he doesn’t lose himself to it in the process. Or Dez will be faced with an impossible task–saving the world from the boy she loves.
The Denazen series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1: Touch
Book #1.5: Untouched (novella)
Book #2: Toxic
Book# 2.5: Faceless (novella)
Book #3: Tremble
Book #4 Transcendent
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I knew it had been a while since I had read anything in this series, but I honestly hadn’t realised how long ago it was that I had read Tremble. It was way back in April 2013! That made me wonder when I had initially started reading the first book in the series so I decided to check back and it was in 2012. Having said all that as soon as I found out this book was due for release, I knew there was no doubt that I had to read it.
Transcendent picks up the story with Dez and Kale both back with the Underground, though because the Sanctuary Hotel was burnt down the new headquarters are quite literally under ground and the land and modest log cabin building that is over the Undergrounds heads is owned by Daxon Fleet. The new headquarters are quite a large and roomy upgrade to what the Underground Sixes had become used to. The new compound has work out areas, a library and a swimming pool too.
The immediate task at hand that the elderly yet still energetic Underground Leader, Ginger tasks Dez, Kale and the other operatives with is to find the Nines before Denazen Corporation get to them and Marshall is in control of them. Deznee still doesn’t know the identity of her biological father, though she knows that it isn’t Marshall Cross, which she is glad about. Dez’s mum Sue does end up giving her daughter her biological fathers first name but refuses to reveal anything else to Dez. Dez and her mother are still learning to be around each other, and it’s apparent that Sue is upset she didn’t get to see, or be part of her daughter’s formative childhood years. That relationship isn’t the only one Dez is struggling with. Dez is finding it difficult to get past the fact that Kale had a liaison with Kiernan, even though he was brainwashed into doing so, and they had to make Kiernan look a lot like Dez. Dez would love nothing more than to fight and beat Kiernan and she does have an opportunity or two for revenge in Transcendent. Dez is still the hot headed, impulsive character we know and love. Kale is also still besotted with Dez and would do anything to ensure her continued safety.
As well as older, familiar, favourite characters such as Dez, Kale, Brandt, Ginger and Dax there are also newer ones coming to the fore in this book, like Zieke and Mindy. Kale is struggling in this book to control his powers that have been somewhat changed since Denazen Corporation had him and gave him their new drug Dominion. Kale is afraid he might end up killing someone he loves, specifically Dez. They are together, as we learnt in the other books, there is no one else for them except for each other, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot of ups and downs and some outside interference thrown into their relationship. Ginger has a revelation for Deznee which she at first blankly refuses to even consider, then much later she seems to understand what Ginger was saying to her and preparing her for. Deznee has a tough, life-altering, heart-breaking decision to make.
I will be truly honest I did initially worry whether I would remember things that had happened earlier in the series but I needn’t have worried as by just 6% of the way into Transcendent I had slipped right back into the Denazen world. The way Jus Accardo has written this book, it explains actions and reactions of characters so well that its definitely not difficult to recall previous incidents that occurred in other books. I have always loved the world and the characters that Jus created. I really like the fact not every character is purely black or white all the time. The way Kylee has loyalty to Denazen as she was taken in and given a home when she needed one, but she also has her own sense of what is right or wrong. Kylee can see events from the point of view of the Underground too. There are certainly times when despite being on the opposite side of the war between Denazen Corporation and the Underground she is blatantly understanding of Deznee’s feelings about her mother Sue, and her urgency to get her hands on the necessary antidote to cure her of the poison that has been injected into her system.
I truly adore the camaraderie and deep bonds between the characters, obviously there’s Dez & Kale, Dez & Brandt, but there also Kale & Aubrey and despite being on different sides of the “war” Aubrey & Able too. This book has lots going on it from the beginning to the very end and I have to say it still left me wanting even more.
My immediate thoughts on finishing this book were Wow, I can’t believe I doubted that I would slip right back into this fantastic series. It was like meeting up with old friends. Definitely one I hated having to put down.
To sum up, I really love this series, along with characters and world within it. The writing style of Jus Accardo makes her books so easy to read. This book really was addictive reading, I finished reading well into the late hours of the night/early hours of the morning. What more can I say, I am so looking forward to even more from this series, I don’t want it to ever end!!
“The boy she’d lost, and finally found again, is not the same boy she remembers.
As one of the most powerful Sixes, Kale has changed in ways Dez can’t ignore.
He swore he’d never kill, and now he’s out for blood.
He swore he’d never harm her, and now he struggles to control his fatal touch.
They’ve been to hell and back, over and over, but this time they might not survive the fire.”
‘Transcendent’ is the fourth book in the Denazen Novels by Jus Accardo. I have not ready any of the previous parts of the story, but suffice it to say.. though I didn’t ‘love’ this book.. it was still highly enjoyable and I absolutely liked Kale enough to go back and buy the first three. The history in his wake has been a rough one and somehow he’s still come through it with a tenderness and loyalty that others easily throw away.
Essentially, Denazen is a corporation run by a greedy, diabolical individual who has systematically hunted down people with special abilities, called ‘Sixes.’ He’s not above torture, manipulation, exploitation, extortion, or anything else to get what he wants from them.
Some of the Sixes we meet in this book have already been through just about everything he has to throw at them in previous novels, but you know how evil geniuses are.. always working on one more thing to use as leverage. This one is no exception.. and he really is awful.
I did feel like I needed a bit of a scorecard to keep up with character family ties. Everyone is either related to everyone else, is and/or was involved with everyone else, or at some point one and/or both of those things changes at least once. While I’m sure it’s meant to keep things interesting, I felt like it had the reverse effect. After enough incidents of it, I just blew off whatever changes occurred and didn’t care.
Likewise, while I said I loved Kale, with the exception of a supporting character named Aubrey.. no one else really moved me. The main character swings back and forth between being kind of petulant and thinking she’s a bad ass and the cast of characters treat her like she’s the latter, but she’s much closer to the former.
There’s plenty of drama, emotionally and otherwise.. I just never felt connected to any of the characters and easily there should have been a couple of scenes that would have made me tear up, but they didn’t.
It was definitely a page-turner though and the author handled fight scenes well, describing just enough to give the reader a visual, without drowning them in a transcribed attempt at showing them the entire thing start to finish. I’ll also say, some of the abilities designed in this story are surprisingly creative, not always 100% good for the wielder, and in one case.. as it develops.. pretty damned cool to ‘see.’
If you’re looking for a read with some substance, but one you won’t find yourself overly invested in, this may be your title. As I said before, I’ll definitely try to go back and read the first three books eventually, if only to see the rest of Kale’s story, but if I get to busy and it doesn’t happen.. I won’t be crushed either.
(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)