“Sexy, tough, and deftly sprinkled with dark humor.” — New York Times bestselling author Larissa IoneThe Line Between Obsession and Love has DisappearedThe world has changed. Any rules that might’ve been in place before the Scorpius bacterium ripped through civilization and decreased its population are no longer in place. Obsession and survival are the new reality. So, Marcus Knight, after a … Knight, after a hellish time in captivity that stole most of his memory and all of his soul, has one focus, and that’s keeping Dr. Penelope Kim safe in the aftermath. She’d risked her life to save him once, and she’s all that matters. For months, he’s kept his distance, protecting her from afar, because he knows that one touch—one sigh—one kiss—from her will never be enough.
Passion is a Dangerous and Deadly Temptation
Penny Kim is one of the few doctors still living, and she alone holds the key to ensuring the human race continues. Several of her friends are pregnant, and the clock is ticking down on their survival. Her days are filled with experiments and hope, while her nights are consumed with visions and dreams of the hard-bodied and powerful soldier who’s made her safety his one and only mission. She should be wary of him; she should be terrified of him. Yet all she feels is an unreal craving for his touch that gets stronger every day. Life is short, and she’s unwilling to wait, unaware of the danger already hunting them both. Some risks are worth it, even in this new and dangerous world.
“Thrilling, post-apocalyptic romance at its dark, sizzling best!” –New York Times bestselling author Lara Adrian
more
I devoured this book just like I did the other books in the series. I’d been waiting for Marcus and Penny’s story and it didn’t disappoint! I’m only sad there are no more books in the series since I have grown to love each of the characters and their individual stories that contributed to this amazing world the author created. This is world building at its finest!
I highly recommend every book in this series!
This is the final book in the Scorpius Syndrome, and there were a lot of loose ties to work with. This book partly focused on the relationship between Marcus Knight and Dr. Penelope Kim, who first meet when Marcus is still a prisoner being tortured and she was brought in to be her physician. But since there were so many other stories to work with, they were hardly the focus of the book.
I liked this apocalyptic story, the way they struggled to survive, to find supplies, to try to provide a fairly safe environment for a group, and to find the trust to work together. The characters, and the pairings, drew me in and kept me looking forward to the next book. I think I would have preferred one more book to more slowly bring this series to a conclusion. Although I like how everything ended, I think it was a bit abrupt towards the end. Still, I love how Rebecca Zanetti is able to create unforgettable characters and to build worlds that are so realistic.
It is the end of an amazing series. Also, their HEA gets Marcus and Penny. It is like all previous books from the series: amazing wonderful, full of suspense and action. This one has some twists and unpredictable events. Both Marcus and Penny are great and they have their special a little bit different kind of relationship because with all that happens to Marcus. The story is great and I am sad but satisfied with such an amazing end.
Knight Awakening by Rebecca Zanetti
6th and last book of the Scorpius Syndrome series. Best read as part of the series in order. Futuristic post apocalyptic romantic suspense. Contemporary times.
A virus has killed 95% of the world population. No cure. No live births since the pandemic. No electricity.
Written a few years before the current 2020 environment.
Marcus Knight was tortured extensively under orders of the President. The plan to create invincible soldiers. Now that Marcus been rescued and reunited with his brother Jax, they are determined to save their women and the group of survivors they’ve teamed with and collected. The President is searching for Lynne Harmony and will destroy anyone to make her his possession.
Doctor Penelope Kim is horrified when she’s bought the into the bunker and told to stitch up the profusely bleeding Marcus. What was down to him to cause all those wounds and scars? She promises to save him and while he doesn’t have any hope, he can’t help listening to her and becoming protective.
Marcus is very much the silent hero. I love his vulnerability and strength. His inability to understand nuance is sad but adorable. And the way all the men panic when a woman cries is charming.
Non stop gripping suspense with deep relationship building.
Wonderful conclusion to this series. Loved the world building and relationships.
Chapter headings as journal entries are my some of my favorite parts of this series.
Excerpts from this book specifically:
“It’s time to consolidate this country under my leadership, even if I have to blow most of it up first. President Bret Atherton”
“When I get tipsy, I think of Marcus. Well, I think about him when I’m not tipsy, too. Dr. Penelope Kim, Journal.”
“I’m not keeping a journal. Marcus Knight.”
“I hate my dreams. This is still not a journal. Marcus Knight, Still not a Journal.”
“How can a woman who drives me absolutely crazy also provide me with peace? Marcus Knight, Not a Journal, da..it.”
“I like Penny. Marcus Knight, Still not a Journal.
“The shrink has insisted I keep a journal, so I’m keeping this one since I don’t want to make her mad. I like that I’m not the craziest person in the room when I work with her. Marcus Knight, I guess this is a Journal.”
Excerpts from Knight Awakened by Rebecca Zanetti.
Penelope Kim is the only Scorpius survivor in her family and with her medical degree has become an essential part of the Vanguard/Mercenary community after her rescue from one of the bunkers. Marcus Knight had been shifted from bunker to bunker and subjected to terrible experiments and torture to see how the bacteria had changed him. Until Penny Kim came into his life at the last bunker, he had no hope. Her kindness and care made her his obsession to protect at all costs. Gradually coming to know his brother and working with profiler/psychologist Vinnie, Marcus begins to return to feeling and Penny reaches out to him woman to man. However there is always danger in the background from President Atherton who continues to stalk Lynne Harmony. This is the concluding book in the Scorpius Syndrome series and I was delighted with the way the author tied up the loose ends and brought the series to a close.
Knight Awakening is a thoroughly entertaining, nail-bitingly suspenseful, charmingly romantic conclusion to Rebecca Zanetti’s Scorpius Syndrome series.
Marcus and Penny’s story is everything you could possibly wish for. Their tale is spun craftily amongst the rest of our beloved Scorpius gang. And the ending… yep, thoroughly satisfying.
One of my all-time favorite series! Sad to see it end. But what an ending…this story was superb!
I loved this book! I’m sad to see the series end but Knight Awakening was worth waiting for. Marcus Knight is an amazing character and Penny is sweet and smart and takes no crap from Marcus!
The whole gang from the series takes front and center stage as they plan their mission, deal with Rippers and traitors, and figure out how to save the babies. They’re all there to support Marcus as he comes alive, even as he endangers them all. He feels nothing…until he does. She consumes him. But he’s got iron control. He’s had to. She will either be his downfall or his savior. Again.
Love! Love! Love! I had to read the last chapters again and again! I did not want to miss a single detail, nor did I want it to end.
I buy all her books i love rvery one of them.i like the men and the women who are not push overs the hero has to win their love. Great books.fun to read.
The exciting, action-packed conclusion to the Scorpius series has arrived! Markus and Penny were a pleasure to read. The road to healing for Markus was long, but with Penny by his side he could do anything. It was steamy and entertaining and so satisfying! I’m sad to see the series end, but it was wrapped up really well and I cannot find fault in it. All the previous characters were included and it just worked really well. Thanks to the author for this very entertaining series and I would love to give it more than five starts, if I could!
Loved it because it tied up the series and gave you a view of what happened in the fiture
“Not sure what’s going to happen in this life, but it’s you and me.”
4.5 stars
The sixth and final (at least for now) book of the Scorpius Syndrome, this book has been a long time coming, but it was SO worth the wait! Marcus and Penny’s story is sweet, funny, intense, super sexy and gorgeously romantic, set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world still searching for answers and dealing with every day dangers, but that is also finally starting to settle. I loved being back in this world, and loved every moment of this book.
Marcus Knight is the younger brother of Vanguard leader, Jax Mercury. Held prisoner, tortured and experimented on, he has lost not only his memory, but most of who he is, and he is pretty much emotionless except for the anger that is constantly simmering, and his obsession with the doctor who saved him, Penelope Kim.
“You’re angry. I can see it in your eyes.”
“It’s the only emotion I have left.”
Penny may just be one of the only doctors left alive after the Scorpius bacteria wiped out most of the world’s population. Since being rescued by Vanguard, she has quickly found her place and is working hard to help the survivors living in Vanguard-Merc territory. But her main focus is the find a way to help pregnant women deliver healthy babies, thus ensuring the continuation of the human race. But Penny has another problem – a strong, fierce and broody man who refuses to leave her side, and who has begun to infiltrate her fantasies.
This is such a fun set-up! Yes, Marcus is super-possessive and protective, and somewhat obsessed, and while Penny should possibly be scared of him, she’s one of the few people who treats him like a man, acknowledging the trauma that he’s been through and caring deeply for him. There is an underlying chemistry between them, and as they get to know each other outside of the bunker where they were both held, and Marcus starts to adjust back into the real world, things begin to change.
“I can’t be like everyone else. You’re all I think about now. If you let me in, if you let me have more, I can’t hold it back.” He clenched his fingers into fists. “I can’t hold myself back.”
Marcus and Penny have a fantastic dynamic. You can feel their chemistry and the sexual tension that sizzles between them, and once they give in to that, this book is seriously steamy. But there is a deeper connection between them that starts to bring out Marcus’ feelings, and that’s both beautifully sweet and seriously funny.
Marcus crossed his arms. “The parameters of this relationship are clear, remember? You keep safe and I try to have feelings. Well, guess what? I’m having a shitload of feelings right now, and you’re making yourself unsafe in the process.”
“Huh,” Marcus said, cocking his head and studying her with those deep eyes. “I believe you’re pissing me off.”
Apart from the dramas of living in a dangerous and deadly post-apocalyptic LA, Marcus and Penny have issues closer to home that they need to deal with. It seems that the secret to human-kind’s survival could be buried in Marcus’ lost memories, and as the Vanguard team dig for answers, he’s afraid of what may be unleashed – especially if Penny is in the firing line. It creates great intensity, and shows not only Marcus’ vulnerability, but also Penny’s strength, and I loved their honesty through it all and seeing their feelings for each other deepen as they figure it all out
“Promise me you’ll open yourself to falling in love with me.” Before he could remind her that he didn’t have feelings, she pressed on. “Just be open and willing. Maybe you feel love like others, maybe you don’t. Maybe your love is different, and that’s fine. All I’m asking is that you don’t stop yourself and that you be open. You can do that.”
“Baby, I’m already open. Anything inside me, you can have. No holding back.”
Alongside the romance, the members of the Vanguard-Merc crew are trying to survive in the post-Scorpius world. Death is always a possibility, and with the threat of gang wars, rippers on the loose, and a homicidal President after them (as well as the every-day struggles of food, water, shelter and medicine), the time has come for the move their settlement to a more permanent home. But with every step forward, there are two steps back, and it seems they have a traitor in their midst. It will take all of their combined strengths to make this final push to settle into their new world, and it’s an exciting and fast-paced ride as we watch it all happen.
The characters from previous books in the series all appear, and I loved catching up with them. All of those alpha males and strong females are a fantastic combination, and I loved seeing them all working together, teasing, bantering and arguing as they fight for their future. And in the middle of all of the action and excitement, Marcus and Penny’s love story unfolds beautifully.
“I can’t fight this world without you. It’s you and me, remember?”
I love this world, I love this series, and this is a great book to finish on. It’s exciting, funny, dramatic and romantic, and I thought the ending wrapped up really well, though maybe a little too quickly – but that could just be me and my mild obsession with the series, I’m not ready to let go and would have loved to have seen just a bit more. But Rebecca Zanetti hasn’t ruled out returning to this world for future books, and I would be right on board if she does!
As a bonus, the ebook has a short story at the end of it which is set before the series, and is a great little extra which helped dull the pain of it all being over.
I loved it! 4.5 stars.
5 stars
It’s the apocalypse and the country is trying to build itself back up. A virus name Scorpius, has infected most of the country. It affects the brain and can result in death, become a psycho, or living through it with the help of a concoction that makes it necessary to survive.
Penelope is a doctor and starts working at the same facility in which Marcus is being held and experimented on. Marcus’s memories are gone and he has become obsessed with Doctor Penelope. When they meet the Vanguard people who have taken over the facility they are staying at. Marcus learns better has a brother, Jax, but has absolutely no memory of him. They are several pregnant women and it’s up to Penelope to find a cure for the Scorpius so the women can carry their babies to full term. It is getting dangerous and all Marcus wants is for Penelope to be safe but she wants more with Marcus. Marcus has no feelings but will Penelope find them and bring them to the surface?
I’m not sure if any of this makes sense but I tried. Plenty of action, sex, crazies, humor and thrilling suspense. I do believe this is my favorite and hate that this is the last one.
I have enjoyed the Scorpius Syndrome books from the start and I was looking forward to getting to know Marcus. I didn’t realize until a few days prior to release day that this would be the series finale, but I was ready to see how things would be wrapped up.
Marcus is more animal than man when we meet him. He has been tortured and experimented upon by the government scientists, and he couldn’t care less if he lives or dies until Dr. Penelope Kim arrives. She shows him more kindness than he has experienced in a long time and stands up to the others to try to help him. Once he realizes it is not a trick, his sole focus to the point of obsession is keeping her safe from all danger, including him.
Jax’s attempts to break through to his brother are largely ignored by Marcus as he has no memories of their younger years or much else beyond his time in captivity thanks to the experiments. However Penny is able to convince Marcus that going to Vanguard is the best next move.
Penny is the exact opposite of Marcus. The brand new doctor is soft spoken, cultured and unimposing, but opposites do attract! She slowly starts to break down some of his carefully constructed walls despite his best efforts to resist, and he starts to regain some of his humanity. The evolution of their relationship and personalities alternated between infuriating, amusing and satisfying.
There is a lot going on here as the author tries to tie up loose ends so I would say this is half Marcus and Penny’s story and half everyone else’s story. We have traitors potentially infiltrating Vanguard, pregnancies and the fate of the human race at risk, dwindling food and water supplies, and a sociopath president who is gunning to kill them all except Lynne. So you know, nothing big happening there…
I mostly enjoyed the book but I was hoping for a bit more from the ending and epilogue. Points I had been looking forward to experiencing and seeing resolved were either glossed over or rushed, and after being so invested in the characters and their survival, that was a disappointment. But I enjoyed the series as a whole and will probably revisit it for a re-read at some pont.
A continuation of The Scorpius Syndrome series that pulls you in from the first page. After years of torture Marcus is withdrawn and stoic. His focus is one hundred percent centered on Dr. Penelope the doctor who showed him kindness while he was caged. Her goodness and life must be protected from all threats at any cost. An action packed post-apocalyptic story with enemies you love to hate, and a love born out of tragedy that can heal a broken soul.