Cipher has a red helix tattoo. That means her DNA is defective--and it means she has strange powers. In her case she can control electricity. She should have been killed at birth but she was safe and with her parents until her Uncle turned her in when she was a small child. She's been on the run and alone ever since. But she can't control her powers and a flare sets her Uncle on her tail again, and it sends members of the rebellion to help her.

As with all of Aileen Erin's works this has well-thought out world, a great cast of characters, and it's tempting me with possibilities of found family. I could do without the "meant for each other" idea the man who is helping her has, but based on his background it does make sense. (And she's pretty skeptical of it, at least at first, so that helps me deal.)

This is a group world, with two different authors writing from two different perspectives in the following books, with a group book to wrap things up. I'm interested; I'll be reading.

(Provided by publisher) ( )

Cipher's an exciting, Sci-Fi/Paranormal romance novel set in a post apocalyptic/dystopian world.It stars a female hacker, "Cipher", as the gaming community knows her, who doesn't get close to people. Physically she can't, because of her power to attract and dispel electricity (she's fried her fair share of computers and power grids). Cipher's been on the run since she was eight years old because her uncle, Jack Parson, and the Black Helixes of the Seligo are after her. At birth, Cipher was marked as a Red Helix, meaning she has unstable DNA and like all Red's, she was destined for termination. She avoided that fate until she killed a man, revealing her unusual ability. Twelve years later, she's still hiding out, but someone else is looking for her.

Cipher had me hooked from the beginning! I've read a lot of Sci-Fi in my time but I don't think I've read about a lady hacker before. The story was fast paced and I certainly enjoyed myself reading it. Cipher's looking for information on the Red Helixes in super secret government files, which might be the only way she can continue surviving or it just might get her killed. But Cipher doesn't know that she's also a Shadow Raven, part of a secret rebel group that rescues other Red's marked for death. At least until a blast from her past in the form of super sexy Knight storms into her life. She had saved his life as a kid, and now he's out to save hers. Neither expects to fall in love in the process.

Cipher,it's different from other Sci-Fi/Paranormal Romances I've read before. It has a strong plot as Knight attempts to bring Cipher to safety as she seeks revenge on her evil uncle. The romance slowly develops as the story plays out. There's a lot of non-stop action, explosions, car chases, helicopter chases, and evil scientists! It's just great!
I'd certainly recommend the Shadow Ravens series for a fun and easy read! I've just purchased Quanta, the next book in the series and am looking forward to Cipher (Ellen) and Knight (Raven Marquez) as they work to give her the control of her powers that she so desperately needs.
Jack Murphy ( )

Wow....really awesome book. The first amazing book I read this year.

I loved this book. Fast paced, pure adrenaline the whole way through. Loved the characters Cipher and Knight. Loved the story and loved all the other characters as well.

This is part 1 in a series, and the next 2 are going to be written by other authors. I have no idea how that will turn out, but it's a very interesting spin on a series. I'm sure the other books will be good too, but I wish there ware more books from Aileen Erin to continue Cipher and Knight's story. ( )

I am very much on the edge about CIPHER. There were a lot of things I really enjoyed about it, but then there was so much left out that after the fact I feel like I missed half the book.

Cipher is an interesting character. She's a red helix that escaped death as an infant and is constantly on the run, hiding from her uncle and those that are out to eliminate her kind. I felt like the author did a pretty decent job of giving us her back story and explaining who she is. Knight is a Shadow Raven who's devoted his life to searching for the little girl who saved his life when he was little. He is also working undercover for the bad guys who hunt down and kill red helix babies, in hopes of saving as many of them as he possibly can. We find out that they share a past pretty quickly and although they both have memories of the other I just didn't feel like they KNEW each other enough now for the relationship they had by the end of the book.

I am really bummed to see that book 2 will be following different main characters for the reason i just listed. I really enjoyed getting to know Cipher and Knight, but I don't feel like I am done learning about them. They JUST started a relationship and still have a lot to learn about each other and I feel like we are being cut off way too soon. Hopefully Cipher and Knight will be involved in book 2 as well so we can get to know them a little more.

We only scraped off the tip of the world and the characters in The Shadow Ravens series with CIPHER and really wish the author would have dug a little more into everything. So although I enjoyed this book, I am left feeling like I really needed more. Even after saying that, I will most likely pick up book 2, Quanta, when it comes out.

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )