Nachdem ich den ersten Band gelesen hatte, stand für mich fest, dass ich den 2. Band kaufe, sobald dieser Erscheint. Wie auch schon "King - Er wird dich besitzen" hat mich auch diese Buch von den ersten Zeilen an gepackt. Der 2. Band schließt direkt an den ersten an und der Schreibstil der Autorin hat mich auch hier wieder fasziniert. In diesem Teil liegt der Fokus vermehrt auf Doe's Vergangenheit. Denn seit sie damals in der Seitenstrasse ohne die geringste Erinnerung aufgewacht ist, hat sich nicht viel daran geändert. Noch immer weiss sie nicht, wer sie ist, auch wenn sie jetzt wieder bei ihrem Vater wohnt. Sie spürt zwar eine gewisse Verbindung zu ihrem Sohn aber sie kann sich dennoch nicht an ihn erinnern. Genauso wenig wie sie sich an ihren Verlobten oder ihren Vater erinnern kann. Nach und nach kehren ihre Erinnerungen jedoch zurück. Was aber nichts an den Gefühlen für King ändert. Viel mehr wird sie sich der Liebe zu ihm immer deutlicher bewusst. Mir gefällt besonders, dass man in Band 2 eine ganz andere Doe kennen lernt, als im ersten Band. Die völlig verunsicherte Doe kommt zwar gelegentlich immer noch an die Oberfläche, doch mehr und mehr wird die dunkle und starke Seite von ihr sichtbar. Dieser Teil zeigt sehr schön, das Bücher nicht vorhersehbar sind. Aber auch, dass Erotik, Liebe und Action sehr gut in einem einzigen Buch vorkommen können. Ich habe schon lange kein so abwechslungsreiches, spannendes und von starken Charaktern erfülltes Buch mehr gelesen.

2.0 stars, with a lot of goodwill. Nope, scratch that. No goodwill for this one. Actually, I was about to rate it with four stars and would have done so, had I not read the last thirteen chapters. It is going to be a hard exercise trying to explain my feelings about this story without spoiling everything (which is a difficult task, as "Tyrant" is very plot-oriented), but I will give it a try. Minor spoilers which may say something about the direction this story is heading towards are included nevertheless, so if you plan to read this story, please don't read on now if you want to be completely surprised. Basically, T.M. Frazier wrote a triangle romance (geez!) with some standard twists thrown in to make things more interesting. During the first 70% of the story, this procedure worked (for me). The characters felt real. Doe was a protagonist to root for. There were funny pieces of dialogue, relationships explored in all their depths, characters written in a relatable way. The author's concept of love which was established in this story was questionable, though. The I-fell-in-love-with-the-man-who-kidnapped-handcuffed-and-threatened-to-rape-me-kind of love was valued above the We-are-childhood-friends-with-a-deep-connection-and-plans-to-get-married-kind of love. And then there was this *he-betrayed-me-so-I-wanted-to-leave-him-but-then-we-had-sex-and-everything-was-fine-again* scene. Supported by King's unbearable "You are mine!" or "I own you!" exclaims, this perfectly sums up how the author defined this relationship through their sexual attraction. Doe had a lot more chemistry with Tanner during their honest conversations and common scenes with each other than Doe and King could ever have had. I actually hoped Doe and Tanner would get their happy-end, not because I wanted Doe to return to the life before her memory loss, but because Tanner was the guy who would do everything for her - just like King would - without constraining her freedom - which is what King did. So, what would an author who wants her protagonists to end up with each other do? Indeed, throw in new revelations in order to make King, the man who seems to favor murder and rape as ordinary hobbies, look like the good guy. From then on, everything went downhill in this story: The scenes were rushed, important aspects were just skipped, the characterizations became poorly performed, and the writing didn't improve either. I even skimmed the last few pages because I was rolling my eyes permanently. As to the writing itself, T.M. Frazier is talented indeed, but it was not dazzling. And she needs a capable editor; instantly! Someone has to teach her about how to use apostrophes and quotation marks correctly. This genre, it seems more and more, just is not meant to be for me. I keep being disappointed by this kind of stories, and I cannot bear yet another story on the bad boy turning good because of his princess who does not mind him being a murderer, rapist, thief or whatever. The "King" series was not bad in its entirety, to be honest - the plot and the characters were well-developed; I never felt bored reading about them. Even the minor characters were elaborate and interesting. But sometimes, this is simply not enough.