SCORCHING EDEN by T.C. McMullen Open Reign Publishing   SCATTERED SOULS, the second volume in the Manipulated Evil Series, ended with a cliffhanger worthy of an old-time movie serial. SCORCHING EDEN, the third and concluding volume, resolves that cliffhanger during its opening chapters - by plunging lovers Ravyn and Kyle into their adventure's next phase. There's no let-down here. This book, the best of the series (and that's saying a great deal because I loved the first two!), rides like a monster roller coaster.   Trapped on a world so dark that other minds cannot follow her there, Ravyn battles her twisted half-brother Rhynon and his powerful mentor, Enar, with the survival of her universe quite literally at stake. That universe, meanwhile, is coming apart around the terrified humans on all of its worlds. Separated from Kyle, and reunited with others almost as dear who follow her against her wishes into the worst peril she's ever faced, the woman who was engineered to be a weapon in human form must also struggle to believe that she deserves to have what she's fighting to protect for everyone else. Love, and life, and a future.   T.C. McMullen puts to rest forever the fallacy that women can't write convincing battle scenes. Those scenes abound in SCORCHING EDEN, and they are wrenchingly believable. So is the world that's alien to Ravyn and Kyle equally, and so - even - are Rhynon and Enar, whose evil is all the worse because we glimpse through other eyes what they might have become instead.   SCORCHING EDEN has one of the most satisfying "surprise endings" I've ever read. Don't miss this superb blend of adventure, science fiction, romance, and fantasy.   Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 Eppie winner REGS http://www.geocities.com/nina_osier/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Scorching Eden by T.C. McMullen Book 3 in the Manipulated Evil Series   Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of Silent Screams and Drowning Rapunzel   It's not just the end of the world, it's the end of the universe, going out with plenty of bangs and whimpers. All the worlds' populations are suffering from the effects of an engineered virus, earthquakes and floods are happening in abundance, the fallen Elder, Enar along with Ravyn's psychotic half-brother Rhynon are determined to rid the worlds of those souls they see as weaker or in opposition to their plans of dominance. Few survivors are left.   Book 2, Scattered Souls ended with the fall of Ravyn and Kyle into the Dark World of Siriscur, where they cannot be seen or sensed by the Elder beings from Abrenia.   Rhynon is determined to try and get Ravyn to join him and Enar, knowing how strong she is and they want to harness that strength, torturing her to try and achieve that end. But it's their torture of Kyle in front of her that hurts her the most.   Can they stop Enar and Rhynon and make the worlds safe once again? How can they have hope when no-one knows where they are or even how to get there?   With worlds alien but with characters who have familiar failings, greed, envy and malice, Ms. McMullen takes us on whirlwind tour of the different places that populate her trilogy. With characters so intense they seem real, the plot advances one step at a time and we are left wondering, hoping and despairing with them as to what might happen next.   It is an excellent adventure with strong heroes and heroines, the young twins Kian and Keelyn come into their own in this final book.  A complex tapestry of thriller, adventure, fantasy and romance. Each character has their own part to weave in this tale, the ending a surprise that I hadn't seen coming at all.   A great read.