Specimen 192 by Melissa Bell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
SPECIMEN 192
Specimen 192
Genetically Modified Species Series
G.M.S. Series
Taylor works for a cutting edge company but is oblivious to the Company’s more secretive patents. She has no idea that the CEO is weaponizing DNA by creating hybrids. Until she comes face to face with one of them.
Specimen 192 is the first successful hybrid of his kind. Can Taylor convince the Genetically Modified Species to let her help him? Or will he continue to push her away?
Specimen 192 was born out of need. But when the CEO’s priorities shifted so did 192’s future. Finally free from captivity can 192 walk away from the sexy female who makes his heart speed up?
He’s been dispatched to eliminate Taylor because she knows too much, but can he use her to get the information he needs to free his people?
Can Taylor make 192 roar? Can 192 make Taylor purr?
The Beast They Couldn’t Control
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💛💚🖤
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋🙂😁😎🥰
Character Backgrounds and Plot Summary
Taylor Norris works as the personal assistant to Simon Elkington, CEO of Spectra Genesis, and initially has no idea just how disturbing the company’s research really is. Simon and his partner Jefferson originally used their genetic research to help Simon’s wife carry a child, but the experiment that produced Zedekiel, or Specimen 192, became something much darker. Zedd is the first successful human and large-cat hybrid, and Simon’s attitude toward him changes from creating the child he wanted to despising him for being more animal than human. The company eventually produces thousands of genetically modified beings and becomes involved in secret government contracts.
What really got to me was what Zedd has endured. After his mother is killed, he is sent to military school and eventually becomes a weapon for his father. Simon controls him by threatening the other genetically modified beings, forcing Zedd to carry out horrific orders because he knows they will be punished if he refuses. So when Taylor becomes a liability because of what she knows about Spectra Genesis, Simon sends men after her.
Taylor’s life changes when she is followed after work and Zedd intervenes to protect her. The interesting part is that Zedd was actually supposed to eliminate Taylor himself, yet he becomes caught between using her to uncover information that could help free his people and his growing feelings for her. Taylor may be human and completely outmatched physically, but she is not willing to simply walk away from Zedd or the other people being held captive. That determination is what made their relationship work for me.
Highlights and Limitations
The biggest highlight for me was Zedd himself. I loved the contrast between the frightening weapon Simon created and the man underneath it. His enhanced abilities, including his animal-like senses, strength, speed, and healing, make him feel genuinely different from an ordinary human, but his emotional scars are what really define him. He has been conditioned to believe that obedience is the only way to protect the others, so watching him begin to question Simon’s control was one of the parts I was most invested in.
I also liked that Taylor does not simply become a helpless damsel once she discovers what is happening. She is in genuine danger when Simon’s men come after her, but she still wants to help Zedd rather than treating him like a monster. The published synopsis also makes it clear that Taylor becomes involved in helping him find and free others like him, which was exactly the direction I wanted this story to take.
I will admit that the laboratory-experiment setup and escape was familiar to me. I have read quite a few stories involving genetically engineered beings who are tortured, experimented on, and treated as property, so I recognized the basic framework almost immediately. That did not stop me from enjoying it, and I was impatient for the story to move beyond Zedd’s captivity and into the part where he could really fight back, I was happy not to have to wait long.
I also found myself wanting more development in certain areas. With such a disturbing history behind Spectra Genesis and so many genetically modified people involved, I would have happily spent more time learning about the other experiments and seeing the larger rebellion develop. It seemed this book was setting up future books in the series, but more books haven’t been written.
Final Opinion
I enjoyed Specimen 192 because it gave me exactly the kind of genetic experiment romance I was hoping for, but the emotional side of Zedd’s story kept me invested. His relationship with his mother, the loss of her, and the way Simon weaponized Zedd’s love and loyalty toward the other specimens made his struggle for freedom feel personal rather than simply being a battle against an evil corporation.
I especially wanted to see Zedd completely break free from Simon’s control and turn everything he had been forced to learn against the people who had used him. Taylor’s presence gives him something else to fight for, and I liked watching their relationship develop while he was still trying to figure out what freedom could actually mean for him.
There are familiar elements here, but I was hooked by Zedd’s lion-like qualities, his tragic history, and the idea of him finally becoming the protector instead of the weapon. I finished the book wanting more of the world and, most importantly, wanting to see what happens to the other genetically modified people. For me, that is a pretty good sign that the first book did its job.
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