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psycop partners

Book Review of Partners (PsyCop #1-2), by Jordan Castillo Price

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Psycops: PartnersI’ve had Partners, by Jordan Castillo Price on my wish list for a while. My husband recently bought it for me. (See, I knew there was a reason I married that man.)

Description from Goodreads:
Featuring two PsyCop novels, Among the Living and Criss Cross, this volume will leave you on the edge of you seat, wanting more.

In Among the Living, Victor is a PsyCop, also known as a member of the Paranormal Investigation team. He’s not popular with the living, as most people consider him a little odd, but the ghosts of violent crimes can’t wait to tell him all about their deaths. His new case pairs him with Jacob, a non-psychic who works in sex crimes. Victor and Jacob have a history, and as they work together to solve a set of serial crimes, they begin to explore the possibilities of a future. The case is like nothing they’ve ever experienced, and soon Victor finds that he’s the only one who can solve the crime, and save Jacob’s life. If he’s not too late.

In Criss Cross, Vic figures life is pretty good. He’s got his lover, Jacob. He’s got some time off to go fishing, and his new partner in the Paranormal Investigation Team buys the coffee. Naturally, nothing that good can last. When Vic starts to see ghosts everywhere, things go very wrong, resulting in a trip to his doctor, who says he’s got problems. Vic’s friends tell Jacob he has to leave for Vic to get better, sex is starting to get dangerous, and Vic’s abilities are getting out of hand. Can he and Jacob figure out what’s happening in time to save Vic from becoming a pawn in a dangerous game?

Review:

Among the Living
I am a total sucker for M/M cop stories. I just am. I admit it. And I found Vic and Jacob a wonderful combo—one so willing to pursue and one barely keeping up with the idea of being pursed, but not resisting either.I also liked that the language was real and not glossed for PCness. How do I express this? At one point, for example, Vic states that a room was full of black boys. But as a reader you understood that this was nothing more than a physical description of the people inhabiting the room. There was no judgement inherent in it or slight intended and thus Vic could skirt the ‘is it PC to say this’ question. It got around the overly scrutinized way many Americans’ sphincter clenches in fear every-time someone dares describe a racial minority. (Please don’t get me wrong, in the same way I appreciated the book’s frankness, I don’t mean to trivialize or demean the very real stresses that still exist in America. But after several years living abroad, I’ve come to appreciate that not only our utter inability to even talk about the subject, but also our unwillingness/inability to allow the language around race to become normalized and uncharged is prohibitive and I was impressed by the authors willingness to allow the color of a character’s skin to be as normal and non-angsty as hair color. Plus, there simply were characters of color.) Similarly, Vic’s observation of his own and the victims’ gayness felt natural and non-titillated.

While I enjoyed the mystery, I was bothered more than once that Vic had information that the other detectives needed but he never provided. And I thought Lisa’s contribution made the whole thing feel a little too easy.

All in all, though, I really quite enjoyed it.

Criss Cross
Again, I quite enjoyed this story by Price. I’ll definitely be looking to finish the series and keeping my eyes open for others. I found Vic and Jacob hot together and Jacob is just so wonderfully accepting and understanding. He makes me swoon.

I did think Vic came across as pretty wimpy for a lot of the novella, though I understand he was kind of experiencing constant trauma. I also thought  it was all a little predictable. I had it figured out quite early and I thought the plot line (as in who was the bad guy, etc) was one I had read many times before, even if not necessarily with the psychic aspect. And, for being the elite of the bureau they sure don’t seem to vet their officers very well.
My Lord, My Master

Book Review of My Lord, My Master (The Three Kings Series,#1), by Scarlett Raynes

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My Lord, My MasterAuthor, Scarlett Raynes, sent me an e-copy of her novella, My Lord, My Master for review. I was super excited, because I’ve been really in to M/M lately and this is the first M/M I’ve received for review.

Description from Goodreads:
A King set on ruling with absolute power no matter how cruel or high the cost. 

A fierce warrior who’s loyalty is tested when forced to confront his lust for an enemy. 

A rebel, intent on claiming the throne and willing to destroy anything and everyone to get to it. 

In an Ancient Kingdom, King Solveig rules with an iron fist. Those who are loyal, sacrifice their lives for the pleasure of his service. Those who are not- die. When his loyal right hand man, Gunnvor goes missing on a routine hunt, all hell breaks loose. A routine hunt for his King, turns into a nightmare as Gunnvor is captured. Forced to submit to his captor to survive, the line between lust and loyalty becomes painfully blurry. 

Tired of his people being persecuted under the tyranny of the sitting king, Torhild is determined to conquer the land he believes is rightfully his. The unexpected intruder challenges not only his plans but also his self control. 

Review:
OK, I’ll get this out of the way to start with. I might have been more pleased with this book than I was,  except that it is a totally cliffhanger with absolutely no resolution. I consider such books a waste of my time and tend to avoid authors I know make a habit of it. Especially considering it’s only 73 pages long. Surely the whole story could fit in a single novel if it’s being broken into chunks that small.

Beyond the cliffhanger issue, I would consider this a decent Porn With Plot read. Certainly it’s nothing more. The two characters meet, try and kill each-other, somehow (while still trying to kill one another) their feelings change from homicidal to erotic. Then the whole rest of the book is the two men raping and humiliating each-other and apparently falling in love (or something). There is no real character development, no real progression of plot, not really even much of a story. That’s not really my bag, but some of it was hot.

The editing could use a bit more attention. There were a few typo-type mistakes, the POVs jump around, and a new 1st person POV character is introduced at 80%, as is a supernatural element that hadn’t even been hinted at up until that point. The whole thing was just rushed, inelegant and abrupt. Oh, and the series title kind of gives away how the whole thing is likely to resolve itself.

So, if your just looking for something to fap/paff with and you’re into the dub-con, pick this up. But if you’re looking for a deeper read, you’ll probably be disappointed.

The Undying Legion

Book Review of The Undying Legion (Crown & Key #2), by Clay & Susan Griffith

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The Undying LegionI received a copy of The Undying Legion, by Clay & Susan Griffith, from Netgalley. I read and reviewed the first book of this series, The Shadow Revolution, here.

Description from Goodreads:
When monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane comes across the gruesome aftermath of a ritual murder in a London church, he enlists the help of magician-scribe Simon Archer and alchemist extraordinaire Kate Anstruther. Studying the macabre scene, they struggle to understand obscure clues in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics carved into the victim’s heart—as well as bizarre mystical allusions to the romantic poetry of William Blake. One thing is clear: Some very potent black magic is at work.
 
But this human sacrifice is only the first in a series of ritualized slayings. Desperate to save lives while there is still time, Simon, Kate, and Malcolm—along with gadget geek Penny Carter and Charlotte, an adolescent werewolf—track down a necromancer who is reanimating the deceased. As the team battles an unrelenting army of undead, a powerful Egyptian mummy, and monstrous serpentine demons, the necromancer proves an elusive quarry. And when the true purpose of the ritual is revealed, the gifted allies must confront a destructive force that is positively apocalyptic. 

Review:
Eh, this was OK. Not bad, but not as good as the first one either. I still liked the characters. I still liked that the women are fully engaged in action. I still liked the tone of the narrative and such. But, frankly, I was bored. It felt like the overly elaborate fight scenes went on and on. Then, as soon as they finally ended another started. This left very little time for the actual plot to play out and almost no time for further character growth. Maybe it’s just suffering from second book syndrome. But the brevity of this review should tell you something. I was left with so little interest in the events of the book that I’ve nothing of note to say.