Genre/Tags: Quirky, Police/Detectives, Murder/Mystery, Serial Killers, Gay Romance, Dark Parts Set Alongside Humour

Author: Alice Winters

Story Rating: 5 Stars

Narrator: Greg Boudreaux

Narrator Rating: 5 Stars

Length: 10 hours & eleven minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Audible, Amazon

Liam

Weirdly, people don’t react overly well when you’re caught standing over the dead body of a murderer who’d walked free.

It’s not that I thought my fellow homicide detective would rejoice when he saw what I’d done, but is a pat on the back too much to ask for? Maybe a gold star at the very least?

The problem is that the person who caught me is Gabriel, the only person I care for and adore… and he’s prepared to look the other way if I leave homicide and promise to never kill again. Yet when Gabriel gets taken by a serial killer, there’s absolutely no way I can sit back while this parasite takes what is mine.

But what the killer doesn’t know is that I’m coming for him and that I would destroy the world to keep Gabriel safe. After all, who could hunt a serial killer better than another one?

Gabriel

Drawing Liam back into homicide is the last thing I thought I’d ever do, but the killer is picking off my fellow detectives, and the only way we’re going to make it out of this is with Liam heading the case (even if there’s one—or five—coworkers he’d rather not save).

Liam is smart, sarcastic, and the most dangerous man I’ve ever met, and yet I can’t look away—even if he calls my adorable cat Lucy Fur. No one has any idea just how far Liam will go for me, especially not the killer, who won’t realize until too late that the prey he hunts is actually a predator.

Review: 

“You are so bad for me but I can’t turn away from you.” 

I read an anthology not too long ago and Alice Winters contributed one of the best short stories in that book. In the review I believe I said I’d pick up something of hers in the near future to read. I did. It was an audiobook that didn’t work for me. Anyhoo, skip ahead to this week, this audiobook somehow came into my line of sight and it sounded good, quirky. I already liked the narrator. I listened to a preview. Thought, ‘give it a go, Kaz.’ Glad I did.

There is this love of sociopathic main characters in romance these days who are so faaaar removed from the reality of being sociopathic. I blame Dexter. That show started BS sociopathic serial killer behaviours. But… I do not like the whole grumpy/sunshine thing that permeates romance. It aggravates the crap out of me. But hey, I am happy to embrace morally questionable through to morally bankrupt characters, or the romantic antisocial lead in my books – that would be Liam. So the idea of Liam brought me to the party. While Gabriel is stock standard likeable, he irritated me with his wanting to stop Liam doing what he does best. Killing “parasites.” I was all, “shut up, Gabriel, let the man work!” That’s what I was here for. Gabriel is fine. He’s the light to Liam’s dark but I wanted him to get with the Liam Plan. I also liked Liam being obsessed with Gabriel, I am totally here for solid fictional obsession. The fleshing out of the romance isn’t strongly multidimensional. Liam is all about Gabriel simply being his. It’s the way this book works so if you’re looking for more depth than that it may annoy you. He would, as the author likes to let us know, burn the world down for his Gabriel… or chop of a few parts.  

To me the most romantic thing I could do would be to dice up the killer and present Gabriel with the body, but I’m not dumb enough to think he’d enjoy any part of that. I, on the other hand, would find it extremely romantic.

I believe Winters is writing a series with these two characters. The sex wasn’t rushed. It was more serial killer and humour centric. It takes a little while for them to build into sex. I can’t remember the words I love you, maybe I missed that, but I feel the author is taking a bit of time to build fully.  

Both MCs get a POV, which was a necessity. The storytelling is non-linear. I’m not always a fan, but again, the book was better for it. It mostly jumps between the lead up to Gabriel finding his senior partner at the time, Liam, standing over the dead body of a ‘case’ that didn’t get the result Liam wanted – the John Davies wife and son murder case. Buh-bye John D. The book starts with the reaction of Gabriel at that exact moment, shocked, telling Liam to leave his job as a detective and go far away. If he did that, he wouldn’t report what he saw. So, Liam goes and opens a diner which is random as fuck because he talks to one employee on one occasion and doesn’t worry about it anymore when he comes back two years later, after hearing Gabriel is missing. 

In current time it’s primarily about the cop-snatching serial killer who is like the freaking Terminator. Initially, it’s about Liam finding Gabriel. Then it’s dealing with Gabriel, who is a by-the-book cop that everyone at the police station loves, being re-partnered with Liam. Mind you, is there really a police station? Because Liam comes a runnin’ to find Liam and just slips back into his old job. Does he blackmail people back in? Sure. It’s one of his favourite past times to get what he wants. I was here for it, but that still shouldn’t allow him to come back after quitting, and right in the middle of a current investigation that is personal to him. There are these things called HR freaking guidelines, people. They are the most bizarre detectives or station of any murder/mystery/crime I’ve ever read.   

There are dark moments in this book. Like Liam’s initial trauma. At one point the story jumps back 23 years to when Liam is 15. It gives you the “reasons” as to why he is like he is now. And there’s also body parts being sent to others or being left out on park benches in current time. Gabriel’s feelings and fear is on page when he’s captured and held by the other, non-Liam, serial killer. Liam’s thoughts can be funny, quirky, grandiose, off, and I loved that.  

I think one of the funniest aspects of this book, outside of Liam’s utter disdain for others, is the struggle between Liam and Gabriel’s cat, Lucille Pawl. At one stage Liam has to mind her – proof that Gabriel is his chosen one – and he deadpans that he can see behind her calculating, feline eyes. That she drops a dead mouse at his feet with a look that says ‘you’re next, arsehole’ is proof there is evil lurking in this kitty. To be fair, everyone thinks Lucille Pawl is Satan spawn but she’s a good girl for Gabriel. His choice in men and cats seems to mirror one another. But the names Liam comes up with for Lucille are hilarious, including Lucy Fur or Lucy Fur the Great and Bitchy, etc. It’s a running gag throughout. One I never grew tired of it. Thought I would. Didn’t.    

“I feel like you’re unfairly biased toward that cat. She committed murder today too and you thought it was cute and helpful. Did that little mouse murder his wife and child?”
“It’s honestly fascinating how you try to rationalize things to gain my favor.”

Narration: Greg Boudreaux always does a good job of narrating audiobooks. He added a lot of something extra that made this audiobook pop. His narration of Liam and Gabriel is stellar.    

This audiobook is well worth a listen if you like quirky for days in amongst your police work and gay romance. If you like Greg Boudreaux as a narrator it’s a hard recommend to grab the audiobook over the e-book. I liked the humour. It started to ramp up in the second half and I’m hoping it doesn’t get  ramped up any further in book # 2 as it’s as far as I need it to go right now. I’ve already bought the next audiobook, A Forgotten Mistake. So we shall see. In the meantime, I had a very good time listening to A Simple Mistake.  5 Stars!