Rating: 4 Stars 

Publisher: Self Published 

Genre:  Gay Romance

Tags: Murder-Mystery, FBI, Serial Killer, Religious Themes, Series Book #2

Length: 392 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon

Blurb:

How do you catch a killer whose playground spans half the United States?

FBI Special Agent Tracey Smith is barely back on his feet when Behavioral Analysis Unit 4 is dropped into the heart of another case.

The perp is a phantom, flying below the radar of victims and law enforcement alike. His target? A community with their own reasons not to trust the FBI.

As Tracey struggles to find his place with Unit 4 while keeping his illicit relationship with Supervisory Special Agent Jon Anderson under wraps, he’s hit by a series of devastating personal setbacks.

He needs to lean on Jon more than ever, but as the investigation takes his partner to the darkest of places, Tracey’s never felt less secure.

With every fresh body, the Phantom’s threat grows, and with it, Tracey’s unease that he may have bitten off more than he can chew.

The Phantom is book 2 of The Mind Hacker series, and isn’t easily understood without reading book 1, The Family Man. The story follows Jon and Tracey, the grumpy/sunshine main characters through hurt/comfort and forbidden romance situations all the way through to their eventual happily-ever-after.

Content warning: The Mind Hacker series contains themes of dark violence, including off-page sexual assault, homophobia, religious trauma, family neglect, child abuse related to conversion therapy, addiction themes, psychological manipulation, narcissism, and other disturbing themes. If you’d like specifics, the author will happily answer questions through their email: ajrosefiction@gmail.com.

Anti-generative-AI promise: Every word and cover of every book published by this author has been crafted by a human and always will be.

Review:

Jon and Tracey, and the FBI BAU, pick up post the aftermath of book #1,The Family Man. Tracey is coming off crutches but his leg is still giving him some grief. Jon thinks it’s best Tracey stays at his more easily navigated home and Tracey agrees because his recent purchase is a multi-storey, not-easy–to-navigate home. So they get to live together really quickly yet the relationship is very new. Fraternisation at work is a no-go so they have to live together while making it look like a supervisor is being helpful to a colleague. 
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In the meantime, the BAU are alerted to a local murder that could be linked to other murders in other states. Soon enough it appears they have another serial killer on their hands. One that needs profiling and stopping before more gay men are killed by a seeming phantom that no one notices entering or leaving motel rooms. Any connection between this man and all the deceased seems like it’s via an app, Smoldr, that has a disappearing message feature. There are a number of suspects reeled out for the reader, but a lot of roads lead back to one – definitely because it’s so personal for Jon – The Enlightened Covenant Ministries, a religious group that pretends to be caring about the souls of LGBTQ+ children, teens, and like all conversion camps, is anything but caring.  
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During their investigation, Tracey is thinking and feeling a lot of things about the relationship with Jon. He’s still coming to grips being with a man in a relationship for the first time. The reality of what being B on the LGBTQI+ alphabet can entail – listening to potential witnesses or colleagues of the deceased who are homophobic without him able to show emotion, the concept of anal sex, coming out at twenty-eight, having to talk to his parents who have only known him to date women. Will they accept him? While he’s independent, he loves them and still still wants them in his life. It’s an understandable worry for him. Keeping it secret is also an issue because his friends, mostly his fellow BAU workers, can’t know because Jon and Tracey could lose their jobs, this means not knowing what it’s like to be open, which feels like being in the closet. Jon suggests they be out with Jon’s best friend Brian and Brian’s partner Tristan. It’s thoughtful of Jon but it has a hiccup… for reasons. Thank goodness AJ Rose knows how to write adult communication.
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Jon and Tracey’s relationship also has some darker parallels now. They both have PTSD induced nightmares. Tracey and Jon initially connected around Tracey’s ability to ground Jon during or after his nightmares as well as waking triggers.

Tracey dug deep to block Jacob Finch’s voice—“No peace. People killing people.” The sniper haunted him at the worst possible moments.
You’re dead. You can’t hurt me anymore.
He waited for the next invasion, Finch’s next taunt, the loud pop of Special Agent Sarena Mercado’s killing shot, which had taken Finch down. Nothing happened.

 Now Tracey is having his own after the Family Man case, and Jon is here for him in equal measures. Then there’s the lighter side. Jon likes that Tracey is more innocent and sweet. There’s definitely a naiveté about Tracey which is interesting in his line of work, but he also knows when he needs to gain some equilibrium, that some separation with him being in his own home again, actually dating, sounds good. I like them together. They work as a couple. Tracey the younger, gentler partner and Jon who is called the Iceman because he handles the tougher aspects of cases. Gets in the head of the perpetrators. 

(…)“Not only that, but you do the hard part so few of us can do. You get closer to that darkness than anyone else. You make the worst of suspects think you’re one of them, get them to open up, and then you bring them to their knees.”
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This series will keep me coming back because I like the world Rose has created. I like the romance. I like the crime-solving/murder-mystery aspect. I like the mix of the two. Outside of the ‘bad guys’ I like that the team members in Unit 4 are decent. You do get to know more about them in The Phantom. I like their general camaraderie, no-one is a homophobe or a smartarse or causing problems. That appeals to me because some similar series have ongoing anger or homophobia throughout and it well and truly grates on me. 
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The reason this is 4 stars as opposed to 5 is because the serial killer and relationship aspects weren’t quite as balanced as I would have liked. It started out well, then hit a mid section that got a bit lost – with Tracey’s parents, especially his mother, taking more of the spotlight, and there was quite a bit more on their relationship which, while nice, could have been pared back. The investigation and the suspense and action needed to be intertwined evenly throughout like it was in The Family Man. It’s still a very interesting read. Also, I’d like to add that there was a very poignant part at one stage about one of the friends of the deceased. I liked the way that situation and the raw emotion that quite a few LGBTQI+ people have faced over the years in their personal lives was written. 
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I do find it hard to believe that a psychology and criminology major, an FBI employed behavioural analyst, did not know what a ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion camp’ was. The FBI understand religiosity very well – cults, zealots, compounds, etc, – and that they can step outside of the boundaries of the law. And it isn’t simply because Tracey is new to the BAU as he would have at least been introduced to immersive, lifestyle religiosity, cults, and the effects on followers as part of his university study or development training moving into the FBI. Plus, I’m unsure who in the USA, in particular, hasn’t heard about these dreadful places. Just my thoughts.  
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Overall:
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The Phantom is a really solid addition to the Mind Hacker series. A nice follow-up to The Family Man. I’m looking forward to the next book. Definitely seeing more of Jon and Tracey and the BAU team. To also know what’s what with Jon’s little secret – the Hypnotist. You’re being shady, Jon.
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Even though the author says that this book “isn’t easily understood without reading book 1,” I disagree. You really don’t have to have read book #1  to readily understand The Phantom if you would just like to read just this book. The Family Man had a very true crime-esque quality to it, so I say grab it if you like that. If you like to know the genesis of a relationship then read book #1 because of that, but otherwise you’ll know what’s what in this one. Bring on book #3 now. 4 Stars!