REVIEW: Spook Squad by Jordan Castillo Price

Spook Squad by Jordan Castillo Price
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

CAUTION: spoilers, rant

Man, what a disappointment. I pray to Cthulhu this is not the last book of the Psycop series because it would be a GIANT disappointment. GIANT. “Throwing the book across the room” giant. It took me a few books into the series before I finally liked one enough where I could firmly rate it 3-stars without waffling between 2-stars and 3-stars and get a streak of solid good books running. That fun ride sure ended quickly because book 7 put me back to waffling with the rating. Correction: there wasn’t even waffling so it was worse. Did I mention Spook Squad is book 7? I don’t expect every book of the series to hit the mark, but once you hit book 3 of a long series, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a minimum of... Well, I don’t know what the right word to use here so I’m going to say “quality” ill-fitted as it is. Maybe “entertainment”? You get the idea.

Things I Didn’t Like

The biggest problem I had with book 7 was the pacing. It was slow as a snail. The speed did not pick up till the last third of the book, and even then, yikes. There was just no hiding the problem that the plot MEANDERED. I knew Victor paying his debt to FPMP with an exorcism wasn’t going to be a simple task, obviously. However, the way the plot tried to make the matter a complicated task was strained and convoluted. I love head games but the head games between Dreyfuss and Vic in book 7 were inane and unbelievably dull.

Now, I wouldn’t have minded the plot much if there were “good” interactions between Victor and Jacob. By good, I mean scenes with relationship development, emotional connections, and maybe a few physical connections to satisfy my smut cravings. Intimacy, essentially. There was barely any intimacy in the book. The mm-romance aspect was halfway to nonexistent much, much to my dismay. There was one romance scene, a pretty lengthy sex scene to boot (woot!), but it was token.

My goodness, Vic and Jacob didn’t even have the talk about why Jacob joined the FPMP. Considering book 6 ended on that plot twist, I would have thought book 7 would begin with the talk. Instead, what I read was Jacob having the talk with Carolyn, his ex-police partner. She appeared in the beginning and disappeared after a couple chapters, never to be seen again for the rest of the book. What the hell? There was no resolution with Carolyn whatsoever and it bugged me.

What bugged me Ten Times More was Vic. Dude fucking regressed a handful steps back to his junkie ways, trying to score pills off of Dreyfuss. Uh, I thought we were fucking past that. Apparently, not. *facedesk* I know drug addiction is a life-long battle, but ugh. This was just... I can’t... Stupid! It’s book fucking 7. S-E-V-E-N. I wanted to smack Vic on the back of his head for not taking Dreyfuss up on his offer to recieve alternative medicine that would come with no string and no cost to Victor except only his time and patience. Aaack. Damn you, Victor. I know, I know. Flawed protagonist and all that shit. But this was some maddening shit.


SPOILERS AHEAD.


Lisa and Dreyfuss dating, WHAT THE FUCK? Then at the end they got engaged? What?!!! Contrived doesn’t even begin to describe this shit. What the hell was Lisa thinking? Oh right, she wasn’t thinking. Woman was camping out in Vic and Jacob’s living room in a fucking tent like some hobo, I kid you not. Suffice to say, I was very disappointed in Victor and Jacob for not doing enough by Lisa. Not to say they didn’t try to help Lisa (they did), but they could have done way more in my opinion. Woman needed a fucking intervention!

Runner up on the list of issues I had with Vic, second place to his junkie ways, was his gross insensitivity towards Richie. I was astounded and irritated how Victor did not know Richie had a developmental disability till now in book 7. How oblivious can he be? And this a fucking detective character and a character who have known Richie since teenage-hood back in their Camp Hell years, my goodness. All this time Vic just thought Richie had a horrible odd personality? *facedesk* Casual ableism: NO.

Speaking about Richie, what was up with him quitting FPMP at the end of the book? The portrayal of FPMP led me to believe no one could actually quit, especially psychics because the agency needs all the psychics they could get, especially those like Richie who have some exorcist capabilities even if it’s mostly just BS. Beside, how would Richie support himself? Because it was not as if he could do anything else. Why am I the only one who seem to give an actual fuck about Richie? FFS.

To replace Richie, Vic joined the FPMP after so much hate for the agency. *raise hands* I give up.

Things I Did Like

I did like how there was little of Crash in book 7. I loathe the character.

I liked Dreyfuss’s character development. Nice to see dude wasn’t all that bad and that the FPMP wasn’t this evil secret government agency who disappeared people as I was half-led to believe. Not say they don’t do such things, but it’s never a matter of black and white.

In Conclusion

I rate Spook Squad 2-stars for it was okay. Book 7 is undoubtedly one of the worst books in the PsyCop series. Despite the rantiness of my review, I was mostly bored with the book, believe it or not. Each issue I had with the book by itself wasn’t bad enough to make me mad. At the very most, I was irritated. However, when put together to write my review, that’s when I got mad.

The short version of it: book 7 was boring and bullshitty.

*Buddy-read with Dlee.

Goodreads | Amazon

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REVIEW: Pressure Head by J.L. Merrow

Pressure Head by J.L. Merrow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Characters

+++ The Protagonist

I liked Tom but I found it hard to keep liking him, because his people-pleasing personality tired me. Despite considering his personality, I was still flabbergasted at how quickly Tom agreed to help Phil, Tom’s teen crush turned bully. Phil nicknamed Tom Poofski (Tom’s last name is Patreski) and was one of the bullies who chased Tom into a car accident which gave him a lifelong hip injury. Tom’s personality didn’t meld perfectly with his past; he got along with Phil too quickly to be believable.

Another issue was how Tom jumped into the investigation with Phil without serious consideration that they were hunting a murderer, that what they were doing was dangerous. Not to mention that Tom had a job as a plumber with appointments, which he missed intermittently. Tom essentially put his life on hold and in risk for an ex-bully. Yes, the ex-bully was still handsome as ever... and gay... and single, but still. Tom needed to re-prioritize.

Tom may have a preternatural talent for finding things and the natural charisma for easing people, especially women which induced jealousy from Phil, but investigating a homicide was beyond his capabilities. He didn’t even bother to carry a weapon at the ending in his rescue attempt.

+++ The Love Interest

Phil suffered a severe lack of character development. His attitude was distant, but that was no excuse. I knew more about Tom’s flamboyant best friend, Gary, and his ex-porn star little person lover, Darren; Gary and Darren were not suspects whose background needed to be told and had around 4-6 scenes total in the story.

There’s something wrong when I know more about minor characters than a major character who is the main character’s love interest and appears all the time in the story. The story left me annoyed with a bunch of questions about Phil.

The Writing

+++ restrictive PoV

The story was told exclusively in 1st Pov from Tom’s side. I generally prefer 1st PoV from the protagonist’s side, but it felt restrictive in this story. Tom’s obliviousness to Phil’s romantic interest, among other things, was mind-numbing.

+++ slow mystery

The red herrings were great, but the mystery could have used some speed. To be fair, the mystery was one of the faster ones I have read, and I was thoroughly engaged. The pace eventually quickened, but it felt late to me.

+++ the ending

Since not much was said about Phil, the romance was sparse. The fact that Tom and Phil only had one date didn’t help, nor did the slightly abrupt ending. I wasn’t fully convinced in their HEA as I wanted.

In Conclusion

I rate Pressure Head 2-stars for it was okay. The book was fairly well-written and engaging; its British aspect was authentic and endearing. Nevertheless, the book had a couple issues that stopped me from liking it.

I recommend the book to readers looking for a good, British mystery with a small paranormal influence.

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REVIEW: Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander

Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

CAUTION: Long Review, Slight Spoilers

The first book in a mm-romance contemporary mystery series, Shattered Glass tells the love story of Austin Glass and Peter Cotton. You read right, there’s a character named Peter Cotton. The story begins with Detective Austin Glass being distracted by a diner waiter wearing bunny slippers. Guess who’s wearing them? Cue bunny humor, sexuality confusion, and dick jokes. Oh, there’s also the mob.

Told in 1st PoV from Austin’s side, SG contained a meaty plot. Too meaty for my liking. Usually, I like quick-paced story, but this one had my head spinning. There was a large cast of characters, too many for me to keep track. For example, at one point I forgot about Dave after the story introduced him as Austin’s estranged childhood friend. When the story re-introduced him as a Person of Interest, I went “OMG, who is this Dave person they keep talking about?” I knew the story mentioned him before, but I didn’t remember clearly. My memory of Dave was eroded by introduction of new character after new character, especially when the mob part of the story came into play. Only when I finished the story did I finally remember Dave as Austin’s childhood friend.

I also had a difficult time keeping track of the mystery. For the first half of the story, the mystery was about drug-busting. Then it morphed into human trafficking. Then it became a mob story. I love mob story, but dang, SG had too much stuff going on. Add on the twists and turns and the story became convoluted.

Now, I love complexity in a story. The Harry Potter series (4-stars imo) does it well. The Rifter series by Ginn Hale (2-stars imo) does it well. But SG? Not really. Disclaimer: I didn’t bother re-reading the story or any of its particular passages such as Peter’s mob family flashback that confused me for better understanding. The story wasn’t that captivating enough for me to do so.

FYI, this is not a GFY story. This is an OFY story.

Shattered Glass, Battered Balls

I liked Austin's immature humor, but I didn’t like him much as a person. Definitely not in the beginning. I didn’t like it when Austin kissed Peter because Austin was currently engaged. That’s cheating. I put myself in Angelica’s place. If my fiancé suddenly decided he might be straight or bi and he kissed a woman for proof? Oh Hell Fucking No. Somebody’s balls are in for some stomping. Later on the story revealed Austin to be a serial cheater. What?

It was not the first time this happened. Angelica was not the first fiancé Austin had and cheated on, she was his second. Not to mention all the girlfriends he cheated on. Yup, he cheated on every single one of them.

I had to put the book down. I felt an unusual type of anger, not the red steaming kind I am used to but the cold silent kind. I think I was so cold-angry I didn’t even read a book for a few days... OMFG, I know! As I tried to recapture the magic of reading by reading other books, SG was gaining positive reviews. Some of it by my friends. After 1-2 weeks, I decided to give SG another try. I had to anyway since I dislike leaving a bought ebook unread because it seem wasteful and the general action of DNFing a book because I’m too stubborn, possibly OCD.

SG managed to redeem Austin in my eyes through many ways. Austin accepted his newfound sexuality without much fuss and prolongment. He risked his career and life for Peter, which my logical side thought was stupid even though my emotional side went “awww.” He took a chance on love — awww, though instant love which I also think is stupid. Though not as quick as I would like, Austin confessed to Angelica and broke up the engagement.

But the biggest game changer? Jesse, Austin’s childhood gay friend that committed suicide. Left an emotional scar so bad, Austin was completely blind to himself being a closet case. Austin’s family, of course, was no help — stereotypical rich people full of hate and contempt. Dude is messed up.

Even though I still dislike Austin for being a “cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater” because no matter how messed up a person is it does not give them the right to mess other people’s lives, I came to empathize Austin. Dude was right, he does have the “bro effect.” I went from not liking Austin to sorta liking him, which was a big deal for me.

Other Characters

All the characters had depth, though some more than others. No one was perfect, everyone had flaws. Some got traits that made them easily likable in spite of their flaws. For example, Peter. I actually had no problem with his hot-cold approach to Austin.

The only thing that bothered me was the villains revealed at the end. I still have no idea why those villains did what they did. Was it greed the fueled their criminal actions? At a lost for their motives... I believe the villains, the ones at the end and not in the beginning, had the weakest character development, especially that one villain who betrayed Austin. Why the betrayal, when did the dude became crooked? =S

Oh, Cai was kinda annoying. I was too impatient with his manner of speaking, most likely why I didn’t understand what he said most of the time.

Angelica turned out not to be a bitch of an ex like so many other mm-romance that tries to make it okay for the protagonist to pursue their same-sex interest without guilt. Sure, she had an affair with Austin’s father. But hey, Austin knew about it. IIRC, some of the reasons why Austin eventually dated her after she broke up with Austin’s father was because he wanted to console her and piss off his father.

One of my favorite characters was the Albanian mother. She was crazy, she was caring, and she cock-blocked Austin. LOL.

An Unnecessary Subplot

SG had too much going on, the worst offending subplot was the bed-ridden, bitchy Mrs. Glass. From start to near end, I got the impression that Austin’s mother was dead. Austin as a messed up characters bitched about how his father was an asshole. Asshole father this, asshole father that. Later on asshole grandfather this. And then back to asshole father this and that. I agree, Austin’s father and grandfather were assholes. However, not one word about his mother was mentioned...

Till near the end, specifically right before the Epilogue. Mrs. Glass wasn’t dead. Though she was close to it, she was still alive. And bitchy. She dropped a bombshell or two (or was it three?) of family secrets, as if Austin’s family wasn’t drama-filled already. Ugh. One of them secrets was a hidden six-years old brother of Austin. Okay, I get that the story wanted a HEA for the couple but goodness was that forced. From what I gather, Austin is going to adopt his brother and live with Peter and Peter’s foster brothers as one big happy family.

Okay then...

Another Irritant

I didn’t like how at the end of the story the couple “settled the monogamy argument.” I scratched my head at that. Half out of annoyance, half not getting what it means. But somehow, I just feel... offended. The promiscuous gay guy stereotype is starting to get on my nerve in mm-romance. Ugh. Maybe, I’m just being stupidly hyper-sensitive here. IDK...

The Love Factor

The sexual content was minimal, imo, but it was still explicit. Blowjob scenes interspersed throughout the story. It was kinda hot, but I preferred the cuddling scenes.

SG was not a heavy romance because there were other things going on too like that drug-busting turned human trafficking turned mob story thing. It could have easily turned into a “I love you, I love you not” thing throughout the entire story, but I didn’t think so. Sure, the romance ran hot and cold that some readers might find it potentially exasperating, but I was always confident that the couple would pull through.

The Formatting

It didn’t affect my rating of the story but I feel it needs to be mentioned. The formatting was kinda shabby. I bought the ebook at Smashwords, and downloaded the epub format. The line-height was too small, the sentences too close to each other, making the story pretty unreadable. Fortunately, I know a bit about epub-formatting and tweaked the unwanted 100% line-height to 130% line-height on the CSS stylesheet.

Spacing between paragraphs in the same scene, I had to tweak that too. For some odd reasons, 1/4 to 1/3 of an epub page had empty spaces. It was like the paragraphs were unable to flow from one page to the next. I deleted the page-break property on the CSS stylesheet, and it did fix the spacing issue to a large extend. Not completely, but to a large extend.

FYI, the mobi version is only available at Amazon. If you buy the ebook at Smashwords and want a mobi format, better open up Calibre for conversion.

To re-iterate: the formatting was kinda shabby but it wasn’t that bad and did not affect my rating of the story.

I also noticed an editing mistake.

[Fbi agents, US Marshalls and a detective vouching for the boy and taking him into his home is enough to convince me that he isn’t a flight risk.] in Chapter 13. Bolding is my own. "Fbi" should be "FBI," "Marshalls" as "Marshals," and the sentence needs a comma after "Marshalls."

Conclusion

I rate SG two-stars for it was okay. I might continue the series; the next book will be a low priority read.

I recommend SG for anyone who likes the Life Lessons series by Kaje Harper. For anyone who likes SG, I recommend the Life Lessons series by Kaje Harper.

It just so happened after I finished SG, I started another mob story — Wild Thing by Josh Bazell, a mainstream non-mm-romance mystery book. Sarah Palin as a character introduced in the last 1/3 of the book threw me for a loop. O_O I totally did not see that coming. The book shared many things in common with SG such as a flawed protagonist, but I liked the execution in Wild Thing better, including its breaking-the-reader-dimension footnotes.

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REVIEW: Some Kind of Magic by R. Cooper

Some Kind of Magic by R. Cooper
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Plot

One short, easily-solved mystery to introduce us to Fairies. A second long, but also easily-solved mystery to give us the climax. Then a really long flashback of how Cal and Ray met and the big misunderstanding that led up to the beginning of the story. In short, the plot was convoluted.

The writing was bad because it felt like I had to climb into the author's head to know what was going on. There were numerous, random flashblacks that took me a few minutes to realize they were flashbacks. The sentence structures were just awkward and presented themselves as incomplete thoughts.

For a mystery story, it was 10% mystery (and not that good of a mystery) and 90% of "want Cal but can't have Cal due to racist misunderstanding about Fairies" angst. There was very little investigating going on.

The Characters

Ray was supposed to be this tough and intimidating werewolf police detective. It was bit a unbelievable that he had a hard time asking Audrey about Fairies culture. It was more unbelievable that it took him a long time before he even asked Audrey. And for a werewolf, he should have known better than to hold racist belief about another species, or Beings as they are called in the book. I couldn't give him leniency for this because as detective it's important to separate fact from fiction. Otherwise, it's hard to solve cases when people think all Werewolves are savages and all Fairies are just sluts.

I really like Penelope but she was never fully developed as a support character. For one thing, what kind of Being was she? I think she was supposed to be a mermaid or naiad. She seems to pop in and out of the story for Cal's convenience rather than for actual investigation.

The author should have known better to name Cal and his father Calvin. From what I understand, Cal is short for Calvin so effectively both father and son had the same name. Unless there's a huge reason why they had the same name, this was a big faux pas on the author's part.

Cal was kinda annoying how he keeps sucking on lollipop and munching on candies after candies. I get Fairies like sweet, but I didn't get a reason of why they do. It's no wonder that the police had a hard time taking Cal as as serious police consultant if he's acting like a little kid.

The World Building

There were more telling than showing to be honest. Even then, readers never understand why Beings came out to the humans, why Cal is a lone-wolf, why Beings are needed as police, why zombies are possible but not vampires. Then there's the Fairies, why do they have wings when it seems like they didn't use it to fly and why do they shed glitter and sparkle like skin cells.

Moreover, why did it take the author a long time to say demons were real or the police characters to realize a demon could have been one of their suspects.

Conclusion

Pretty much the only thing the book had going was its beautiful book cover. 2 stars for it-was-ok. FYI, I rated this on the scale of mainstream Urban Fantasy books.

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