Saturday, October 17, 2015

Fatal Shadows (Adrien English #1) by Josh Lanyon

I"m not sure what I was expecting from this one, but what I got was a bit different. Yeah, I've heard great things about Josh but less than the first page made me realize what it is - the writing. The first sentence was funny, the whole way Adrien (our sole POV) saw the world around him and interpreted it was a joy to read. If you're hoping this will be a Romantic Suspense with the Romance highlighted you might be disappointed, there is VERY little of it if any in this book. 

Adrien English is a book story owner. His store specializes in Mystery, he himself is in the middle of his debut novel and has an assortment  group of friends who meet together weekly to discuss their books in progress. But when you think about his social life, it's pretty much nonexistant.. He lives over the store with his grandmother's furniture he inherited, hasn't had a lover in years after a bad break up and has a strange non-affectionate relationship with his mother whom he meets out of habit once a week. Yep, to me at least it sounds pretty boring.. 

Then his childhood friend and recent worker Robert is killed and he somehow becomes prime suspect.. Adrien isn't ready and doesn't really know how to deal with the police detectives' questions and unspoken accusations. Detective Riordan specifically puts out a vibe he doesn't get. Then another good friend of his is killed and now he is totally out of his sorts and his only comfort is a guy he recently started dating and is a little too graby for the short time they've known each other and considering how LONG it's been since his the last relationship it's just a bit too much too soon. 

There isn't a lot to say about this novel beyond that. It's fairly short, I didn't guess who the killer was though it was there all along, I just wasn't in the mood while reading it playing the detective myself. I just enjoyed the ride, the beautiful funny as hell and witty writing. Yeah I'll admit there were nuances I didn't get (it happens to me sometimes) but nevertheless a very enjoyable read. Can't wait to continuing to the next one! Though I DO hope we'll actually have some sort of romance in it between Jack Riordan and our Adrien. 


Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 198 pages, 15-16 October 2015 / On GoodReads
 
 
 ABOUT THIS SERIES
 
Adrien English is a MM Romantic Suspense series by Josh Lanyon. The series follows Adrien who is a mystery book store owners as well as a new writer. Adrien stumbles on crimes too often and since he IS writing mystery and he IS a very curious guy he also finds himself smack in the middle of it, and probably accused of the crime himself..

In the first book we are introduced to Jake Riordan a police detective that slowly becomes Adrien's love interest. It doesn't go well at first with Jake being more closeted than a closet can offer.. and yet he sees something in Adrien he can't put aside and so he struggles with his identity and desires and tries to give a true chance to him and Adrien.

The series contains 5 full novels (yet quite short ones) each of a new mystery with an ongoing relationship buildup between Adrien and Jake.  

Though this is a well known and generally appreciated series I can't say I truly enjoyed it. For me the suspense was a bit too amateur-ish and the romance was VERY lacking. We get the HEA in the end, but I'm not sure I would have invested in the series knowing what I do know. I should say that the writing is witty and very enjoyable! In one word - Superb! So if you're into amateur sleuthing and not very much into romance it would be right down your ally.  The only book I truly recommend is the forth one, but be advised you won't get a HEA but maybe a promise to one. So guess maybe the 4th+5th is the better bet.

Books:
1. Fatal Shadows (Published 1 May 2000) ★★★★
2. A Dangerous Thing (Published 1 November 2001) ★★★½
3. The Hell You Say (Published 6 March 2006) ★★★
4. Death of a Pirate King (Published 13 September 2008) ★★★★
5. The Dark Tide (Published1 December 2009) ★★★ 
 
 

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