Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner
Paperback: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 67,000 words
Cover: Aaron Anderson
Blurb
A monster moves through the night, hidden by the darkness, taking men, one by one, from Seattle’s gay gathering areas.
Amid an atmosphere of crippling fear, Thad Matthews finds his first true love working in an Italian restaurant called the Blue Moon Café. Sam Lupino is everything Thad has ever hoped for in a man: virile, sexy as hell, kind, and… he can cook!
As their romance heats up, the questions pile up. Who is the killer preying on Seattle’s gay men? What secrets is Sam’s Sicilian family hiding? And more importantly, why do Sam's unexplained disappearances always coincide with the full moon?
The strength of Thad and Sam’s love will face the ultimate test when horrific revelations come to light beneath the full moon.
Review
Some of the best-written parts of this book were the horror story. I loved the POV of the killer, even as horrific as it was since it was a connection and thought of who the killer was. The gruesome scenes of the murders were slow and methodical giving a sense of anticipation that the murderer was feeling as they acted out the killings in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
What I didn’t like, couldn’t connect with was the romance and attraction between the two main characters. Thad, for me, was a lot more developed, mainly because most of the scenes were from his point of view but Sam was one that I never understood and felt he was that over the top character that tends to annoy me. The connection felt too convenient and quick without any real heat between them.
When Sam went away for a weekend without notice or explanation to Thad, he starts to question everything he knows about him. Is he in love with Sam or with the idea of who Sam is? Then when a murder is witnessed by his friend and he tells him what he saw, somehow Thad starts to see a connection between that and Sam. A connection that I cannot see how he got there. Again it felt too convenient.
Overall, I think this story was one that just wasn't for me. This author's writing style is not one that I get lost in and there were too many lost connections and conveniences for me to really love it.
Exclusive Excerpt
He looked around the room and discovered, to his surprise, that it was completely empty, stood a little, leaned over the table, and kissed Sam. What surprised him was how hungrily Sam accepted the kiss, grabbing the back of Thad’s neck roughly to pull him closer. His beard scratched against Thad’s skin, the sensation strangely irritating and hot, all at once. Sam’s tongue forced Thad’s lips apart and dove inside, exploring, making Thad dizzy and giving him a taste of red wine and echoes of garlic and tomatoes. Sam pulled him closer, so that Thad’s upper body lay sprawled across the tabletop. The Chianti bottle candleholder toppled over and crashed to the floor. Neither paid it any mind. The hungry kiss was the culmination of an entire evening of longing glances, double entendres, and fleeting touches, all of them combining to stoke a fire neither knew was being kindled until their lips met and it burst into flame.
Finally Thad pulled himself away, shuddering with the delicious sensations coursing through him. Breathless, he thought if the kiss had gone on just a little longer and with just a bit more ferocity, he would have had a mess in his briefs to clean up. And he wanted to save every drop of that “mess” for Sam.
In the end there were no clever seductive phrases available for Thad to employ. He simply looked at Sam, who was as breathless as he, and said, “Wanna come home with me?”
“Let’s go.” Sam pulled Thad up roughly by his arm. Thad didn’t mind a bit. Sam bit his neck, licked his ear, and whispered, “I’m an animal in bed. Are you sure?”
Dumbly, Thad could only nod and hope his knees would hold out for the short walk to his apartment. His heart thudded in his chest.
Outside, the cold night air was a shock to Thad’s lust-tempered skin. He wanted to hurry and pulled Sam along by his hand. Their first time, he had a feeling, would be savage and over quickly, but they had all night, right?
As they headed to his apartment, Thad’s anticipation was withered just a fraction by an odd sensation. Even though the streets of the Green Lake neighborhood were still at this late night hour, and even though the wind rustled the leaves on the trees, Thad had that prickly sensation that someone was watching.
He glanced all around him and saw nothing.
Thad shrugged and pulled Sam in for another kiss. “It’ll only take about five minutes to get home.”
Sam growled, “Five minutes too long. Let’s hurry.”
Rick R. Reed is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love.
He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation and The Blue Moon Cafe). He is also a Rainbow Award Winner for both Caregiver and Raining Men. Lambda Literary Review has called him, "a writer that doesn't disappoint."
Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever "at work on another novel."
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