Monster

Title: Monster
Author: Joely Skye
Cover Artist: Lyn Taylor
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Buy Link: Buy Link Monster: Minders, Book 1
Genre: M/M Contemporary Paranormal romance
Length: Novella
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary review: An exciting first book in a trilogy which was not without its flaws.

THE BLURB

True love…or a trap?

Minders, Book 1

Josh Mackay has studied his quarry for two months, and now it’s time to earn his pay. Bringing in an escaped Minder—a psi who can bend anyone’s mind to his will—takes a specialist.

Luring the surprisingly naïve Kiran Brunner to a safe house is almost too easy. As the tranqs take hold, though, the beautiful monster’s last plea, don’t let them hurt me, tears at Josh’s conscience. To his horror, they do just that.

Kir let his loneliness and instant attraction to Josh lure him into a trap he should have sensed. Even as his consciousness fades, he sinks psychic hooks into Josh as a pure reflex, a survival instinct honed by years of abuse at the hands of the agency.

Even though Josh’s job is done, he finds he can’t simply walk away. Not only because of what Kir is, but why the agency wants the boy back. Trouble is, he doesn’t know if he’s doing the right thing…or if his will is being twisted by the mind of a murderer.

This book was previously published by Samhain Publishing.

THE REVIEW

Monster is the first part of a trilogy of a story set within the same world as her Northern Shifters and Wolf Town books. It really does read as the first part of a story, and although the plot is in itself complete, the story doesn’t end on a HEA – that will come later, I’m assured. If the book seems familiar, that’s because this, along with the other two parts, are re-releases with different artwork. All three are to be released together next week.

The story begins with agent Josh who has been given the job of luring a dangerous man to a house by using seductive skills. His mark, Kir, is a minder – a man who is able to bend the will of others to suit his own needs. Josh finds it surprisingly easy to capture Kir, but he is horrified when he discovers how the men from the ‘Agency’ are treating Kir after his capture. Josh takes it upon himself to rescue Kir, sure that this is the right thing to do. Or is it that Kir is manipulating Josh into helping him?

The start of this book really gripped me. Josh’s careful planning, Kir’s capture and then the flight, kept me on the edge of my seat and I felt that the author had done a good job of showing Josh’s fear, confusion and then sense of moral obligation during this first part. Also done well was the way that the reader (and Josh) is never wholly aware of whether Josh is being manipulated into doing Kir’s will or whether it’s of his own volition.

The first part of the book builds carefully on the characters. Showing us that Josh is essentially a good man, and that Kir is not the monster that he’s made out to be. I had a lot of sympathy for Kir. His past mistreatment was heartbreaking – and a word of warning here: Those readers who find scenes of rape or abuse difficult to cope with may find some of the earlier scenes in book upsetting.

It was in the latter part of the book that the story began to fail a little for me. There’s a lot of groundwork done in the first half about Kir’s fear of being touched or held in any way, and yet within a few pages he’s being touched and held by Josh with little emotional come-back. It was too soon for me. Trust like that should have taken a while to develop, not less than two days. I think I would have rather forgone the sex scene in favour of more emotional connection between the characters as that would have been more in keeping from what we know of Kir.

Another aspect which seemed over and done with too quickly is the way that things resolve themselves at the end. Too much happens in too short a space of time to make the actions, and also the reason for Josh’s situation right at the end of the book, into something I could believe. I found myself unhappy that more time hadn’t been spent on gradually building up the romance and setting up the situation for the ending. In the end I was left with an odd set of feelings. I was disappointed, but the cliffhanger ending made me want to read the next part.

The ending wasn’t all bad though. I especially found the way that Josh is used by both parties quite chilling, especially when he is helpless. His state of mind as the story draws to a conclusion was also a plus point. It brought home the danger that Josh so carelessly disregards in order to help Kir.

Overall, this was a flawed book in my opinion, but the writing was compelling and the story hooked me in from the start. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the events of book two and you’ll see what I think about that second book when I review it next week.