Title: Inland Empire
Author: James Buchanan
Publisher: Torquere Press/MLR Press
Release Date: July 2009
Length: Novel
Buy Link: Here and Here
Rating: 5 stars
The Blurb: Agent Nick O'Malley and Det. Brandon Carr are back. Nick heads to Riverside, California, center of the Inland Empire and Brandon's home turf. But every minute Nick's in Riverside threatens to out Brandon. When events embroil Nick in one of Brandon's investigations -- gang hits, prostitution, illegal gambling and human trafficking - can they survive both?
Disclaimer: James is a friend. I was as objective as I could be.
The Truth: It's definitely recommended that you read the first book in the Taking the Odds series, Cheating Chance, before reading this one, if only to get a much more solid feel for the characters. This review contains mild spoilery for that story.
Please note that this is a Brandon heavy review as this is predominantly his side. Nicky fans, bear with me. I'll be sure to do a review of Cheating Chance soon (which is a little backward but oh well). Also while this is labeled as BDSM, there are only elements. This is not a full out BDSM story.
Brandon Carr is living a dream. When an Asian gang hit ends up with a kid full of bullets, he and his partner, Jeff Weaver are assigned to a task force to pop the bangers responsible. Cue happy dance for our tatted and pierced Vice cop, he's playing with the big kids now. On top of that, he's also got Nicky, Nick O'Malley, Gaming Agent to everyone else, flying from Vegas to pick up Querida, his hearse. The car ended up impounded in the first story when Nicky got himself tangled up in slot machine fraud and very nearly ended up dead.
What happens in Vegas...
It should all be gravy but here's where things get sticky: Brandon is buried so deeply in the closet, it's entirely possible that he can no longer see the door. And Nicky...well, Nicky isn't all rainbows and swish-hip but he's out, he's proud and he's a if you don't like it, suck it type of guy. In the first story, their relationship accelerated with Nicky's near death experience with Nicky admitting to deeper feelings (almost dying makes a guy think, I guess). Brandon didn't exactly run but he wasn't saying the words back, that's for sure. This might make him sound like a jerk and in a way, he is being one. But fear does amazing things to one's ability to act rational and Brandon is not only uncomfortable with the aspect of caring for someone who's not flesh and blood but he's in one of the oldest boys' clubs in town.
Being openly gay is tough; being an openly gay cop has got to be the stuff of nightmares.
Still, it is a little hard to like Brandon at times, particularly when Nicky steps up to the POV plate. What I love most about Buchanan's writing is that there's a distinct difference with each character. Brandon's POV tends to be rapid, almost staccato pacing. He's got a rigid, tense view of the world. Nicky is a little more fluid, which may or may not have come from living in a city that's the epitome of a chameleon.
He can pretend to be the buddy, the friend but when it's over and it's just them, walking through West Hollywood or meeting Brandon's ex, Ray (oh and didn't that just make me want to cringe), Nicky wants his boyfriend. He wants to be in a couple and, while he gets Brandon's worries, it definitely pulls him to a stop when Brandon can't release his fear of being outed long enough to be that boyfriend for him.
It worsens when Nicky finds himself being absorbed into Brandon's investigation and around a horde of cops frequently. The tension hikes up so hard that it's amazing that Brandon doesn't explode with the will they know, do they see it? The investigation itself is like a living entity around them, pulsing with the quiet fervor of cops hard at work. I'm not the kind of person to really enjoy the gung-ho cops that go out to handle business Dirty Harry-style. So it was refreshing to see the task force actually go through the methodical steps of a team piecing together a puzzle or in this instance, a case. My favorite part out of the whole thing was the interrogation scene.
There's a type of beauty to those words, an information two-step that we just don't see presented in cop books. It could have been who Brandon was interrogating that made the dance a little softer around the edges but it was still such a perfectly real scene, showcasing an in-depth picture of a cop's mind. There was a building tension that actually had me coming back to re-read it several times over.
There is a similar tension that rises the deeper Nicky falls into the investigation. This is where it gets hard to like Brandon. What he sees, how he acts, borders on obsessively paranoid. Even in Nicky's POV, Brandon's smothering worry stretches out and tries to pull Nicky under. But even while Brandon is a paranoid jackass...you have to love him, feel for him, just a little bit. How hard would it be to live his life and see the homophobia that even his own co-workers demonstrate?
And yet, I was also with Nicky, who bends under Brandon's fear over and over. The only time Nicky seems to have the upper hand is when there's bare male flesh and ropework. Sometimes quietly dominant, sometimes pointedly, in bed, Nicky drives home the fact that he knows and is what Brandon needs. And Brandon, tied up, gagged, bound by Nicky's will and his own deeply buried submission needs, acknowledges that...until they're back out in the real world again.
When Nicky snaps, I didn't know who I hurt for more.
So with tight writing, exquisitely detailed ropeplay, emotional sex, and methodical, believable police work, Buchanan delivers a hard-hitting sequel to a series that seems capable of only getting better.
Author: James Buchanan
Publisher: Torquere Press/MLR Press
Release Date: July 2009
Length: Novel
Buy Link: Here and Here
Rating: 5 stars
The Blurb: Agent Nick O'Malley and Det. Brandon Carr are back. Nick heads to Riverside, California, center of the Inland Empire and Brandon's home turf. But every minute Nick's in Riverside threatens to out Brandon. When events embroil Nick in one of Brandon's investigations -- gang hits, prostitution, illegal gambling and human trafficking - can they survive both?
The Truth: It's definitely recommended that you read the first book in the Taking the Odds series, Cheating Chance, before reading this one, if only to get a much more solid feel for the characters. This review contains mild spoilery for that story.
Please note that this is a Brandon heavy review as this is predominantly his side. Nicky fans, bear with me. I'll be sure to do a review of Cheating Chance soon (which is a little backward but oh well). Also while this is labeled as BDSM, there are only elements. This is not a full out BDSM story.
Brandon Carr is living a dream. When an Asian gang hit ends up with a kid full of bullets, he and his partner, Jeff Weaver are assigned to a task force to pop the bangers responsible. Cue happy dance for our tatted and pierced Vice cop, he's playing with the big kids now. On top of that, he's also got Nicky, Nick O'Malley, Gaming Agent to everyone else, flying from Vegas to pick up Querida, his hearse. The car ended up impounded in the first story when Nicky got himself tangled up in slot machine fraud and very nearly ended up dead.
What happens in Vegas...
It should all be gravy but here's where things get sticky: Brandon is buried so deeply in the closet, it's entirely possible that he can no longer see the door. And Nicky...well, Nicky isn't all rainbows and swish-hip but he's out, he's proud and he's a if you don't like it, suck it type of guy. In the first story, their relationship accelerated with Nicky's near death experience with Nicky admitting to deeper feelings (almost dying makes a guy think, I guess). Brandon didn't exactly run but he wasn't saying the words back, that's for sure. This might make him sound like a jerk and in a way, he is being one. But fear does amazing things to one's ability to act rational and Brandon is not only uncomfortable with the aspect of caring for someone who's not flesh and blood but he's in one of the oldest boys' clubs in town.
Being openly gay is tough; being an openly gay cop has got to be the stuff of nightmares.
Still, it is a little hard to like Brandon at times, particularly when Nicky steps up to the POV plate. What I love most about Buchanan's writing is that there's a distinct difference with each character. Brandon's POV tends to be rapid, almost staccato pacing. He's got a rigid, tense view of the world. Nicky is a little more fluid, which may or may not have come from living in a city that's the epitome of a chameleon.
He can pretend to be the buddy, the friend but when it's over and it's just them, walking through West Hollywood or meeting Brandon's ex, Ray (oh and didn't that just make me want to cringe), Nicky wants his boyfriend. He wants to be in a couple and, while he gets Brandon's worries, it definitely pulls him to a stop when Brandon can't release his fear of being outed long enough to be that boyfriend for him.
It worsens when Nicky finds himself being absorbed into Brandon's investigation and around a horde of cops frequently. The tension hikes up so hard that it's amazing that Brandon doesn't explode with the will they know, do they see it? The investigation itself is like a living entity around them, pulsing with the quiet fervor of cops hard at work. I'm not the kind of person to really enjoy the gung-ho cops that go out to handle business Dirty Harry-style. So it was refreshing to see the task force actually go through the methodical steps of a team piecing together a puzzle or in this instance, a case. My favorite part out of the whole thing was the interrogation scene.
There's a type of beauty to those words, an information two-step that we just don't see presented in cop books. It could have been who Brandon was interrogating that made the dance a little softer around the edges but it was still such a perfectly real scene, showcasing an in-depth picture of a cop's mind. There was a building tension that actually had me coming back to re-read it several times over.
There is a similar tension that rises the deeper Nicky falls into the investigation. This is where it gets hard to like Brandon. What he sees, how he acts, borders on obsessively paranoid. Even in Nicky's POV, Brandon's smothering worry stretches out and tries to pull Nicky under. But even while Brandon is a paranoid jackass...you have to love him, feel for him, just a little bit. How hard would it be to live his life and see the homophobia that even his own co-workers demonstrate?
And yet, I was also with Nicky, who bends under Brandon's fear over and over. The only time Nicky seems to have the upper hand is when there's bare male flesh and ropework. Sometimes quietly dominant, sometimes pointedly, in bed, Nicky drives home the fact that he knows and is what Brandon needs. And Brandon, tied up, gagged, bound by Nicky's will and his own deeply buried submission needs, acknowledges that...until they're back out in the real world again.
When Nicky snaps, I didn't know who I hurt for more.
So with tight writing, exquisitely detailed ropeplay, emotional sex, and methodical, believable police work, Buchanan delivers a hard-hitting sequel to a series that seems capable of only getting better.
thank you sweetheart
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