Title: The Dark Tide
Author: Josh Lanyon
Publisher: Loose Id
Publisher URL: http://www.loose-id.com/
ISBN: 978-1-60737-490-9
Genre: [M/M] Suspense
Rating: 5 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Mystical Nymph
As usual, Adrien English’s life is in turmoil. He’s still recovering from open heart surgery and after three weeks of staying with his over-protective extended family, he has finally escaped back to his apartment. He hasn’t been home a day when someone is trying to break into the bookstore, and Adrien doesn’t have a clue what the intruder might be looking for. Is it a random burglary attempt, or is something else going on?
Then there’s the little matter of two previous lovers, Mel and Guy, trying to come back into his life. What’s he supposed to do about that, especially when he still has unresolved issues dealing with the now out-of-the-closet Jake, who he still can’t get out of his head or heart, despite the pain of their past.
On top of that, there’s another mystery to solve; when the other half of his building came up for sale, Adrien bought it. Now, his contractor is renovating the three-story structure, and wouldn’t you know it…on the walled up third floor, they find a fifty year-old body between two floor joists. Between the attempted break-ins and the body, Adrien turns to his wayward lover for help and Jake is more than happy to run to his aide. Can these two men find their way back to each other, or will they discover the only thing they have in common is pain and death?
The Dark Tide, the fifth and long-awaited final installment of the Adrien English Mysteries series is finally here. As a fan of the series, I’m thrilled with the ending of the story arc, but it’s still sad knowing characters I’ve enjoyed so much since reading Fatal Shadows for the first time, won’t have any further adventures.
At the end of Death of a Pirate King, Adrien was in the hospital following surgery, after being shot. This new release takes up approximately three weeks later, during the period where Adrien is recuperating from open heart surgery. If you’ve missed the previous books in this wonderfully constructed series, I’d like to assure you to go ahead and read this one first, but I can’t. There’s so much background information, family interaction, history between Jake and Adrien and emotional baggage dealt with in the other books that the only way to really understand what’s going on, is to read them in order. Which isn’t a hardship, believe me.
Once again, Josh Lanyon has gifted his readers with a fantastic read. The characters of Jake and Adrien are still compelling, but they’ve both changed markedly. At times, Adrien is a little more bitter than before. He doesn’t know what to do about his feelings for Jake, but he still can’t give him up. Jake is still big, hunky and all alpha male, but more open; not just to his sexuality, but his feelings for Adrien. So, in reality, there are really two stories running through the book; Adrien and Jake’s relationship, and the complex fifty year-old murder mystery.
Both portions of the story are well written, and flow seamlessly from one to the other. The wordage is tight and efficient, but at the same time filled with tenderness, passion, pain and hope. There are old familiar characters and new interesting one interspersed throughout the story, not only fleshing out the plot, but giving it a sense of depth and complexity I enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed revisiting with Adrien’s fourteen year-old step-sister, Emma and the new character Jazz, who’s now in her seventies. These two are about as different as possible, yet both add a certain spice to the overall plot.
I’ve liked Jake from the beginning, felt sorry that he’d lived a lie his entire life. He’s definitely not perfect, in fact far from it, but he’s flawed in expected ways that have allowed him to survive in his closeted world. In The Dark Tide he’s allowed to be himself for the first time as an adult, and his difficulty verbalizing his depth of feeling to Adrien is a huge stumbling block in the reconciliation of their relationship. Yet Mr. Lanyon does that and does it well. These two have so much hurt standing like a barrier between them that it would have been easy to just call it quits but instead, this talented author has worked the characters through their problems in a realistic manner and allowed them to come out content and satisfied in the end.
Okay, I’ve finally gotten to the end of this very long review and I can truthfully say that this is one of my all time favorite series, and some time in the future I’ll be reading it again. The quality of the writing, the depth of characters, the emotions and passion, and basic story telling skills gives the wonderful series a place in my keeper file. I’ve enjoyed and I’m certain you will, too.
Author: Josh Lanyon
Publisher: Loose Id
Publisher URL: http://www.loose-id.com/
ISBN: 978-1-60737-490-9
Genre: [M/M] Suspense
Rating: 5 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Mystical Nymph
As usual, Adrien English’s life is in turmoil. He’s still recovering from open heart surgery and after three weeks of staying with his over-protective extended family, he has finally escaped back to his apartment. He hasn’t been home a day when someone is trying to break into the bookstore, and Adrien doesn’t have a clue what the intruder might be looking for. Is it a random burglary attempt, or is something else going on?
Then there’s the little matter of two previous lovers, Mel and Guy, trying to come back into his life. What’s he supposed to do about that, especially when he still has unresolved issues dealing with the now out-of-the-closet Jake, who he still can’t get out of his head or heart, despite the pain of their past.
On top of that, there’s another mystery to solve; when the other half of his building came up for sale, Adrien bought it. Now, his contractor is renovating the three-story structure, and wouldn’t you know it…on the walled up third floor, they find a fifty year-old body between two floor joists. Between the attempted break-ins and the body, Adrien turns to his wayward lover for help and Jake is more than happy to run to his aide. Can these two men find their way back to each other, or will they discover the only thing they have in common is pain and death?
The Dark Tide, the fifth and long-awaited final installment of the Adrien English Mysteries series is finally here. As a fan of the series, I’m thrilled with the ending of the story arc, but it’s still sad knowing characters I’ve enjoyed so much since reading Fatal Shadows for the first time, won’t have any further adventures.
At the end of Death of a Pirate King, Adrien was in the hospital following surgery, after being shot. This new release takes up approximately three weeks later, during the period where Adrien is recuperating from open heart surgery. If you’ve missed the previous books in this wonderfully constructed series, I’d like to assure you to go ahead and read this one first, but I can’t. There’s so much background information, family interaction, history between Jake and Adrien and emotional baggage dealt with in the other books that the only way to really understand what’s going on, is to read them in order. Which isn’t a hardship, believe me.
Once again, Josh Lanyon has gifted his readers with a fantastic read. The characters of Jake and Adrien are still compelling, but they’ve both changed markedly. At times, Adrien is a little more bitter than before. He doesn’t know what to do about his feelings for Jake, but he still can’t give him up. Jake is still big, hunky and all alpha male, but more open; not just to his sexuality, but his feelings for Adrien. So, in reality, there are really two stories running through the book; Adrien and Jake’s relationship, and the complex fifty year-old murder mystery.
Both portions of the story are well written, and flow seamlessly from one to the other. The wordage is tight and efficient, but at the same time filled with tenderness, passion, pain and hope. There are old familiar characters and new interesting one interspersed throughout the story, not only fleshing out the plot, but giving it a sense of depth and complexity I enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed revisiting with Adrien’s fourteen year-old step-sister, Emma and the new character Jazz, who’s now in her seventies. These two are about as different as possible, yet both add a certain spice to the overall plot.
I’ve liked Jake from the beginning, felt sorry that he’d lived a lie his entire life. He’s definitely not perfect, in fact far from it, but he’s flawed in expected ways that have allowed him to survive in his closeted world. In The Dark Tide he’s allowed to be himself for the first time as an adult, and his difficulty verbalizing his depth of feeling to Adrien is a huge stumbling block in the reconciliation of their relationship. Yet Mr. Lanyon does that and does it well. These two have so much hurt standing like a barrier between them that it would have been easy to just call it quits but instead, this talented author has worked the characters through their problems in a realistic manner and allowed them to come out content and satisfied in the end.
Okay, I’ve finally gotten to the end of this very long review and I can truthfully say that this is one of my all time favorite series, and some time in the future I’ll be reading it again. The quality of the writing, the depth of characters, the emotions and passion, and basic story telling skills gives the wonderful series a place in my keeper file. I’ve enjoyed and I’m certain you will, too.
