who would believe that an audiobook read by anthony ferguson and joel lesley would be bad?!!?

well, this isn’t exactly bad, it’s got all the necessary ingredients, just not put in in the right order, not in the right amounts, so in the end, it doesn’t …amount to anything (ok, not that witty, but it’s all that this book deserves).

each chapter is nice and based on the previous ones, but everything about them is erratic and nothing flows harmoniously.

the idea is original and interesting enough. the story line… well, there are a few of them, and each would be a wonderful book on itself. as is, it’s definitely too long.

the characters are original and interesting, but they don’t develop, they just do things, some of which get better as the story progresses.

Are they bikers, or are they cops? are they traumatized LGBTQ+s that solve their trauma and become proud of themselves, or are they proud, stable individuals that discover they have some hang-ups and decide to correct them?

is this story about revenge on the attack on lan? or the revenge on easton’s father? or about the sexual awakening of parker?

the general attitude of the MCs to one another is rather enlightened, and so is the power play between them. but that is about the only visible good thing, about the whole thing.

even the erotic scenes are a bit confusing, even if they are better written than most others I’ve encountered.

the writing is not all that good either. it is witty and funny in places, and the words come together more than smartly, and the rest, is a bit… erratic.

now that I’m trying to put things in words, the whole project reads like something done by committee: no one central decision maker, to oversee the project as a whole and see where the bits don’t quite fit properly. the book is like the separate scenes were written by a very good writer, and then someone’s secretary paid a few first-year lit students to put them together.

as for the narration? that’s the most painful miss of all! anthony ferguson and joel lesley! the best in the business, and the narration is confusing?! each one on his own is good enough, but they have very different styles and voices, and the book is not made to be voice-shared, since every chapter has many povs. so the narration is only contributing even more to the overall confusion.

if you’re not looking for a “let’s mark this book, and see how I could have written it better” project, just don’t! don’t waste the money/credit to buy it, don’t waste the time to listen, don’t waste the energy to understand it.