Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Chinatown, San Francisco.

A different place — another time— and where the city’s streets keep secrets, and shadowy mysteries SFPD Inspector Spencer Ricci needs to dig through after he finds himself on a case involving a dismembered, mummified man in a restaurant’s locked storage room.

Spencer drags around a lot of baggage, including an ongoing battle with the bottle and a long career as an LAPD detective he’d set fire to in a blaze of booze-soaked mistakes. San Francisco is supposed to be a new start but his old ghosts haunt him, beckoning him back into his self-destructive bad habits. Bad habits that include contemplating doing dirty things with the wrong kind of guy and this time, it’s a sleek, cold-tempered medical examiner named Xian Carter with a complicated reputation.

For a century-old demon, Xian Carter is content with his secretive life. Hiding his nature from the mundane world, he blends in with the city’s inhabitants as best he can but even the best of predators make mistakes. Delving into the mysteries of the dead provide a welcome distraction from endless nights and hiding in plain sight amuses him, until something supernaturally wicked comes knocking on his door with an extremely hot, broody Inspector close behind.

Murder makes for strange bedfellows and this one is no exception. The twists and turns of the case leaves Xian and Spencer on a wild goose chase after clues but Xian can only hope there’s a human at the end of the trail—because the last thing San Francisco needs is another predator.

Book Review

I’m going to start with ARGH! And ACK! And SERIOUSLY!?!

 

This book was an interesting, engaging, and fast read that hit all my happy buttons. The story combined paranormal/urban fantasy, cops, and the start of a male/male romance all bundled quite nicely into a mystery. 

 

For the paranormal aspect, I thought it was quite delightful to have Xian Carter – a demon – gainfully employed in the coroner’s office. A much welcome variation and delightful concept, Xian is interesting, a bit of an aloof enigma, and has some interesting capabilities. 

 

Xian balances out the tired, worn-out alcoholic investigator trope that is Spencer Ricci. While there is not much to say about Spencer’s character, what will be interesting to watch will be the dance between Xian and Spencer. In this book, the characters become acquainted, there are flutters of interest, tugging’s of desire, but each character is carrying too much baggage to go beyond thoughts. That… was interesting for a romance book and I quite enjoyed it.

 

Which brings me back to the ARGH! And ACK! And SERIOUSLY!?!  Where I’m poking at my e-reader wondering why the story ENDED and WHERE ARE THE NEXT PAGES! Cliff-hanger folks, cliff-hanger. And yes, I want to get my hands on the next installment. I think this will be an interesting series. 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 105 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	30-November-2020
Price	$3.29 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Bound-Chinatown-Demons-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08NFNLVKB