Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Hell hath no fury like a pirated ebook author...

Jason Jagger has finally realized his dream. After years of struggling, he is a successful, multi-published author of gay erotic paranormal romance ebooks. His happiness, however, is shattered by rampant online piracy. He feels he’s in a constant cat-and-mouse game with pirates fond of uploading his books to multiple file-sharing sites. One flagrant, prolific pirate in particular seems to feel it’s his duty to illegally upload Jason’s books as fast as Jason can write them. Just who is this person with the nickname of Private Eye? And why has he targeted Jason?

With his obsession about e-piracy growing, Jason knows both sides of the argument, but he doesn’t see it as a victimless, faceless crime. He’s struggling to make ends meet as it is. Rumor has it that the theater where he works is on the verge of closure, and his lover, a recovered meth addict, is starting to act weird again.

Jason can’t help but wonder how the thieves would feel if he turned the tables on them. So with nothing to lose, he decides to track down Private Eye. But has he picked the wrong guy to mess with? This game may have long-lasting consequences, especially when, in the eyes of his quarry, it’s a game of Cops and Rubbers...

 

Book Review

I will totally and completely admit that I decided to read this story because of the title. 'Cops and Rubbers' simply makes me giggle every time I think it. So, I figured the story deserved a read for that, and the fact that I've grown to really like A.J. Llewellyn's work, cemented it for me.

Jason Jagger is not having a good time of it. At thirty-seven he's finally achieved his dream of being a gay romance author. Of course, this does not mean he can give up his crappy day job as a telemarketer for a theater in LA. Jason still has daily bills to pay and he doesn't make enough as an author to only have that as his income. Now, his books are being consistently pirated on multiple shareware sites and Jason is really angry. He spends his days trying to sell theater tickets while filing copyright infringement paperwork to get his books removed from these sites. This, however, doesn't stop his loss of income for the multiple downloads that occur before he can get them removed! It seems someone named Private Eye is behind it and Jason vows he's going to locate this person and give them hell.

Darius, aka Private Eye, is bored. He left a prestigious job at a publishing house to move to London with his lover. That is where Darius, his best friend, Xanthe, and two other friends started ostrichwalk.com to help people, primarily in Eastern European countries, get access to music and movies. Xanthe is of the firm belief that if it's on the Internet then everyone should have access to it. Darius is a little more open-minded, but since his relationship ended, he's back in the US just doing work on their site. And, this Jason Jagger guy, if it's even a guy, is really pissing Darius off. I mean, seriously, they aren't affecting his business that much and obviously he's got plenty of time to sit around and fire off the copyright infringement forms to get his books removed, so he must have plenty of money.

Jason is a nice guy. Unfortunately, for him, what they say seems to hold true. He is finishing last, at least at the moment. He and his lover are only recently back together after Jun cheated on him. And, frankly, I couldn't understand why he was with Jun in the first place because that man is incredibly high maintenance and I couldn't see any appeal other than Jun is gorgeous. I didn't like Jun, at all. He took serious advantage of Jason and betrayed him horribly. Jason continually gets his call list cheated from at work so other people get his sales and he's too nice to tell on them. Sorry, Jason, but I'd have told immediately. That's your income!

This was an interesting story, different from other works I have read by this author. It definitely addressed a current problem in the industry, but there were also a number of other plot lines going at the same time. This wasn't a bad thing, it just kept the book very busy. The romance between Jason and Darius, once they got past all of the betrayal and hurt, was rather sweet, and, I suppose, in the end, that's the only thing that matters.

 

 

 

 

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

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 48000 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-August-2010
Price	$7.00 ebook
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