Review: Among the Living (PsyCop, #1) by Jordan Castillo Price

Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: October 2008
Publisher: Indie
Point of View: 1st Person & Male
Genres & Themes: Adult, M/M romance, Paranormal, Ghosts.

BLURB:

Victor Bayne, the psychic half of a PsyCop team, is a gay medium who’s more concerned with flying under the radar than in making waves.

He hooks up with handsome Jacob Marks, a non-psychic (or “Stiff”) from an adjacent precinct at his ex-partner’s retirement party and it seems like his dubious luck has taken a turn for the better. But then a serial killer surfaces who can change his appearance to match any witness’ idea of the world’s hottest guy.

Solving murders is a snap when you can ask the victims whodunit, but this killer’s not leaving any spirits behind.

REVIEW:

Once upon a time if you told doctors you heard voices, they’d diagnose you as schizophrenic, put you on heavy drugs, and lock you in a cozy state institution to keep you from hurting yourself or others.

Nowadays they test you first to see if you’re psychic.

Finally. This book has been rooting on my TBR pile for a little more than a year before my impulsive hand saying, ‘‘Oh, and what the hell.’’ finally decided to grab it, read it, love it and review it. I didn’t quite exactly love it, but it without a doubt was a short, light enough and entertaining read. Like watching The Mentalist: it’s serious, but humorous too from time to time and you can’t help but enjoy your time while you’re in front of the TV and comfortable on a couch. Needless to say, my subconscious is probably laughing at me right now and aching to burst out a ‘‘I told you would like it. Don’t you dare doubt me again.’’ I’m slowly diverging to off subject, so let’s get to the actual opinion.

I wish I could say that this took me by surprise but, except for the fabulous twist – more like ‘revelation’ – this was a pretty banal paranormal + mystery + romance story in which the main character is a cop, however psychic, and has to discover the truth behind some murder cases. What was interesting though was of course his ability and how important it was to his job, but also how this is one of the first book I had read with a society that is well aware that ghosts exist and the people that can see them. The world-building shall be more developed in the sequels, because it really does have much potential, but I can admit that, for a novella sized book, this was a good read.

Many scenes were sadly rushed though. As was the romance. Ah, I foresaw it to be more exciting and swoon-worthy but it was mostly physical and romance free. After all, the story did start and end with a sex scene. Their relationship and *love* for each other was as convincing as an absolute book lover/geek swearing to stop reviewing for a while in order to concentrate on school projects more. That’s me. Not convincing. So that was an underwhelming part of the book, but never fear! the author probably developed it better in the sequels, which I cannot wait to start. And the sex scenes are very okay, but I prefer when there is actual romance that goes with it and perhaps no sex before…hum, a date?

The pacing was just right – fast, and the main character wonderful. His sense of humour appealed to me and I simply fell for his personality. I imagined him to be the kind of person who would always listen to what you have to say and laugh at your jokes. Really someone easygoing, unlike his partner, Marks.

It is rare that I find some good paranormal M/M romance series out there, but I just did and would recommend this to anyone searching for the perfect Friday night and relatively action-packed read with a good deal of mystery to keep you interested.