Customer Reviews

Footsteps in the Dark Partners in Crime #3

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The beginning of this novel is incredibly moving and you feel the ache within Mark. On a lonely road in a phone box, with rain and moor, the opening was vividly written. Mark is a man driven beyond all tolerance and into utter exhaustion. He is desperate to come home and be with the one normal person in his life, but unsure if it's a mistake to go there or not.

Lanyon has a way of making you feel like your heart is in your mouth sometimes. It is a viseral feeling and though I detest the thought of crying during a book, when Stephen is telling Mark it has been 2 years, it was heart wrenching stuff. Mark knows he has screwed up royally but it is not until that moment that he realises that any chance he has had with Stephen may be indeed lost. He cannot even speak let alone bring himself to find the words and subsides into quietness...I challenge you not to be blinking back watery eyes.

Do not be lulled into a false sense of security that Mark is going down without a fight however. Despite suffering from barely healed wounds and quite possibly PTSD, he is starting to realise that the best thing in his life is Stephen. Even though he kids himself into thinking he is just playing up to what Stephen wants to hear, really he is finally allowing himself to be vulnerable. I think subconsciously he knows he is allowing himself to be open to Stephen but the reality of rejection is just too much to bear.

Vulnerability, in Lanyon's novels, is always a powerful theme for me and is quite possibly why I find his writing unutterably addictive. Letting down your guard and allowing another person into your own true self and being vulnerable to rejection. Heady stuff. I also wonder if this is one of the reasons I find this genre so compelling.

Beautiful, poignant and not a dry eye in the house. I suggest you stampede your way down that store isle and get reading now. Gush, much? heh.

I am one of Josh Lanyon's groupies so you ought to know that going in. However, this was a new direction for him and I really enjoyed the story. Sarah Black's stories are always good and this one was great. I can't say enough good things about the Partners in Crime Anthologies. MLR has done a really good job of putting complementary authors together to help balance each story.

"I Spy Something Bloody" by Josh Lanyon

When British spy Mark Hardwicke is injured on the job, he calls Stephen Thorpe for help. Mark and Stephen were lovers, but Mark's job keeps getting in the way. Mark is thinking of settling down but it seems that Stephen has moved on. While Mark and Stephan sort through their feelings, Mark's job gets in the way again, but this time, it threatens their lives.

"I Spy Something Bloody" is an angst filled romance shrouded in suspense and action. The superb writing, engaging storyline, and great characters kept me glued to each page. Mark leads a very interesting life. It's dangerous and exciting, yet lonely. Stephen is wonderful. He's intelligent, and strong in body and mind. I love Josh Lanyon's writing style!

"Murder At Black Dog Springs" by Sarah Black

Mike McCann and Logan Kee are good friends who fought in the war together. Mike was in the Navy and Logan was in the Marines. When Mike needs a break from reality after the fighting is over, he turns to Logan for some much needed peace. Although the men find something special in each other's arms, peace is hard to come by. Mike's family owns McCann Mining and they want to mine for uranium in the Lukachukai Mountain near Logan's home. Things go from bad to worse when Logan and Mike have to fight for their love and their lives.

"Murder At Black Dog Springs" is very good. It's a fantastic love story. Logan's Indian heritage and lifestyle is extremely interesting as are Mike's personal issues. Logan and Mike are very intriguing characters. I adore them together. Their chemistry and deep love for each other is very evident. "Murder At Black Dog Springs" is a story of forbidden love. It is as interesting as it is romantic.

Sarah Black's "Murder At Black Dog Springs" is a heartfelt story and "I Spy Something Bloody" is exciting and angst filled. Footsteps in the Dark has two suspenseful, romantic, and sensual stories. I look forward to reading more from both of these authors.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I wish that I could read something written anonymously by Josh Lanyon so that I may know for certain whether it is the work or him that I love. As that pepsi challenge is highly unlikely I'll have to resign myself to craven groupiehood. Lucky us, this man can't seem to put out anything but stellar work. This story is a bit of a departure for him as it is light in the mystery content, in the conventional sense. Rather than a caper to solve, it is the main character's life and true desires that presents the mystery which unfolds in very satisfying fashion with much authenticity and bittersweet humor.

I have often had difficulty connecting with Black's stories, though the quality is always evident. However "Murder..." truly grabbed me from first to last. The characters are vivid and the emotional content palpable. Perhaps the main theme just seemed so prescient, the experience of young people returning from the ravages of war to the broken trajectory of their lives and somehow, with great effort, finding peace. Whatever the case may, don't miss this offering in the Partners in Crime series.

I love this series and this 3rd in the series has me glued to each story till the end.

Josh has given us another absorbing, intense and emotional story in "I spy something bloody". Mark, the young British spy, is one interesting and compelling character whom I feel deeply for. Completely burnt-out by the hellish conflicts in Afghanistan, barely escaping with his life, he is deeply scarred both physically and mentally and barely on his feet. His only salvation is the much older and solid Stephen, a well established doctor in his community. But Stephen abandoned for 2 years by Mark is not about to risk his heart again. The emotions run deep, the stirring and at times poignant atmosphere as a "broken" Mark desperately tries to convince a distrustful Stephen is so well written and moving and have me worried if Mark could ever win his unforgiving lover back. Certain parts are almost heartbreaking as Mark struggles to find himself and break the barrier between him and Stephen. It takes a life threatening situation to bring these 2 men together and the suspensful and breathtaking moments here have me at the edge of my seat. Josh just writes it so well. The ending is most uplifting as I find myself heaving a sigh of relief for these 2 men. Kudos to Josh for this emotionally driven story, with its intense and deeply absorbing narration.

Sarah's "Murder at Black Dog Springs" is one haunting, original and moving story as she gives us the lasting impact of war on young men permanently scarred by it. Not easy to comment on this one as this remarkable story manages to tells so much in just 120+ pages. The story begins in early 2008 when one young recruit comes looking for his 2 Grandpas, and I thought this part is well done, letting us know in a bare 2 pages the Iraq war which knows no mercy and 2 men who have found the love for a lifetime as the writer quotes at the end. These 2 men are of course the Grandpas as the story takes us back to their stories in 1947 after WWII ended with the dropping of the atomic bombs. Both Logan, a Navajo minority, and Mike, son of a wealthy miner, have done their part and back from the War. Having witnessed the atrocities of the atomic bombs they are barely able to cope. Their deep love for each other is the only certainty in life and they have to fight hard to hold on to it. Fortunately they have the full support of Logan's grandfather, such a endearing character, two Navajo old women and their 2 brothers-in-arms, Curtis and Jay. I enjoy the deep bond among the 4 men here, Sarah expressing the brotherhood forged from the horrors of war so well. Her characters simply shine as each one is so well developed and unique. And underlying the story is the Navajo's myth and the greed of men as Mike's father seeks to rob land, rich in uranium, from the Navajos. This is one complex and rich plot but Sarah manages to inject some wonderfully humorous moments too as Mike is accepted by Logan's family. Ultimately it is the beautiful love story of these 2 men which truly stands out.

Bravo Josh and Sarah. I am just surprised this amazing series is not more popular.