Customer Reviews

Naked Dragon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wish these publishers will release the print at the same time as the e-book but I have no qualm purchasing this one from Hauser in print too.

The Naked Dragon is totally different from Hauser's previous three M/M romance effort. Gone is the sweet and angsy love. In this story we have a hot inter-racial relationship between Dave, an African American cop, and Robbie, a FBI agent from out of town. Both are interesting and appealing characters. Dave may be a cop but he is a compassionate man and very human. He is not out of the closet as he fears the repercussion of being a black gay cop. Having devoted Christian parents certainly does not help. On the other hand Robbie is comfortable with his sexuality and branded a psychic when he is not. He is just very intuitive and an expert in behavioral science. He is tormented by his current case hunting down a serial killer who is on a spree hacking and eviscerating underage Asian boys in the seediest cities' areas. His hunt brought him from Virginia to Seattle, the serial killer's latest hunting ground. Here he meets Dave. Their mutual attraction is intense as they become lovers knowing they must part once the serial killer is captured or goes off to another city. This does provide some angst filled moments as Dave must decide his next move in life as his love for Robbie grows.

The plot is riveting and one roller coaster ride, as the lovers track down the serial killer. As the body count rises, so does the intensity of Robbie's dreams and Dave's protective instinct, more so when the serial killer now targets Robbie who succeeds in identifying him. I do not favor gruesome stories so I appreciate the writer's tact in not detailing all those gory bloody parts. This is much more than a hot M/M erotica romance. It is a riveting and amazingly well written thriller which have me glued to the pages till the very end. Kudos to this prolific writer for such a gripping and fascinating read.

All right. This is more a suspence thriler than a romance. But even if I'm not fond of suspence thriller I like this one cause I feel a woman hand on it. It's about a serial killer and you have sadly plenty of victims, but the author doesn't indulge on it.

Dave is a black cop of the Seattle Police Department. He is a tought guy but he has an heart. An heart which suffers when he has to witness to the victim, but he also manages to be professional. So he is noticed by Robbie, the FBI Agent who has the mission to hunt the serial killer. Robbie is a "psichic" for FBI, but really he has only a good observance spirit and intuition. And so he from the start unveil Dave's little secret: he is gay, but he is not out, cause he fears the judge of people, coworkers, family and friends.

Robbie is up to have a sexual relationship with Dave, without string attachment. And not cause he has the hot for every hunky man he meets, but cause Dave is a good man and a good cop. It's not his battle to push Dave to coming out, not when he will be far from Seattle once the case is over.

Dave and Robbie are both strong characters with "heart". They are not the usual invincible cops, who hunt the bad and get the girl. They are human, and like human they can't prevent the feelings blossoming between them. In a world of dirty and evil, they can hope for an happily ever after together.

In this book, G.A. Hauser has left behind her usual pretty characters and the glittering world of models and actors. In this book nothing glitters, if not a pure and simple feeling between Dave and Robbie: a love feeling so natural and quite, bu so strong to be able to win the main scene in front of the suspence plot.

I think this can be an M/M novel that can appeal to a wide audience, cause it is not only about love and sex between two men, but sure can appeal to who loves to read about it.

I loved this book. The characters seemed real and their actions and emotions were believable. The mixture of a thriller and love story gives the reader a breather in-between the stressful scenes. Highly recommend this one. If it's your first book by this author, I assure you it won't be your last.

Sorry to rain on the parade but I found this novel so disappointing after the reviews I read that I just had to write one of my own. The two main characters were very very uninteresting and the intimate scenes were so repetitive and boring that I found myself skipping over them to find more interesting action. I hoped to find it in the serial killer but he was just a cipher for the plot to turn on. We learnt nothing about him- his motivation or his background, and thus his horrific deeds become numbing and over the top ridiculous. His end was as mysterious and as unsatisfying as the whole story. I dont know much about police procedure but I could not believe that the general population was not warned in any of the three cities in which this killer operated. Hey get real! This experience has sadly not encouraged me to explore other works by this author.

I started this book right after reading another of the author's books, The Kiss. While that book was a bit disappointing, this one made me an instant fan. "Naked Dragon" is a well done gay romantic mystery with a more serious tone.

David Harris is a police officer. When the story opens, he has been called to the scene of another brutally murdered young Asian man. Seattle has a serial killer, and he's hunting in Dave's district. But, the killer has struck in two other states so the FBI is stepping in to help. Agent Robbie Taylor is "psychic." So, he knows the killer is far from done, and also that Dave is attracted to him. Robbie quickly invites Dave back to his place. This is Dave's first time with another man, and Robbie eerily knows that too. So, their first sexual encounter is frenzied, but paradoxically tender as well. The characters have very good chemistry, and their instant attraction and consummation is very believable in this story. They are under a lot of stress from a tense and dangerous case; Dave has been keeping his feelings tightly under wraps so his fellow officers don't discover he's gay and Robbie is still working to earn the respect of his fellow agents who think he's weird or crazy. All these factors lend a certain gravitas to the story that isn't often found in gay romance, even mysteries. And, the serial killer is BRUTAL. Hauser doesn't sugar-coat the murder mystery. The men need to take solace in each other as the killer gets more and more out of control the closer Robbie gets to catching him. Their passion slowly evolves into love that keeps them going.

One aspect of the novel I really liked was Robbie's ability. Throughout the novel, he anticipates not only Dave's and other people's thoughts, but also the killer's actions. Yet Hauser never confirms that he's actually psychic, or if he's just enormously gifted in observation (such as the characters from television's Psych and the Mentalist). It prevents the character from being laughable, and places him in the real world. Another good point is how the author tackles stereotypes head on, but in a subtle way. Robbie's fellow agents quickly pick-up that Robbie and Dave have a relationship. They are surprised "that big, black cop is gay." Robbie takes them down a peg for their prejudice with some pointed remarks that bring home how intelligent he is, and the issues he and Dave must contend with. The law enforcement community is not known for its open-mindedness, and being ostracized could put their lives in danger if back-up doesn't show. Robbie and Dave both earn the respect of their fellows with their professionalism and determination on the case, but these issues still linger. This isn't the first interracial romance I've read, but I liked how Hauser handled it - which was not at all. Readers get a physical description of each man, and the men express how attracted they are to each other, but the fact that one is black and the other white is irrelevant to them.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent story. The book has a lot of action as the men chase the killer, and the conclusion was exciting. Though the resolution of Dave living in Seattle and Robbie in Virginia was blatantly predictable, it worked anyway. Both characters are engaging, realistic and their romance is lovely. The sex is hot and frequent, but not too explicit. I found this to be a romantic mystery rather than erotica. The very dark case was a surprisingly good back drop for the romance - it's in our darkest hour that we need our loved ones the most. I would love to see a sequel with these two characters on another case; this would make a great series!

Officer Dave Harris of the Seattle Police Department is assigned to one of the worst serial murder cases in Seattle's history. Dave is a 27 year old African American man who has been with the department for 3 years. He is gay and has hidden his sexual orientation from his fellow officers for fear of reprisals since he feels that being a gay black cop could be lethal to his continued good health.

FBI Agent Robbie Taylor has intuitive abilities and has been branded as a psychic and he has worked on a number of similar cases. When he first meets Dave the air sizzles and there is an instant attraction between them. Right away Robbie tells Dave he is aware of his sexual orientation and that he is attracted to him.

This is probably one of the most violent books I have read and the murders are particularly gruesome, so if you are squeamish be warned! Seattle's International District, or Chinatown, as portrayed by G.A. Hauser, is quite sordid. The murderer, who calls himself the Dragon, is hunting and killing young Asian men in Chinatown by eviscerating them. Solving the case requires all of Robbie's abilities. Dave and Robbie have to constantly be on guard against a serial killer who has left a trail of victims in two other states and is always several steps ahead of the police.

NAKED DRAGON is fast paced and the action is constant, hectic and frenetic with the tension building as the body count mounts. Ms Hauser's experience as a former patrol officer for the SPD is quite evident throughout the book especially in relation to police investigative procedures. Incredibly, these two men manage to carry on a hot, steamy romance in the midst of all the murder and mayhem and they fall in love.

I could not put this book down. It is definitely an intense emotional rollercoaster ride. Although the extreme violence might add to the plot, I thought some of it was exceedingly gratuitous and does not enhance this otherwise very well written story. I also felt the ending was telegraphed, similar to pitches in baseball. Finally, the story does strain credibility by inferring that the sexual relationship between the two men, when revealed, did not make waves with Dave's friends as well as in the law enforcement community which is acknowledged as being intolerant towards homosexuals on the Force. However, overall, the book was a good read!

As an avid fan of GA Hauser I found this book a little on the bland side. This story about Dave and Bobbie was written...ok...and the sex scenes were....ok.... I read another review that says the sex scenes are steamy...really? were we reading the same book? or better yet have you ever read any other GA Hauser books because this was tame like Lifetime movie tame.
This book read more like an episode of Criminal Minds with a little M/M action thrown in than a romance or erotica; which is not to say that it was bad, just not what I expected from Hauser.
I must say that I wish she had delved a bit more into the character develepoment and I would have LOVED if the ending wasn't that cheesy sappy crap that was thrown in there but for the price it wasn't a bad book at all.

We actually have a plot in this one and even a little suspense. The sex scenes are pretty hot. The characters even seem to have a wee bit of depth. Worth the $5 to buy second hand.

Undeveloped characters. Boring,dull,love scenes (excuse me-non-love scenes!).No foreplay, no dialogue no sensuality, no eroticsm.The experienced man simply takes off his clothes in front of the virgin and says 'your turn'. The fact that one man was the virgin was played up in the story - but not followed through with an sense of emotion or foreplay. "Your turn" and suddenly the virgin knows what to do.
IMO there was no heat or heart created between these two men, so dialogue...excuse except for when the non-virgin says to the virgin 'assume the position'! Be still my beating heart!
The crime was described in minimal detail. The dialogue was monotonous and repititious. I didn't get involved in any part of the story. The author didn't set the stage or create and emotional attachment to the lovers, the crimes, the police deapartment.
I skimmed through most of this book. Everything left me cold.
Now I have another 5 star book by GA Hauser, The Kiss to get through. It cant' be any worse, can it?