Hello, tall, dark and handsome.’ Out and proud gay Albuquerque Homicide Detective Eagle Woodard studied Dr. Adam Coulter, criminal profiler, with a clinical eye. ‘Slender build…narrow waist, but nicely muscled underneath that Hugo Boss suit. People think you work out, Kemo, but you don’t.’ Eagle’s dark eyes narrowed. ‘You know I hate that day old beard look, but you were probably too wasted to bother. Nice eyes, green when they aren’t blood shot. Flawless tanned skin except for that tiny scar through your left eyebrow.’ The former Army Ranger grinned. ‘I gave that to you accidentally when we were 8 years old. When you stood up for this Navajo kid in an all white school. We both got our asses kicked.’ Eagle sighed and shook his head. That was the day he’d fallen in love with 4 times married, 4 times divorced, current roommate, Adam Coulter.
Eagle and Adam are faced with their toughest challenge yet. They must find an active serial killer before he strikes again. With the powers that be not cooperating and the killer proving to be elusive, will Eagle and Adam be able to stop the murderer while navigating their changing relationship?
Purchase: Amazon.com
Goodreads: Warrior’s Way (Coulter and Woodard #1)
Review
*I received a copy of this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*
Rating: 3.5 stars
When Detective Eagle Woodard and criminal profiler Dr Adam Coulter pose as a gay couple with an upcoming fake wedding in order to catch a serial killer, it reawakens feelings that they both struggle to leave in the past. Eagle has always been in love with Adam, but Adam’s always insisted that he’s straight. However, as their fake relationship involves into something more real, they must put their feelings to one side in order to catch the killer or risk becoming their next victim.
I was very undecided as to how to rate this novel. There were parts I liked and parts that I didn’t like as much. I enjoyed the characterisation throughout the novel. Each character was well-crafted and had likeable and not so likeable traits as all good characters do. Eagle and Adam definitely had chemistry between them, however there were times when the relationship seemed a little forced, which was a shame as it really didn’t need to be. It also felt quite rushed. One moment Adam was adamant that he was straight and the next minute they are flirting, kissing…it just seemed way too random how he’d change his mind so quickly, especially after getting so upset that the majority of his work colleagues already thought that he was gay. More time could have been taken to develop the relationship naturally whilst properly exploring Adam’s denial.
The other trouble I had with this novel was how the author jumped back and forth between calling characters by their surname and then first name or nicknames. There was no logic to this and it just confused me.
The serial killer plot was great. The parts written from the killer’s point of view were quite graphic, but it was good to get inside the killer’s mind and their reasoning for doing what they did. The confrontation between the killer and the main characters took an unexpected twist which really took me by surprise.
Overall, I did enjoy it and I do want to read further books in the series as I am curious to see what happens next.
Shari Sakurai 