Great story

Loved this. I've read this series of books before and I cannot fault anything from the pen of Gregory Ashe. The narrator has really done a great job with his interpretation of the voices.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Intriguing

After reading/listening to Gregory Ashe’s previous series Hazard and Somerset this was a definite auto buy for me. I really like the authors style of writing and the crime/mystery genre alongside the mm romance.
What I did like about this book is that the characters of Shaw and North are nothing like those of Hazard and Somerset and there is much more humour within the storyline.
However, personally, I do feel the choice of narrator did not do the audiobook any justice. Whilst Charlie David is a very good narrator, I don’t think he carries off crime/mysteries off very well.
I can see why Gregory Ashe May have wanted to differentiate between the different series by using separate narrators, but Tristan James or another comparable narrator would have been preferable to me.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Good story

The concept is interesting and well written. The characters are likeable and the narration is good.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great new series and accomplished narration

I'm writing this review again, because when I went to check, my original one had disappeared. Much as I love Tristan James (who narrates the Hazard and Somerset books) I was glad a different narrator had been used for this, as I would have been hearing H and S in my head otherwise! Charlie David did a pretty good job with the narration, and I finished the book feeling satisfied (I had already read it, so knew I liked the story). Would recommend.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great start to this series....

First of all, thanks to Greg for the ARC of this audio. As I said to him, Charlie David is not my fave narrator - Hot Head by Damon Suede I absolutely love...although not too many others unfortunately, but I was very willing to give this audio a try as we're talking about North and Shaw here <3. As far as Charlie's narration is concerned, well we all know that he doesn't really do voices for each character, but he did at least have a fairly distinct voice for both of the MC's, and really, who cares about the other characters, hehe. There were a few little niggles, but on the whole, it wasn't bad at all so I would leave my book review at 5 stars and this audio at maybe 4.25 stars. I will definitely listen to the rest of the series on audio.

***Book Review May 2019***

5 outstanding stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Gregory Ashe...you've done it again. Another fantastic series in the offing, and you're already making the MC's work very hard to a) stay alive and b) actually see each other instead of looking straight through and dismissing everything as 'just friends'. A Gay Fiction whodunit at it's finest, with wonderful banter, this is NOT a friends to lovers romance...yet...she says hopefully 🤞🤞🤞.

Yes, Shaw and North will do anything for each other but North won't admit that (view spoiler) [heads up for domestic abuse] and Shaw certainly won't admit that he's been love with North since college...and that the awful attack he suffered at college, which killed his then boyfriend and left him badly scarred, has also understandably left him with intimacy, trust and flashback issues.

Blackmail, drag queens, hustlers and violence...this story had it all. I liked Pari too, and yes North said some pretty dreadful stuff to Shaw that he wished he could've taken back the second they left his mouth and which he now sincerely regrets, but I think he's mainly ashamed of how much he feels for Shaw, given the fact that he's married to Tucker. As for Shaw...well, we'll see what happens as the series progresses. He clearly deserves some happiness.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Ashe has another winner with this new series

I was given this book as an advanced listener and boy was I lucky.
After the Hazard and Somerset series, I wasn't sure if Gregory Ashe could create another set of characters I could come to care for. Plus, there is the added bonus of having Charlie David's narration. However, with the introduction of Shaw and North, private detectives I am hooked.
Their complex friendship is an important thread running through the story and their inate need to protect one another informs their decision making but this does not stand in the way of good crime story where there are a number of untrustworthy and downright unpleasant people who you have working at guessing their motives and level of guilt. (This includes the cops).
Charlie David keeps a natural rhythm and the characters are distinct. He helps the characters unfold and you can't help rooting for the lead protagonIsts to obtain the things they deserve.
I already have the next two ebooks in my library as some threads are ongoing. I hope that the audible narrations are not too far behind.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Possibly the worst 'Investigators' I've ever heard

I really enjoyed the Hazard and Somerset series' by Gregory Ashe. The writing for those 2 series was well-plotted and tight.
"Orientation", no1 of a new series, had a messy drawn-out start and North and Shaw come out fighting as the most ridiculous 'investigators' I've ever heard. Their back and forth banter while questioning a client isn't cute. It's annoying as hell.
The story arc for "Orientation" was a copy of another Gregory Ashe book "They told me I was everything" - two broken men sleuthing to find a flash drive that contains compromising material that is being used for blackmail and leads to murders. Any other author who wrote the same storyline for two books and just changed the character names/jobs/backstories would be pulled over the coals, but not Gregory Ashe who seems to do no wrong in the eyes of his fans. I disagree.
The narrative was all over the place. It was hard to keep up with the flow of information in backstories and the anything-but-linear investigation. The messy, convoluted start to "Orientation" meant I didn't fall for these characters, in fact, I found them both really irritating, and as the book continued I became more and more confused about what was going on. There were some really poorly constructed scenes and unnatural dialogue, not something I expected from Gregory Ashe. I also noticed that Gregory Ashe has never written a nice female character. The few women in his books are always horrible high maintenance bitches.
Sadly, what really put me off the most was the poor narration. I cannot believe that a professional narrator doesn't know where to take a breath during a sentence. Charlie David doesn't do accents or individual voices for characters. His lack of performance skills and finesse meant that many of the nuances of the writing were lost. I don't believe he was the right choice for this book.
I'm not a fan of the trend of dragging a scene out and giving pages and pages of internal monologues that are, in the end, irrelevant. It feels like this book was speed-written and lacked the editing to make it into a shorter, tighter, better story.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful