Title: Crooked
Author: Missouri Dalton
Length: 9,400 words
Publisher: Torquere press
Genre: m/m urban fantasy romance
Rating: C
Blurb:
Nicky’s problems started six months into the job when his first partner, veteran cop Donny Myers, was killed and Nicky got tangled up with mob boss Cathan Kavanagh to get justice. Kavanagh didn’t just want a few favors though, he wanted Nicky. Kavanagh drags Nicky down a dark and winding path of addiction and corruption. A transfer to homicide, and new partner Zeke might just be the trick to getting Nicky away from the poisonous gangster.
But things aren’t what they seem on the surface. Kavanagh isn’t exactly human, Zeke isn’t exactly a cop and Nicky might just start believing–in fairies.
Review:
This was one of those stories which had some really interesting ideas which had been condensed down into the short story format. This meant that whilst it held my interest, I ultimately found it a frustrating read because the scale of ideas needed more space to flourish.
The story begins with Nick who was once a wide-eyed rookie of a cop. After dealing with a horrific murder and the subsequent death of his partner, Nick gets unwittingly drawn into a life of crime and drugs, dishonouring the uniform he wears. Once his brothers and new partner find out the extent to Nick’s problems, things become much weirder as Nick discovers that he may have been tricked by an evil fae.
The story begins well with a guilt ridden Nick relating how he got into the mess he was in. The small steps he takes to his downfall were meant with good intentions and I can see how he managed to get over his head quickly. I liked the arrival of Zeke and the way he gets Nick’s brothers involved in Nick’s situation, but then the story takes a turn into urban fantasy and suddenly we have a new and very different situation. Not that the turn in situation was bad, just that then we have lots of new information given to us followed by a very quick showdown finish which left me vaguely unsatisfied.
As I said earlier, this story has lots of great ideas, and I liked at the end where we are given a snapshot into the fae world. What I would have really liked though is for the whole story to have been fleshed out more. Partly because that would avoid all the info-dumping and telling which happens during the story, but also because the author has gone to the trouble of creating an alternative world and would have liked to know more about it.
In the end this was a bit of a missed opportunity but would possibly still appeal to those readers who are looking for something short with a UF twist.
Yeah you lost me at your first paragraph. My biggest pet peeve with short stories are novels in story format — when the author tries to do way too much. Since I was iffy on this one anyway, I’ll pass it. Thanks
It happens a lot, Cole. It was a shame for this story because I liked the writing and ideas, just not how squashed it all felt.
It definitely needed to be longer. There was just soooooooooooo much going on.
There was a lot going on and I agree, I wish it had been much longer.
I missed this review. I wonder if this is connected to the author’s world in Poisoned Spirits which I reviewed because it brought in the Fae, but the whole paranormal world was out in the open. I just remember the author said there would be more in that world. Hmm. I might have a look at this one to see if it kind of meshes or not.
Ah, maybe that would explain why I felt like I needed more if there IS more in another book.