Reviewed by Dan
This is a Series Review of A Corey Shaw Mystery (Books 1 – 3)
AUTHOR: Alex Morgan
PUBLISHER: Wilde City Press
SERIES REVIEW:
I really enjoyed these first three Corey Shaw Mysteries. I really like the character of Corey Shaw and the spots he gets himself into. I’m not sure I could pick a favorite of the three, as they each had something which made them different, and I enjoyed them all. I had planned on including the soon to be released fourth book, but it has been delayed. I will eagerly be awaiting it though!
The books are well written and edited, and the stories move along fast enough so you never get bogged down. The one negative I have for the series is the bareback sex. condoms are only mentioned once in the three books. Putting that issue aside, I highly recommend the series.
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: Breathless
LENGTH: 82 Pages
BLURB:
Paranormal detective Corey Shaw, with abilities such as telepathy and clairvoyance, is summoned to Provincetown during the annual leather Mates weekend, when the naked body of a young man is found. He had been tied up and beaten before being strangled. The police say murder but Corey suspects a BDSM scene gone out of control. Searching the dungeons, he becomes immersed in the local scene and discovers a never-before-seen side of himself. In a sea of muscular leather masters and slaves, he realizes hidden urges in an environment where every fantasy can be fulfilled. He must set aside his desires and use his powers to locate the murderer before he kills again. Can Corey find him before becoming a victim to the ultimate BDSM fantasy of execution?
REVIEW:
Breathless is the first book of the Corey Shaw Mysteries. Corey Shaw is a member of a new type of law enforcement agency, the Psionic Corps. He is currently assigned as the Massachusetts Psionic Officer, and when we meet him, he is enjoying an evening with his partner Ethan. After wearing themselves both out with some hot sex, they fall asleep, only to be awoken by a phone call telling Corey that a body has been found in Provincetown.
The “Mates” weekend is underway in Provincetown, and it is a huge annual draw to the gay leather community. Included in that community, of course, is the BDSM crowd. But someone is taking it too far. The young man’s body shows signs of restraints, caning and death by hanging. There is also semen on the back of the young man’s legs, which is not his own.
The next little bit kind of didn’t do it for me personally. Rather than driving from the Boston suburb where he lives to P-town, Corey just teleported himself, his SUV and everything in it. I could buy the Psi portions of the story, but that teleportation of the SUV seemed a bit over the top.
So back to the story. Corey arrives in P-town, and begins to search for the killer. It proves a little hard to do. If you can pick up everyone’s thoughts, and you’re a veritable godlike being, with a perfect muscled body, handsome face, big dick, etc., etc. how do you find someone in particular when everyone’s thoughts are thinking how much they would like to get into some hot sex with you? It proves hard. Add to that the fact that Corey gets caught up in the moment and has some hot sex with a Master in a dungeon, which at least was safe sex because he wore a condom and the Master said he never practiced bareback sex. The only problem, besides the fact that he is cheating on his partner is that his mind is so tied up that he misses the second murder!
Does Corey find the killer? Will the killer kill again? I liked the book. I didn’t like the teleportation, as I mentioned above, or the cheating on his partner, but the book was very enjoyable overall.
RATING: 4.0 Stars
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TITLE: Murder at the Green Lantern
LENGTH: 131 Pages
BLURB:
After a fetish party at a gay bar in Washington, DC, a young man is murdered and left nailed to a St. Andrew’s cross. Paranormal gay sleuth Corey Shaw thinks someone has passed a divine judgment on him, and may be sending a signal to other gays in the city. The mystery leads him on a trail from a leather bar in the nation’s capital, to Boston, and to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Senate.
REVIEW:
Two months have gone by since the events in “Breathless” and Corey Shaw is in Washington, DC for a fetish event at a local DC gay bar named the Green Lantern. The next morning he gets a call to go to the Green Lantern to investigate a murder on the premises. When he arrives he finds that the opening bartender found a young man nailed to a St. Andrew’s cross with his throat slit. The man is naked, and his clothes are not on the premises. Corey had seen the young man in the bar the night before and he was well known to the bar staff. The dead man, Aiden, was a young man from Woburn, MA just outside of Boston. After his conservative religious parents disowned him for being gay he moved to Washington and had been working in the office of the ultra-conservative Senator Marion Wharton from Massachusetts.
So how did an aide to a conservative Senator end up dead on a St. Andrew’s cross in a gay bar? Was there a connection to his parents or to the Senator who says he never knew Aiden was gay? Or could the culprit be someone who opposed the bill the Senator was proposing that would allow access to people with HIV/AIDS to a drug trial of a new drug? Corey has to find out fast, before he too is in the crosshairs of the killer.
I really enjoyed this book. I would have to say my favorite part of the book is when Corey’s sister goes off on Aiden’s homophobic mother at the Governor’s Ball in Boston. His parents have expressed completely no remorse that their son is dead. Great scene and great dialog, particularly the piece about that bitch’s dress being the same one she wore to the ball last year. It really did make me laugh loudly.
I recommend this book. I read this one first as a standalone, but it works better in order so that you get the references back to the events in “Breathless”.
RATING: 4.0 Stars
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TITLE: Invisible Curtain
LENGTH: 138 Pages
BLURB:
Paranormal sleuth Corey Shaw is enjoying vacation with his family in the Baltic Sea when terrorists bomb restaurants hosting World Cup parties in London and Copenhagen, just as his cruise ship leaves port. Although the United States isn’t attacked, Corey and his colleagues are unavoidably drawn into the investigation with or without the blessing of international intelligence agencies. When a third bomb goes off in St. Petersburg, Russia, Corey is convinced the terrorist is aboard his ship, or at least connected with it.
Corey is torn between protecting his family and a ship’s dancer whom he’s falling for and helping keep the world safe from terrorism.
REVIEW:
This installment of the Corey Shaw Mysteries opens six months after the events in “Murder at the Green Lantern”. Corey and his brothers, sisters, in-laws and mother are all off on a Baltic Sea cruise aboard the Baltic Queen.
As the ship is leaving the UK, there is an event which draws Corey into work mode. A terrorist has placed a bomb in a busy pub near the Tower Bridge in London which has blown up killing most the people in the pub, but more insidious is the Ricin that is dispersed with the bomb and that no one notices until it too late. The survivors of the blast are killed by the Ricin, including the waitress who first tells the authorities about the young man who left his backpack.
Next, at the ship’s Copenhagen stop, another bomb is set off in a bar. The common factor seems to be the World Cup games being broadcast at the time, the same as the London pub. But there must be a tie to the ship as well, because again the blast is right after the Baltic Queen set sail.
Now they are on to St. Petersburg, then Helsinki, and other ports. Will Corey figure out in time who the terrorist is? Is he onboard the ship? What about the love interest that Corey is developing with a certain hot dancer? And WHAT is up with his mother and the head of security on the ship?
I really enjoyed this book, particularly the international aspects, and the further development of the psi characters in the story. I also liked the explanation of what the “Invisible Curtain” was. It would be hard to keep secrets with the psionic folks around! I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
RATING: 4.0 Stars
BUY LINKS:
Oh, this looks fantastic. Adding it to my wishlist. Thank you for reviewing it =)
[…] the first three books of this series back in March. If you’d like a refresher, that review is here. I really enjoy the Corey Shaw Mystery books. I know there is going to be lots of action, some sex, […]