REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE:Splintered 
AUTHOR: SJD Peterson
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 Pages
Blurb:
A string of murders targeting effeminate gay men has the GLBTQ community of Chicago on alert, but budget cuts have left many precincts understaffed and overworked. Not to mention, homophobia is alive and well within the law enforcement community and little has been done to solve the mystery. When the FBI calls in Special Agent Todd Hutchinson and his team, the locals are glad to hand the case off. But Hutch finds a bigger mystery than anyone originally realized—seventeen linked murders committed in several different jurisdictions. Hutch’s clues lead him to Noah Walker.
Working on his PhD in forensic psychology, Noah has been obsessed with serial murders since he was a child. But coming to Hutch’s attention as a suspect isn’t a good way to start a relationship. Noah finds himself hunted, striking him off Hutch’s suspect list, but not off his radar. To catch the killer before anyone else falls victim, they’ll have to work together, and quickly, to bring him to justice.
Review:
Todd Hutchinson (Hutch) is an angry man when we first meet him. He’s an FBI agent who takes every single case he works personally and the killer who is targeting young, gay men hits a little too close to home. When he realizes how much bigger the horror is and the fact the law enforcement has been deliberately ignoring it, you end up feeling that his anger is more than justified.
Noah Walker is a young man whose obsession with serial killers stems from his traumatic childhood. He starts out as a suspect to Hutch but he quickly becomes more even as he attracts the attention of the killer.
I loved these characters. Neither are your typical man and their fast growing attraction is understandable because of the connections they share personally and professionally.
The author doesn’t pull any punches with the descriptions of the torture the victims have suffered and if you’re squeamish in the least, you might be a little freaked out by the horror being described.
Hutch’s partners are worth mentioning. Granite and Byte are two completely different men but when matched up with Hutch they make a formidable force to be reckoned with. Granite’s sense of humor is only matched by his dedication to Hutch and the work they do together. Byte’s a man wearing a disguise of sorts but his determination to help the people who need it most is admirable and inspiring.
The addition of Noah to the mix gives the three friends extra incentive to find the madman who is terrorizing Chicago.
I love how the author portrays Noah. He starts out shy and nervous but as he gets to know Hutch, he soon decides that the FBI agent is what he wants as what started out as a crush evolves into something more. Once he decides to go for it, he’s all in and determined as hell.
The police force, with the exception of Officer Struk, who has personal reasons for wanting to find the killer, come across as homophobic, crude and ineffectual. They don’t care about the victims so they never even try to solve the crimes. I know that most members of the police force are really not so callus or uncaring, but these “officers of the law” made my blood boil.
Ms. Peterson knows how to spin a tale and I enjoyed this book immensely but it wasn’t perfect. Some things seemed a little rushed to me, like Hutch and Noah falling into bed, and other’s dragged on too long. I would have like the climactic scene to be a little more drawn out and well…climactic, but all in all, it’s an excellent story with smart writing and engaging characters.
I am a fan of this author and her books are always on my “must read immediately” list and I encourage you to look up her other stories as well.
Rating: 
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