Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: Back Alley Cop
AUTHOR: Temple Madison
PUBLISHER: Liquid Silver Books
RELEASE DATE: January 10th, 2016
LENGTH: 79 pages
BLURB:
Action, adventure, and murder are afoot in Back Alley Cop, a new GLBT, romantic suspense from Temple Madison. Danger lurks around every corner and police office Eddie Scarlett needs to stay focused on capturing a serial killer before someone else dies. A hot, sexy, blue eyed stranger is not a distraction he can afford…or can he?
Eddie Scarlett, one of NYC finest cops, is a tarnished hero. According to the scum on the street Eddie is handsome, hot, and dangerous, but he has a heart as black as death. He’s called a back alley cop because he does undercover work for the NYPD, making him familiar with every back alley in the city. And when a crime spree breaks out, he meets what he thinks is a whore with beautiful blue eyes. During their first encounter, they slam together like two taxis on Broadway. And then Eddie has to go undercover. It’s the kind of case that will test the resolve of a tough back alley cop like Eddie Scarlett, forcing him to forget his blue-eyed man-whore, and even his identity to melt into the city’s back alleys and capture a master killer who’s wielding a cold blade with a deadly side effect—murder.
REVIEW:
This story is told in third person, and there are around half a dozen different points of views, no head hopping though so it’s always clear who was who.
The prologue is told through the eyes and mind of a victim, so the reader gets to experience the fear she goes through shortly before her life is extinguished; a situation I hope to never find myself in! Then, the story changes to the leading character, ‘Back Alley Cop’ Eddie’s point of view. The man is one sexy alpha male, referred to as Demon on the streets, and it quickly becomes clear how he earned the name.
However, the story took a whole lot of suspension of belief for me. Adam gets brought in for questioning, and despite Eddie realizing right away he was not a suspect he questions him anyway, and the first ‘sexual encounter’ takes place during this time. The entire chapter had me scratching my head, but for the sake of fiction I shrugged it off and continued reading.
Eddie is sent undercover when they discover the perp works for Kingstar. So how do you know where a perp works but not know the perp? I guess they found some evidence that wasn’t mentioned on page, so again I just rolled with it.
Eddie goes by the name Joe King, a code name so his partner who has been sent in undercover a few months prior (why I have no clue as apparently they have just discovered where the perp works) will know a sting is underway. By now I am saying you’re joking! The cops want their man to fly under the radar and give him a name like Joe King!
As for the murder investigation and the reveal of the villain I’m not even going to get started on how many levels it didn’t work for me, to do so would involve a list of spoilers. I will suffice to say, I found myself saying ‘just roll with it’ a few too many times to become engrossed in the plot.
The romance. Was there one? These two were so hot and cold, much like the sex, I never felt any true connection between them. Eddie gets a call from his boss, and of course as an undercover cop he can’t discuss the conversation with Adam. Adam jumps to the conclusion he is cheating, has a tantrum, and walks out. In the next heartbeat, or should I say chapter, it states “Adam didn’t even go home anymore. He lived in Eddie’s house.” Again my inner voice piped up asking, “When did they reconcile? How did Adam get a key to Eddie’s house?” Perhaps that was one of those ‘off-page’ things or I missed something.
As stated in the blurb, this book contains spanking. Something that normally cranks my engine, but the scene came from so far out of the left field, the only thing it did for me was make my head-spin.
I am sure others will get more out of the story than I did so please don’t let my review deter you. I have read a lot of crime novels so what I saw as implausible will probably barely register on another reader’s radar.
On the positive, the story is extremely well edited.
RATING: 
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