Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Tainted Life
AUTHOR: Mel Gough
PUBLISHER: Self-Publised
LENGTH: 135 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 16, 2018
BLURB:
Metropolitan Police detective Pete Tucker’s world comes crashing down when his wife sues for divorce and sole custody of their only son.
Desperate to forget his sorrows for a while, Pete seeks refuge in a Soho bar where he is approached by a sexy, funny, and clearly interested stranger. Photographer Liam Jackson is just the ticket for one oblivious night of perfect passion.
However, their attraction proves too intense for a one-night-stand. To his surprise, Pete finds that he’s game for something more – but his baggage soon gets in the way. Then Liam’s own dangerous secrets claw their way to the surface, and threaten to derail the budding romance.
Is their growing bond strong enough to weather the violent storms ahead?
REVIEW:
Tainted Life is the story of how Police Detective Pete Tucker falls in love with Liam Jackson–a photographer and sometimes rent-boy–and how the collision of their lives brings both good and bad to the pair.
That is about it.
Well, there is also a druggy abusive brother, a violent john, a vindictive ex-wife, and a whole lot of drama for drama’s sake. None of which is handled all that well so it all feels a bit too chaotic and jumbled. It is as if in an effort to be everything, Tainted Life, instead becomes a whole bundle of something…I’m just not exactly sure what.
As individual parts, I don’t actually have an issue with most the sub-plots in this story, but they are not very well handled on the whole. They only seem to exist for that scene’s purpose, and then are thrown away or waved off in the next. Pete’s wife is threatening to take away custody…but that just gets completely resolved off page and we never even get to know why she changed her mind. The john that tries to beat the shit out of Liam is only really there to get him injured enough so that Pete needs to take care of him. The douche then turns out to be some French criminal so that he gets rushed out of the story right quick. And the brother…oh, the brother. The mustaches, they be twirling. He was so over the top that I actually ended up laughing during his final scene. And I’m not exactly sure that is what the author was going for, seeing what he was threatening.
On the whole this story was a melodramatic mess.
But I must say it wasn’t all bad. Most of the dialogue was very well written–when you take the brother out of the equation, at least. And I really liked how Liam’s injuries actually felt like injuries, instead of the “flesh wounds” that some Romance Heroes get. You know, where the guy breaks his leg, gets stabbed and shot, has a concussion, and is on at least 5 different drugs…but still somehow has enough energy the day after to fuck the whole of Manchester? Yeah…I find that a tad unbelievable. Here at least Liam seems to react like a normal human being to being injured. I liked that. Also, there did seem to be some genuine feelings between them at the beginning–it is just that the plot seemed to take things to such ridiculous heights, that it started to make everything seem a bit fake.
RATING: 
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