Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Single Malt 
SERIES: Agents Irish and Whiskey #1
AUTHOR: Layla Reyne
NARRATOR: Tristan James
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Audio
RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2017
LENGTH: 7 hours, 42 minutes
BLURB:
Eight months after the car crash that changed everything, FBI agent Aidan Talley is back at work. New department, new case, and a new partner. Smart, athletic, and handsome, Jameson Walker is 12 years his junior. Even if Aidan was ready to move on – and he’s not – Jamie is off-limits.
Jamie’s lusted after Aidan for three years, and the chance to work with San Francisco’s top agent directly is too good to pass up. Aidan is prickly – to put it mildly – but a growing cyber threat soon proves Jamie’s skills invaluable.
Jamie’s talents paint a target on his back, and Aidan is determined to protect him. But with hack after hack threatening a high-security biocontainment facility, time is running out to thwart a deadly terrorist attack. They’ll have to filter out distractions, on the case and in their partnership, to identify the real enemy, solve the case, and save thousands of lives, including their own.
REVIEW:
So full disclosure, I had to listen to this book twice to know what was going on. Because after finishing it the first time, I was wondering what the hell just happened during the last eight hours??? Don’t get me wrong, Tristan James has and amazing voice, and I love listening to it, his accents are, well to me, flawless. At the same time he doesn’t engage me as a listener and it takes effort for me to stay in the story and not float away in the ether.
Eight months ago Aidan Talley lost his husband and love of his life along with his partner and best friend in a horrific car accident. An accident that change everything. Now he’s back at work and has been paired with a new partner, the former basketball star, turned hacker, Jameson Walker. Who’s not only a rookie agent, twelve years younger, but also hotter than Aiden is comfortable with.
Jamie’s been lusting after Aiden ever since he started at FBI three years ago. Being partnered with him is both a dream come true and a lesson in torture. They effortlessly solve a few cases, working together like they’ve done it for years. Then they’re tasked with getting to the bottom of hacker attacks into a biocontainment facility. A case that gets more and more dangerous at every turn.
it felt a bit like Aiden and Jamie’s relationship happened off page in the beginning. One minute they were partnered up, the next a friendship and trust was formed and the getting to know you part f the process was already done. I missed this part of the story, that beginning, the get to know you dance that sets the tone for the future. It also made their relationship feel a bit like insta-love – because we weren’t there for the start. The build up.
There was some back and forth on Aiden’s part – but that was to be expected seeing that it wasn’t that long ago that he lost his husband. And he hasn’t really dealt with it properly. The guilt and fear was real, it made the book more credible.
As I said in the beginning of this review, Tristan James and I don’t have the best relationship. I’m aware of this, but I still keep picking up his books. He has a great voice, a voice I love listening to, but i want that little extra from his narration. Something i know he can do – he has in the past. I need the emotion, I need him engaged in the books, characters and the story he’s narrating. Add some feeling to the words and bring it all to life. But sadly he missed the mark this time around. He’s awesome with Irish accents; he’s made for those parts.
Single Malt was a great start to a promising series. While one of the cases is solved, the story is far from over. The book ended with a huge revelation and it is a good idea to have the next one lined up and ready to go. That is if you want to avoid the frustration of wondering what happened next.
RATING: 
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