Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Paternity Case 
SERIES: Hazard and Somerset #3
AUTHOR: Gregory Ashe
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: November 9, 2019
LENGTH: 15 hours 8 minutes
BLURB:
It’s almost Christmas, and Emery Hazard finds himself face to face with his own personal nightmare: going on a double date with his partner—and boyhood crush—John-Henry Somerset. Hazard brings his boyfriend; Somers brings his estranged wife. Things aren’t going to end well.
When a strange call interrupts dinner, however, Hazard and his partner become witnesses to a shooting. The victims: Somers’s father, and the daughter of a high school friend. The crime is inexplicable. There is no apparent motive, no connection between the victims, and no explanation for how the shooter reached his targets.
Determined to get answers, Hazard and Somers move forward with their investigation in spite of mounting pressure to stop. Their search for the truth draws them into a dark web of conspiracy and into an even darker tangle of twisted love and illicit desire. And as the two men come face to face with the passions and madness behind the crime, they must confront their own feelings for each other—and the hard truths that neither man is ready to accept.
REVIEW:
For the last couple of books I’ve been unsure about Hazard and Somerset. Not the series or books, but the characters themselves. It’s been an interesting feeling and journey that’s for sure.
In Paternity Case we get up close and personal with Somers’ family. Not only is he and his estranged wife out on a double date with his crush Hazard and his boyfriend Nico. But in the middle of dinner he and Hazard are called out on a disturbance at his parent’s home. One that soon turns deadly when his dad is shot and a young woman ends up dead. The shooter is quickly apprehended, but before he’s questioned he too ends up in the morgue – an apparent suicide. The crimes have no apparent rhyme or reason, and Somers and Emory are hindered at every turn. As more secrets are uncovered the more disturbing and dangerous it all gets.
This time around Somers got on my last nerve real quick and firmly ended way back on the dislike side of the scale. For some reason the characters in this book loves Somers, how loving he is, kind and in general a nice guy. I have to say I still haven’t seen hide nor hair of that person. I’ve only encountered the evil twin; the one that’s selfish and childish. Manipulates others for his own ends. The one that purposely hurts others because of his own insecurities and uncertainty. The one that feels sorry for himself, acts like a victim of his own life. His mother nailed it perfectly when she said:
He is completely irrational. It’s always been like this, pouting, tantrums. /…/ He’s an absolute child about anything that disturbs his perfect world.
So yeah, Somers is not my favourite person. He’s far from the worst person out there (hmm, I think I just understood why he comes across as such a great guy; because compared to the rest of people living in town, Somers is actually one of the better ones…..) but for a main character he leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t need him to be perfect, but making an effort to change would be nice.
The intricate web of lies, deceit and corruption in this small town is kind of astounding. If anyone asked me I’d tell them to run for the hills and set up camp somewhere else – at least if you’d want to keep your health and sanity. Because frankly, that town really creeps me out. For a mystery series though, it’s a good one, so much juiciness to sink your teeth in it will make your head spin.
The relationship – or whatever you call it – between Somers and Emory is one I really don’t understand. It’s one that makes them sabotage each other’s relationships, but also their own. Mutually destructive you might say. It’s neither a good or healthy one, but I still can’t seem to turn away from the oncoming collision.
Tristan James has an amazing voice and a knack for narration. If you’ve read my reviews before you might know that James is a hit or miss for me, that I have some difficulties with his monotone narration. However, for this series it kind of works – and no one is more surprised than me by that. It especially works for our two main characters. I mean there’s no great passion or emotional outbursts, that part is toned down here so it really works for James’s narration.
The ending though made the book for me in a big way. I saw a glimpse of a Somers that’s matured and putting someone else before him. It was beautiful and I hope to see much more of that guy in the next book.
RATING:
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