Reviewed by Chris

TITLE: Stalker of Shadows

SERIES:  SPECTR Series 3 #1

AUTHOR:  Jordan L. Hawk

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  129 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 17, 2019

BLURB:  

Some stones are better left unturned…

John Starkweather feels restless. Though still technically an agent for SPECTR, his only job now seems to be hanging out with his boyfriends, Caleb and the vampire spirit Gray, and binge-watching TV in their New Orleans apartment.

The inactivity comes to an abrupt end when a rougarou attacks John’s estranged grandfather. Even though he hasn’t seen his family since he was a teen, John can’t pass up the opportunity to reconnect.

The more John investigates the attack, the stranger everything about it seems, from his parents’ odd behavior to the rougarou’s unnatural size. And the closer John comes to finding answers, the nearer he draws to a truth that might be better left uncovered.

REVIEW:  

It is definitely not safe to go back into the waters…

With Charleston in their rear-view widow, John, Caleb, and Gray hope that this next section of their lives will be a bit less…bloody. Well, maybe not completely. Gray’s got to eat, after all.

John is still with SPECTR, though with Caleb  declared “dead,” John still recovering from Yuri’s attacks, and Gray needing to keep on the down-low, he has mostly spent his days scrolling through news feeds online. Needless to say he is starting to feel a bit on the useless side. Caleb and Gray, on the other hand, are rather enjoying this chance to get away from the stress and constant attempts to kill/capture/control them.

Their newest stop on their lazy tour of the South is New Orleans. Where there is more danger lurking in the swampy shadows than the trio are ready for. And more demons from John’s past than he is ready to handle.

SPECTR is back! And Series 3 is ready to change things up a bit. After that nail-biter of a ending for Series 2, I was more than a little eager to get my hands on this book. And despite the fact that I am more than a little late with this review (my many apologies, but I got sick and boy did it take a bite out of me) I have to say it was well worth the wait. I really enjoyed having the story set in this new location, and taking the boys out of the SPECTR office (mostly) certainly helped make this new season feel like there are so many more new possibilities. As much as I love the previous two series, I think another one with the same bad-office dynamic would have started to feel a bit stale. Taking the guys out of Charleston and plopping them down in New Orleans was a great idea.

And I’m not just saying that because the idea of Caleb (and a very reluctant Gray) giving vampire tours is fucking hilarious.

Overall this was a very good first book for the series. We got to see the dynamic of the trio in a very interesting place, with plenty of room for growth, but also with the weight and depth of their past experience together giving it a real believability. John’s past get more fleshed out, as well, which was great. Seeing him interact with people from his childhood really gives new meaning to some of his past interactions, especially in regards to how strongly he clings to SPECTR. Which at times has been a frustration for me as a reader, but the more I get to know him, the more understandable it is.

I don’t have any real criticisms of this first book. There are things that I’m looking forward to learning more about, and secondary characters that I’m getting to know (and hope they don’t turn out to be evil–always a new worry with each new series), and while they might not have everything I want out of them, I know the first book in a series tends to be more about grounding the story for what is to come in later books. I’m more than willing to wait, since I’ve always been impressed before.

This is definitely not place to pick up the SPECTR series, since they are all linked together in some fashion, but for long-time fans this is a must buy. Be you the kind of reader who likes to wait till the season completes to prolong the pleasure, or, like me, you can’t help but gobble them up as soon as they come available, I can already tell that this series is going to be bloody delicious.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon