Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Warrior’s Way
SERIES: Coulter and Woodard #1
AUTHOR: M. J. Calabrese
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 266 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 3, 2019
BLURB:
Friends since childhood, Albuquerque detective Eagle Woodard and criminal profiler Adam Coulter are dragged into a serial killer case. Gay couples are being murdered and tortured and the FBI needs their help to capture the sadistic murderer.
Deciding to implement a plan to trap the killer, Adam and Eagle go undercover as an involved gay couple. Or is it really pretend?
Faced with their toughest challenge yet, they must find the active serial killer before he strikes again. With the powers that be not cooperating and the killer proving to be elusive, will Eagle and Adam be able to stop the murderer while navigating their changing relationship?
REVIEW:
The writing can be rough and ready, but the story is fantastic. There is so much scope and detail and a high level of character development. The relationship between the two, with outside complications, is slow but progresses steadily and is satisfying.
I liked the slight paranormal elements with Eagle’s Native American heritage. They are subtle, but elegant. We learn something about his beliefs and the stories he grew up with.
We also learn a rich variety of detail about Adam and the other characters, including the killers, and I liked the way Adam struggled to assert his own findings, which we know to be true. The fact that we know who the killers are makes the slow movement toward the inevitable all the more chilling.
It’s difficult to describe the complex relationships. There is a menage, although it’s a complex and non traditional one, with Rick and Adam vying for Eagle’s attention. Eagle is torn between the two although it’s always been a one sided love affair that it battered one way and another in the winds of change.
I can’t deny that it is disconcerting how the POV keeps shifting without warning or clear divide. The head hopping is relentless and it’s frustrating when the story is so good. The writing can also be “clunky” and awkward, but I would be prepared to overlook that for the sake of a good story. The two together makes it too frustrating for me. I’m not sure I’d read the second book because it’s difficult to set aside the flaws for the purpose of the story.
I think the story is so good, it might be enough for a lot of people, especially those who don’t obsess over things like head hopping and inelegant writing. For most of the writers I know it would be too difficult to pass over the obvious flaws. A good editor could bring the two together and make a very powerful book.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend the story contained in the book and would recommend the book itself if you’re not too hung up on elegant writing.
RATING: 
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