REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Bitter Pill
SERIES: Psycop
AUTHOR: Jordan Castillo Price
PUBLISHER: JCP Books, LLC
LENGTH: 257 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 20 2020
BLURB: There’s a new drug on the streets called Kick. The side effects are so brutal, most folks only try it once…unless they’re psychic. Then they do it until it kills them.
Psychic medium Victor Bayne is well acquainted with pharmaceuticals, from the Auracel that blocks his ghosts to the Seconal that offers him a blissful nights’ sleep. But he’s managed to steer clear of street drugs…so far.
Jacob Marks has a medicine cabinet filled with every over-the-counter remedy known to man, but none of them are doing much for his mood—and his long, fruitless days of combing through records at The Clinic are taking a heavy toll.
But their lackluster investigation does have one silver lining: a front row seat at The Clinic when the first Kick overdose comes in. And as scary as the drug might be, if it truly does augment psychic ability, the appeal is not lost on Vic.
Because the very first hit never killed anyone.
Where did Kick come from? Why is it so addictive? And why is everyone at The Clinic acting so darn shady? That’s what Vic intends to find out. And if he’s lucky, he can also expose a shadowy figure from Camp Hell.
Unfortunately, the demons of his pill addiction might prove just as deadly as his long-buried history. He thought he’d managed to ditch that pernicious habit. But what if it was only lurking in the shadows, waiting for the best time to rear its ugly head?
REVIEW: Vic and Jacob are back again with the story continuing on from the previous book. They are engaged now but just can’t seem to find the time to make a wedding happen yet. They are still working together, and this installment has them on the case of the Bitter Pill, a drug known as “Kick.” Kick is a highly addictive and deadly drug where you are not likely to live past a few hits. It can apparently enhance psych abilities, so the victims are both psych and regular people as well. Jacob and Vic are teamed back up with Carolyn (Jacob’s old partner who was not happy about losing Jacob as a partner) and Zig (who was partnered with Vic on their undercover stint). They are in a race for time to get to the bottom of who is peddling Kick and where it is coming from.
That’s the gist of the story. What we also have is classic Psycop with various ghosties and Vic trying to figure out how to control and get the most out of his abilities. We get memories of Camp Hell and Heliotrope Station and all the baddies that came with that, and we get some classic Vic and Jacob banter. It is easy to see how attuned they are to each other at this stage of their relationship. Vic and all his insecurities and internal ramblings are a comfort as well. It is great to see how much they have evolved, yet they are still the same guys.
The excitement ramps up as the try to uncover the mystery, hitting various stumbling blocks along the way. The GhostTV makes an appearance and does what it does best – mainly causes problems. I was a bit surprised by how it all played out but was really happy to see Vic get some closure on his past. That is, until the very end, where we are left with an inkling of what’s still to come. Just when you think the story is settling to give you a chance to relax and catch your breath, it shows another door that is soon to be open, and I’m super excited all over again to know that this isn’t the end for Vic and Jacob. There is a lot of history in this long-running series, but it is a wonderful story to get lost in, and I highly recommend you start at book 1 so you don’t miss any of the juicy and ghostly psychic details.
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