Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Transactional Dynamics
SERIES: Hazard & Somerset: A Union of Swords
AUTHOR: Gregory Ashe
NARRATOR: Tristan James
PUBLISHER: Gregory Baum
LENGTH: 12 hours and 29 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2020
BLURB:
Emery Hazard is ready for Valentine’s Day. He’s made reservations months in advance, he’s ordered flowers, and he’s got a boyfriend he wants to treat right — even if John-Henry Somerset occasionally lets the dishes sit in the sink a little too long. They even have an extra reason to celebrate this year: Somers has received a special commendation for his police work.
Everything begins to go wrong, though, when Hazard’s ex-boyfriend shows up on their doorstep. Billy claims he just needs help getting away from an abusive partner, but Somers believes Billy has other motives, including designs on Hazard.
When men who have been hired to track Billy show up in Wahredua, Hazard agrees to help his ex elude them. But as Hazard prepares to sneak Billy out of town, a woman is murdered behind the local gay bar, and Somers’s investigation leads him towards Hazard’s ex.
As Hazard and Somers find themselves working together to find the killer, they both must confront a hard truth: Everything comes at a cost — career success, healthy relationships, and even justice. The only question is if they’re willing to pay the price.
REVIEW:
So of course there is yet another murder in Wahredua and John catches the case. It’s a brutal murder and the evidence points in strange directions. At the same time, Emery’s boyfriend shows up with a sob story that gets Emery’s attention and he agrees to help him. John sees through Billy in a second. He’s a narcissistic, manipulative sociopath. Intellectually Emery knows this too, but Billy is just so good at pushing his buttons and making him feel like he’s a terrible person and was a terrible boyfriend.
The murder case pushed John to look at yet another of Emery’s exes and this is just getting all kinds of uncomfortable and crazy. While checking out the friends/acquaintances of the deceased, there are also some uncomfortable possibilities that there are more issues inside the police department than the usual crap they are dealing with. And on top of everything else, it seems that the Keeper has been around as well.
Emery is busy with so much – plans for Valentine’s day, John’s celebration, taking care of Evie, dealing with the aftermath of the Keeper – that he’s very much on edge. John is absolutely no help and he just can’t seem to keep from doing things that push Emery too. It’s hard to watch them do damage to each other and then try to mend it later. But they do have each other’s backs and when push comes to shove they are there to watch out for each other and keep everyone safe.
I found a lot of this story frustrating. It was still good, but I got a little bit tired of everyone poking at and hurting Emery. I’m still not a fan of John’s partner either. But truthfully, John himself was extremely frustrating. He’s a bit like a petulant and spoiled child in his behavior and it’s becoming less palatable. It’s a bit of Peter Pan syndrome and “golden boy” syndrome rolled into one. Having lived with someone who didn’t want their life to change and still just wanted to do what they wanted to do when they wanted to do it, everyone else be damned, this hit a little too close to home for me and made me a bit crazy. Putting up with that kind of behavior long-term tends to turn the a person into someone they never wanted to be – as with see with Emery here. This is how a person can become a nag, nudge, a fishwife or whatever you want to call it. At the end of this one, I’m a bit more hopeful – that they will work things out and that they are one step closer to finding the Keeper and giving Emery some peace of mind. But it’s a long, slow and painful process. Recommended.
RATING: 
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