Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  The One That Got Away

AUTHOR:  Nicky James

NARRATOR:  Nick J. Russo

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  12 hours, 34 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  January 3, 2022

BLURB:

Someone is following me. I’m not imagining it. I’m not crazy.

Charlie Falkingham is convinced someone is stalking him. There are signs. There are clues. But no one believes him. After living through a childhood horror, Charlie suffers from a severe paranoia disorder, among many things, and the Hamilton Police Department has labeled him the boy who cries wolf.

When the only person in the department who ever listened to Charlie’s concerns retires, who can Charlie reach out to for help?

Arrogant and young, Officer Takoda Dyani has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide. He’s rude and brash and doesn’t play well with others. He has more enemies than friends. When his senior officer assigns him to be Charlie’s consultant, Takoda knows it will end badly. He doesn’t have time to coddle a prissy rich boy.

However, if he can’t calm Charlie’s paranoid delusions and act civil for once, he’ll lose his job.

But are they delusions?

The longer he knows Charlie, the more Takoda realizes something isn’t right.

Is someone really stalking Charlie, or is Takoda getting too wrapped up in Charlie’s world?

The One That Got Away is an MM romantic suspense thriller. Triggers for severe anxiety and panic disorder, OCD, dissociative episodes, and PTSD. The plotline includes a reference to a past child kidnapping and sex trafficking incident. Details of sex trafficking are NOT discussed in any part of the story.

REVIEW:

Charlie Falkingham and Takoda Dyani are like oil and water, orange juice and toothpaste, or bathtubs and toasters. Things that definitely don’t go together. The magic in this superb romantic suspense novel is the relationship that blooms between these diametrically opposed men, amid terror and what appears to be insurmountable circumstances, mainly Charlie’s mental health challenges. Their love takes time to develop and it’s a beautiful thing. 

Charlie experienced unspeakable horrors as a twelve-year-old boy. The trauma left paranoia, OCD, and debilitating anxiety and panic in its wake – a mountain of mental illness that Charlie can’t overcome. But he wants nothing more than to live a “normal” life. He lives in a constant state of fear, tormented and locked in his head. His father gave up everything to care for his son, doing his best to make him whole again. As an author of successful high fantasy, young adult novels, Charlie spends much of his time entrenched in a make-believe world, one that provides respite from the scary, real world.  

Takoda is an arrogant, aggressive, heavily tattooed punk. Other cops don’t trust him and he’s constantly in trouble with his sergeant for insubordination. When he’s ordered to placate Charlie when he comes to the station with another paranoid report, it’s meant to test Takoda, make him fail, and potentially lose his job. And he almost does.  

He’s rude and condescending toward Charlie, whom he loathes because of his wealth and privilege. But he eventually comes to see something special in the fragile man. He’s the first to give credence to the clues that Charlie might actually have a stalker and be in real danger. He angrily and vociferously disagrees with the way other cops have coddled and dismissed Charlie. He’s the first person in Charlie’s life to believe in him and truly see the man beyond his illness.   

Nicky James does a masterful job of turning a wholly unlikable character into a hero. Not only does Charlie see beneath Takoda’s rough, off-putting exterior, so will you as a reader. At the onset, he’s the last person you’d think could offer comfort to anyone, yet when Charlie has a breakdown in the police station and retreats inside his head, Takoda is the only one who can reach him and calm him. Where others see weakness, Takoda sees strength. Others call Charlie broken; Takoda calls him brave. He unconditionally and respectfully accepts Charlie’s “quirks” and accommodates his limitations. It’s not all one-sided, though. Charlie knocks the big chip off Takoda’s shoulder and brings forth his kindness and understanding. Takoda’s growth is remarkable. He soon became one of my favorite MM characters ever. 

The suspense storyline is gripping. Just when I thought the danger was past and everything was coming together nicely, fear set in again. It’s an interesting plot that entwines well with the romance. There’s humor in this story, too. Takoda’s lack of command of the English language is hilarious and of utter dismay to Charlie. 

The big question with audiobooks is whether they enhance the book and are worth the additional cost and the extra time to listen. The answer is emphatically yes with this book, as it is with most of Nick J. Russo’s recordings. As usual, Nicky and Nick are a powerhouse storytelling duo – one with her words, the other with his voice. Both are phenomenal with The One That Got Away. Nick is nothing short of brilliant, especially in his portrayal of Takoda. This had to have been a massively fun – and exhausting – acting job. Nick puts his all into Takoda: the anger, frustration, and disgust are delivered with a raised voice, an accelerated pace when necessary, the proper cadence, and with vitriol and anxiety when called for. All this while staying in character and maintaining a New York City type accent for a twelve-and-a-half hour recording. Takoda’s personality shines through. I’ve never heard his unique voice before in Nick’s extensive repertoire. Charlie’s quieter, more mild-mannered voice is vastly different. There’s never a moment you’d confuse the two. In fact, they could’ve been spoken by two different voice actors. The tender moments stand out, too. My eyes may have leaked slightly. I can’t remember enjoying a narration more.

Speaking of tender moments, slow tender moments…amoebas travel one third of a millimeter per hour. That’s the approximate speed with which intimacy develops in this book, beyond a sweet, tentative first kiss. Well, it feels that slow in terms of pages but it’s really only a few weeks after Takoda and Charlie meet, and truthfully, the pace is perfect. Charlie, at twenty-nine, has never experienced sexual attraction, and Takoda feels like it’s his first time, too, because he’s never felt these kinds of emotions during sex or with another man. Takoda couldn’t possibly be any more patient, considerate, and reassuring. Have I mentioned I love this guy?

Grab this audiobook before they’re all sold out. Well, okay, there’s an infinite quantity but you should still go get it right away. It’s that good. 

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

Audible