Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Subtle Bodies
SERIES: PsyCop
AUTHOR: Jordan Castillo Price
NARRATOR: Gomez Pugh
PUBLISHER: JCP Books LLC
LENGTH: 9 hours and 41 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2022
BLURB:
“It’s probably nothing….”
Usually, when Victor Bayne is called upon to investigate a ghostly apparition, the “haunting” can be chalked up to a perfectly mundane cause. When he’s sent to check out some suspicious phenomena in small-town Iowa—and no one seems unduly alarmed—he’s hoping for more of a weekend getaway. Especially since he’s bringing along Jacob as his Stiff.
He ends up finding way more than he bargained for. Women undressing in public—with no memory of doing so. A car rental agent who knows far more than she should. And a shocking discovery they must keep to themselves at all costs.
Instead of merely supporting Vic, Jacob finds himself thrust into the driver’s seat, using a talent that’s clumsy and untested. And when Vic starts acting just as strange as the stripping women, all bets are off.
Can Vic and Jacob get a handle on the situation before FPMP National storms in and shuts them down for good?
PsyCop is an ongoing series filled with supernatural action and delightfully awkward humor–with a steady undercurrent of gay romance. It’s best read in order, so if you’re new to the series, start with PsyCop #1, Among the Living…and prepare for a hauntingly good listen.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the 13th book in this series. It’s much better enjoyed in order as this story builds from book 1 and you’ll probably be super lost if you try to dive in here.
Vic and Jacob are on an assignment together. They are sent to a small town in Iowa where women keep doing some sort of strip-tease in public and then have no recollection of doing it. Is it position? Is it heat stroke? Who knows. So they get to the town, rent a car and a motel room and start looking to interview the women to see if they can find a supernatural reason for these events. The rental car woman seems to know everything that’s happening in town. Including what Vic and Jacob are doing there. Her take on what the FPMP are is just one of the hilarious interpretations from these people.
Nothing seems to shocking until they get to the local funeral home and one of the striptease artists – the undertaker’s daughter – is not exactly what she seems. Vic is able to interact with her but they still don’t know what’s caused the other women to do these out of character things.
But there is a lot more going on in this town than meets the eye. Vic and Jacob discover something pretty shocking that haunts them from the past. They can’t trust National to help them and they have to try to help a couple of ghosts too! All in a days work for these guys – even though there are a lot of things that frustrate and confound them as they find a lot of creepy crawlies they did not anticipate!
Welp Victor Baine continues to be one of my favorite characters of all time and PsyCop is still one of the best series going 🙂 While he is settled into his marriage to Jacob, he’s still the same loveable misfit who continues to see himself in a certain way – but he gets a new perspective in this one! I’m not going to spoil how, but it definitely doesn’t go as expected. I found myself chuckling out loud at the many Vic-isms in this one. He and Jacob turn out to be like most married couples – having to compromise on things and struggling sometimes. But ultimately, they have each other’s backs and will do whatever it takes to get the job done and make sure everything turns out right in the end. There are some amazing developments that reference the past cases for these two that I won’t spoil here, but let’s just say I was quite intrigued! There are enough creepy moments to remind us that Vic really is a powerful medium and that Jacob has some sort of gift that he just can’t quite control or see yet – but I hope that means there are many more stories to come for these two!
I really enjoy the audios of this series for one reason. Gomez Pugh. He IS Victor Baine. Like now when I read the books, I hear his voice. He does the best put-upon Vic performance and he’s got plenty to work with here for reasons I won’t share *cackle* you’ll just have to listen for yourself. His contained Jacob is once again spot on. His choices for the other characters – town busybody, the ghosts they encounter, the other small-town folks – are perfect. I absolutely loved the marriage of Vic’s narration of his inner voice and his interaction with all the other characters in this one. We even get some visits with characters from the past that turn out to be not unwelcome. This is another wonderful audiobook rendition of a really fun, entertaining and interesting story in the ongoing saga of Victor, Jacob, the FPMP and the ooky-spooky world of this series. Highly recommended for a great time watching Vic and Jacob do their thing.
RATING: 
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