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A review by lilyrooke
The Cardigans by Cole McCade
4.0
As a string of grisly murders targeting the gay community stalk the university campus, Baltimore detective Malcolm Khalaji is assigned a new partner transferred out of LAPD, Yoon Seong-Jae. Both of them share a reputation for not working well with others, but will they be able to put their differences aside and find common ground before it's too late?
I loved the dynamic between Detectives Khalaji and Yoon. My personal preference is for simmering conflict and suggestions of attraction, which can be quite a hard balance to strike, either too slow/too fast, or too aggressive/lacking spark. I'll freely admit I'm someone who's hard to please when it comes to pairings in a gritty, hard-boiled setting, but this one for me was pretty much perfect, and promises so much more.
In terms of the writing style, I really enjoyed the rolling waves from poetic and lyrical to down to earth and plain, depending on the needs of the story. The author writes with confidence in his own style, and I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on the quiet kindness of his two leads, especially with regards to the youth they are assigned to protect. They feel like two wounded gay guardians, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next for them both.
Few answers are given to the many questions thrown up in this first instalment (who is Gabriella? what does one green, one red mean? why did Yoon leave LAPD? what's the significance of the circle?) but the author writes so well that I have faith these questions will be answered when the time is right. My only issue was with the perpetrator of the murders in this book, as to my tastes it fell into caricature and lacked believability.
cw: gore; murder; grave desecration; violence
absolutely nothing *~*researchy*~* to see here; an ongoing reading list
1. A Study in Scarlet 2.5/5
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles 5/5
3. The Adventure of the Final Problem 4/5
4. Bath Haus 4.5/5
5. The Forest of Stolen Girls 4/5
6. The Red Palace 2/5
7. The Silence of Bones 1/5
8. Lay Your Sleeping Head 4/5
9. Carved in Bone 5/5
10. Lies with Man 3/5
11. Howtown 2/5
12. The Hidden Law 2/5
13. The Death of Friends 3/5
14. The Burning Plain 3.5/5
15. Rag and Bone 4/5
16. Pretty Pretty Boys 2/5
17. Three Nick Nowak Mysteries 5/5
18. Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries 3/5
19. Two Nick Nowak Novellas 4/5
20. A Time For Secrets 5/5
21. Murder Book 5/5
22. From the Ashes 4/5
23. Bloodlines 4/5
24. Lucky Days 4/5
25. Gifts Given 5/5
26. Heart's Desire 1/5
27. Broken Cord 4/5
28. The Cardigans 4/5
I loved the dynamic between Detectives Khalaji and Yoon. My personal preference is for simmering conflict and suggestions of attraction, which can be quite a hard balance to strike, either too slow/too fast, or too aggressive/lacking spark. I'll freely admit I'm someone who's hard to please when it comes to pairings in a gritty, hard-boiled setting, but this one for me was pretty much perfect, and promises so much more.
In terms of the writing style, I really enjoyed the rolling waves from poetic and lyrical to down to earth and plain, depending on the needs of the story. The author writes with confidence in his own style, and I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on the quiet kindness of his two leads, especially with regards to the youth they are assigned to protect. They feel like two wounded gay guardians, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next for them both.
Few answers are given to the many questions thrown up in this first instalment (who is Gabriella? what does one green, one red mean? why did Yoon leave LAPD? what's the significance of the circle?) but the author writes so well that I have faith these questions will be answered when the time is right. My only issue was with the perpetrator of the murders in this book, as to my tastes it fell into caricature and lacked believability.
cw: gore; murder; grave desecration; violence
absolutely nothing *~*researchy*~* to see here; an ongoing reading list
1. A Study in Scarlet 2.5/5
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles 5/5
3. The Adventure of the Final Problem 4/5
4. Bath Haus 4.5/5
5. The Forest of Stolen Girls 4/5
6. The Red Palace 2/5
7. The Silence of Bones 1/5
8. Lay Your Sleeping Head 4/5
9. Carved in Bone 5/5
10. Lies with Man 3/5
11. Howtown 2/5
12. The Hidden Law 2/5
13. The Death of Friends 3/5
14. The Burning Plain 3.5/5
15. Rag and Bone 4/5
16. Pretty Pretty Boys 2/5
17. Three Nick Nowak Mysteries 5/5
18. Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries 3/5
19. Two Nick Nowak Novellas 4/5
20. A Time For Secrets 5/5
21. Murder Book 5/5
22. From the Ashes 4/5
23. Bloodlines 4/5
24. Lucky Days 4/5
25. Gifts Given 5/5
26. Heart's Desire 1/5
27. Broken Cord 4/5
28. The Cardigans 4/5