Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
The Seven of Spades is an ongoing series which builds upon the previous book and reading this review may expose plot points that you may not want to know if you have not read the series.
The Las Vegas police believe the serial killer, the Seven of Spades, has not only been identified, but is dead. Levi and Dominic know differently. But Levi has been ordered to stand down from further investigations because the case is closed. There is no shortage of crime and murder in Las Vegas to keep the men busy, but the Seven of Spades case is personal, and Levi has little intention of letting it go.
Dominic is trying to redirect his career and has taken an internship with a private investigator. He’s good at his job, but the reduction of salary still has him bartending as well and life is busy for the men. They are not too busy to make time for each other, however, and their bond and their relationship grows a little more every day.
As Levi works his current case, the clues twist and turn and no good investigator believes in coincidences. Dominic is fighting the good fight, but his job takes him all across the city and there is temptation at every turn and some days it takes everything he has to resist. Dominic knows Levi is becoming important to him and he wants to keep him safe, because the Seven of Spades is determined to have the winning hand.
It’s always great to have a book, a series, that you can’t put down. Seven of Spades is exactly that and I only wanted to read this book straight through. This book picks up where the first one left off with the police department believing that the serial killer, known as the Seven of Spades, has been neutralized. Levi knows it’s not true and Dominic knows it’s not true and when pushed, they are going to admit what they know to be the truth.
The main storyline here makes you believe that the focus is not on the Seven of Spades. But maybe that’s what the killer wants everyone to think. There’s not a whole lot I can talk about here as who wants to read a book about a serial killer and know details beforehand? But, the author does a fabulous job of balancing the police drama with the relationship between the men.
Let’s talk about the men. Levi and Dominic are just about perfect together. They both have strong personalities, but while they have similarities, they are different men that complement each other so well. Levi is good at his job, but still carries rage around from an incident many years ago. Dominic is struggling to live in Las Vegas; it’s his home and where his family is, but the gambling still calls to him every single day and he’s one trigger away from a relapse. In the middle of all the high stakes police drama, the character development remains amazing. There is a true sense of who both men are and the demons they carry around with them. They are both layered characters for any book, but especially when the relationship is balanced with a larger plot and that takes true skill. The men are trying to take care of each other, but it is also becoming clear that they may need a bit more assistance in keeping themselves in check, as intense workouts can only go so far.
And that’s one of the things that makes this series so engaging for me. These are two men that have a lot of alpha qualities, with Dominic being imposingly big and strong, yet they take care of each other and have tender and intimate moments. Dominic clarifies that point when Levi has self doubts about meeting his friends and Dominic tells him that he is not looking for a nice guy, he’s looking for a good guy, and that’s it, they are both good guys at heart. What the Seven of Spades wants with them remains to be seen. And, that’s one other aspect that’s amazing about this series. It is not obvious what is going on and that makes this series stand out so much above the rest.
Book one and book two are highly recommended and I’ll let you know shortly about book three. So far, this series has it all: murder, fast-paced and high-stakes drama, a clever serial killer on the loose, and an almost tender relationship between two hard hitting men.
