Dead Speak: Cold Case Psychic Book 1, Pandora Pine

Ronan finds himself freshly out of rehab and demoted to Cold Cases.  His flashy, cruel ex still works in homicide in the same precinct making it difficult for Ronan to find solace or relief after their very messy divorce and his subsequent messy mistake while on the job.  When his current case stumps him a possible solution comes from a couple unlikely sources.  A television program is interviewing a psychic and his nasty ex suggests seeking that psychic's assistance.  With nothing left to lose, except his job, he makes the trek out to meet the man.  What follows is a dramatic, intense roller coaster ride that could end in a new, happier future for both men...or their demise.

Well, it's a start.  From all the bellowing and yelling to the inappropriate TPO issues, there were quite a few things that just didn't sit well for me.  That being said, I can see a little of where things are going and I'm pretty sure this series will improve as it continues.

I liked Ronan.  His blustering, aggressiveness, over-sharing, reactionary personality wasn't the best, no, but I could see his potential as a man.  I'd like to have seen his light, the one that Tennyson sees and finds so appealing, more developed.  We see glimpses of his heart and tenacity regarding justice in bright flashes but I would have hoped for something a bit more consistent.  For a detective he is surprisingly lax in his adherence to procedure and secrecy.  His personal life is a mess and he has a long, long road to healing his mind and soul before he can become the man he's truly meant to be.  I'm actually glad this is an ongoing series because if his complete evolution both individually and as a partner to Ten is contained in these pages, I would be sorely disappointed.  There's a long way yet to go before he can love himself and destroy the demons riding him.  I also hope to see a lot less yelling and explosiveness with his temper.

Tennyson was a bit more difficult for me to like at first.  He grew on me but I still have a few reservations regarding his sharing of sensitive information, eagerness to seek out and accept television appearances, and lack of upfront honesty with his gift, feelings, and expectations regarding both.  I'm hoping for more of that and to see him develop more dimensions as a character as the series progresses.

As for the drama, holy bleep, there's a lot of it.  I felt like it came from so many, too many, sources.  We've got the "relationship" drama, the villain they can't seem to get any solid leads about, the pedophilia, sexually abused children, the homosexual acceptance issues, alcoholism, rehab, AA, the jealous/interfering/psychically dark/a-hole/cheating/self-hating ex, suicide-by-cop, police procedural issues, the victim's parents and their drama, the psychic gift and all the explanations that are not given either in a timely manner or in a way that is helpful...it's just a bombardment of crazy and difficult things being thrown at the reader right from the start.  A bit (or a truckload) of streamlining was needed because none of those things was given enough attention to be satisfactory.

For the potential alone with both the series' direction and the characters, I actually enjoyed reading this story.  I see the issues, for they are many and glaring, but I'm persuaded to give the whole thing a chance because there are so many interesting ways this could be improved.  Despite all those problems I'm still drawn in to the crazy and I want to see where this goes.

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