Jon's Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case: Jon's Mysteries Book 1, AJ Sherwood

In a word, silly.  More enjoyably silly than absurd, Jon and Donovan's navigation of crazy, paperwork, and relationships amused me more often than not and drew me in to their dynamic.  I found a lot of the story really interesting despite the predictability of the villain and their situation as well as the inappropriate cultural stereotypes.  The idea of an anchor and the sweetness of Donovan to match the snarky Jon really drew me in and kept me invested in the story.  I found myself snickering out loud and also trying to make guesses as to the premise for their continued investigative shenanigans.

So the frustrations first.  Cultural stereotypes for the win...or more like for the eyes rolling so far back they got stuck.  This dropped the rating by a full star.  There were so many descriptions that made me cringe hard.  I'm not sure why they were included at all.  Not only did they not enhance the telling of the story, they made a mockery of diversity rather than enrich the community in the story.  The villain was pretty obvious from the outset and there were many glaring clues that Jon glossed right over.  It was difficult to see him get a weird feeling or know what was going on but then let the moment slip by without intelligent connections being made or taking action.

I quite enjoyed the budding relationship.  The "brightness" of Donovan and his family was an interesting moment and I found myself wanting to know all of them.  I'd like to see Jon get more involved with them to find a softening and a foundation on which to base his and Donovan's relationship.  There's a lot of dysfunction in his own and he could use the honest goodness of his anchor's family.  Jon's reliance on Donovan painted a picture of all that Jon was missing up to this point and I really, really liked them together.

As for the criminal/case aspect, it was definitely predictable from the outset.  What intrigued me most though, was the small building blocks for additional cases that will likely come up in the future.  Rather than setting up a story for a crime to solve and only one crime, it felt a bit more genuine that there were pieces of multiple cases building in the background along with the progression of the featured crime.  That small element is quite important for a good continuation of the series and I'm interested to see where we go next.

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A psychic without an anchor. A student in trouble. A shooter on the loose.

I’m Jonathan Bane, a licensed psychic who consults for the police. I routinely help the police put the bad guys away and, for that reason, the criminal world doesn’t like me much. People like to take a swing at me, or go stabbity, or try for a gun. It makes for interesting times. My psychic ability prevents me from handling anything electronic—and I do mean ANYTHING, I fry it in seconds—so calling for help isn’t always a possibility. 

I need an anchor, a partner, but I’m resigned: it’s just wishful thinking.

At least, I thought so until he walked through the door.

Donovan Havili looks like a thug and has the soul of a superhero. He shines so bright in my vision it’s like watching a supernova. He definitely has the right mindset and skills for this crazy job. But asking anyone to take me on long-term is a bit much. And now we’ve got multiple cases to handle, a Chinese exchange student falsely accused who needs our help, and someone taking random shots at me. It’s a bit much for any new guy to handle and I’m half-afraid that my new partner will run for the door.

But in Donovan Havili, the criminal world has met its match. And maybe, just maybe, I have as well.