Hayley B. James

This book is brutal. It’s disturbing, and at times, difficult to read. There is a ton of violence, and although most is done off page, the reality is there in every action. It’s believable and it made me think about the things that have to be done by undercover officers in order to survive. This is not a pretty story. The undercover situation is human trafficking, one of the sickest and most disturbing criminal activities I can think of. You all know how much I love danger and death-defiance and don’t mind violence. But that’s all action thriller type stuff. This is a different kind of violence and it made me ill.

The pacing was good, though, and most of the situations felt fairly realistic to me. The book definitely wasn’t predictable. The romance happened as slowly as it could, given the timeline of the book, and it mostly worked, although I did have some issues with why Ty was at all emotionally attracted to Demetrius. There were points at which he willingly had sex with the man when it would have made more sense for him to run screaming.

The writing was fine, although there was a weird reluctance to use contractions, usually in awkward places. I was absorbed in the story, though, torn between not wanting to put it down and needing a break from how awful the situations were. I really liked Ty, and I liked that he wasn’t one-dimensional. He sometimes said or did things where I wanted to shake him and ask, “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” But Ty was a good person with a big heart and I ached for him many times.

Frequently Demetrius says or implies that Ty is just as bad as he is for what he’s had to do. No way is selling your body as bad as the stuff Demetrius does. At one point, I really began hating Demetrius for this and allowing Ty to feel so much guilt. Typically, Ty takes on himself most of what goes wrong between them. He acknowledges he has low self-esteem, but Demetrius never sees or acknowledges that he has treated Ty like shit.

There were at least two dubious sex scenes and both bothered me for different reasons: Several times Demetrius pushes Ty but at one point Ty absolutely doesn’t want to. His body is responding and he hates himself for it. He tries repeatedly to push Demetrius away, three times longer than usual, saying “no” at least six different times. At one point, he refers to himself as just a whore. But Demetrius keeps pushing and they eventually have sex. Demetrius never apologizes for this.

The other time, Ty is faced with a choice: he can make a deal and let this evil guy fuck him and possibly safe his own life and that of a friend, or he can refuse and his friend and he will most likely die. He lets himself be fucked and is found afterward on the floor in tears. He was raped. There is no other way to describe it. The act was not voluntary: he thought he was going to die. And yet Demetrius gets mad at him for it and shows no concern. There is no acknowledgement by anyone that it is rape, even though Ty twice tells himself he had to do it or die, and Demetrius’s partner was the one who found him. He should have been nurtured not accused.

Demetrius lies about himself throughout most of the book, even when it’s not really necessary. Some of those times are just to make conflict. Near the end, Demetrius comes back telling him yet another story and this time Ty believes him, even after the multitude of lies, some of which weren’t at all necessary.

I’m torn with the rating for this. My enjoyment was around a 3 at most but the quality of the story and writing was much higher.
… (meer)

This book is brutal. It’s disturbing, and at times, difficult to read. There is a ton of violence, and although most is done off page, the reality is there in every action. It’s believable and it made me think about the things that have to be done by undercover officers in order to survive. This is not a pretty story. The undercover situation is human trafficking, one of the sickest and most disturbing criminal activities I can think of. You all know how much I love danger and death-defiance and don’t mind violence. But that’s all action thriller type stuff. This is a different kind of violence and it made me ill.

The pacing was good, though, and most of the situations felt fairly realistic to me. The book definitely wasn’t predictable. The romance happened as slowly as it could, given the timeline of the book, and it mostly worked, although I did have some issues with why Ty was at all emotionally attracted to Demetrius. There were points at which he willingly had sex with the man when it would have made more sense for him to run screaming.

The writing was fine, although there was a weird reluctance to use contractions, usually in awkward places. I was absorbed in the story, though, torn between not wanting to put it down and needing a break from how awful the situations were. I really liked Ty, and I liked that he wasn’t one-dimensional. He sometimes said or did things where I wanted to shake him and ask, “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” But Ty was a good person with a big heart and I ached for him many times.

Frequently Demetrius says or implies that Ty is just as bad as he is for what he’s had to do. No way is selling your body as bad as the stuff Demetrius does. At one point, I really began hating Demetrius for this and allowing Ty to feel so much guilt. Typically, Ty takes on himself most of what goes wrong between them. He acknowledges he has low self-esteem, but Demetrius never sees or acknowledges that he has treated Ty like shit.

There were at least two dubious sex scenes and both bothered me for different reasons: Several times Demetrius pushes Ty but at one point Ty absolutely doesn’t want to. His body is responding and he hates himself for it. He tries repeatedly to push Demetrius away, three times longer than usual, saying “no” at least six different times. At one point, he refers to himself as just a whore. But Demetrius keeps pushing and they eventually have sex. Demetrius never apologizes for this.

The other time, Ty is faced with a choice: he can make a deal and let this evil guy fuck him and possibly safe his own life and that of a friend, or he can refuse and his friend and he will most likely die. He lets himself be fucked and is found afterward on the floor in tears. He was raped. There is no other way to describe it. The act was not voluntary: he thought he was going to die. And yet Demetrius gets mad at him for it and shows no concern. There is no acknowledgement by anyone that it is rape, even though Ty twice tells himself he had to do it or die, and Demetrius’s partner was the one who found him. He should have been nurtured not accused.

Demetrius lies about himself throughout most of the book, even when it’s not really necessary. Some of those times are just to make conflict. Near the end, Demetrius comes back telling him yet another story and this time Ty believes him, even after the multitude of lies, some of which weren’t at all necessary.

I’m torn with the rating for this. My enjoyment was around a 3 at most but the quality of the story and writing was much higher.
… (meer)