The press nickname him “The Countdown Killer”, branding his victims with a number, but Chad knows him as Romeo. Captured by the killer he’s hunting, Chad’s situation seems dire, but Romeo doesn’t want to kill him because Chad doesn’t fit his pattern.Instead, he’s keeping Chad for two months, hiding him away where no one will find him, making sure Chad can’t reveal who he is. Romeo is not going to … not going to hurt Chad; he’s going to let him go—but only once he’s claimed number one.
But in two months with only the killer for company, a bond begins to grow. They’re not detective and killer, but Chad and Romeo. It’s wrong, but in their messed-up situation, it feels right.
Still, Chad is a detective, and his duty is to the public, to keep them safe. And if that means betraying the man he’s learned to rely on, then so be it…
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I loved this!!!
I’m used to flirty and sexy books by this author, but this was different. I wouldn’t even say it was THAT dark.
There is a serial killer on the loose and Chad and his team try their damnedest to catch him. The build-up was slow, really slow. The first 10 or so chapters (about 25% of the book) focuses on the murder investigation. Other than that, what I gathered in that first part of the story is that our main character is no one special. He’s not a hero type who busts down doors, jumps off buildings and whatnot. In my eyes he’s a totally average guy with a nice, albeit dangerous job and he has a fiancé with a nice house. Sure he wants to be the big boss at his job eventually and he does his best to reach that goal, but he seems content. But this case ruins everything for him.
Time is running out and he makes a reckless decision, which lends him in trouble. “Homicide detective caught by the serial killer” would be the title of the Canster Times’ article on the front page.
What I really liked is that this story felt more real than any other I read about Stockholm syndrome. I actually believed this could happen in reality. It’s not like a fairytale, it’s not OTT, but it’s not too dark and twisted or gruesome either. Chad was chained up in a barn for a time and than relocated to a farmhouse. And at that time there wasn’t anything sexual in their relationship. (And later there won’t be much sex either, at least not what one would expect from a book like this). They were the killer and the detective, simple as that.
Chad wasn’t pampered that much, just the necessary amount after an accident. He wasn’t tortured. Romeo didn’t try and bend him to his will. And then they got to talking and it turned out they like each other. Which was a problem…. but I feel this would have been a natural progression of a relationship in normal circumstances.
“I kept the magpie alive. I killed snails to feed it, as well as giving it scraps of bread, ham. It even ate cheese. At first the magpie pecked me every time I tried to feed it. It squawked, flapping its damaged wing, making it worse…” Chad thought back to the hazy days after he’d hurt his leg. He’d thrashed, cried out, moved to avoid Romeo’s hand every time he reached for him. He’d refused water, food, begged Romeo to end his suffering, to take the pillow and press it to his face. “Then …something happened, and it stopped fighting me. It let me feed it, let me close. Let me ease its suffering.”
I really liked what the author created here. I never know what to expect from a story like this. So I’m always open to any kind of ending.
There is a little surprise at the end. Do you like crossword puzzles? I do! 😀
P.S.: one more round of editing wouldn’t have hurt, but I really loved this book, so I’m just ignoring that.