Title: Tainted Life
Author: Mel Gough
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 121 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: Tainted Life is a fairly quick and good read with some tense moments, and the descriptive settings and verbiage give the novel a true London feel.
Reviewed By: Maryann
Blurb: Metropolitan Police detective Pete Tucker’s world comes crashing down when his wife sues for divorce and sole custody of their only son.
Desperate to forget his sorrows for a while, Pete seeks refuge in a Soho bar where he is approached by a sexy, funny, and clearly interested stranger. Photographer Liam Jackson is just the ticket for one oblivious night of perfect passion.
However, their attraction proves too intense for a one-night-stand. To his surprise, Pete finds that he’s game for something more – but his baggage soon gets in the way. Then Liam’s own dangerous secrets claw their way to the surface, and threaten to derail the budding romance.
Is their growing bond strong enough to weather the violent storms ahead?
Review: Pete Tucker is a Detective Inspector with New Scotland Yard; he likes his job and was promoted fairly quick. He was once married and has a young son, but life took a hard turn for him. Even when things were getting bad in his marriage, he was never unfaithful to his now ex-wife. Now he’s newly divorced, has a new place to live, and finds himself fighting for custody of his son. Needing to find some kind of relaxation, he heads to the Turner Tavern to try to slake his hunger, where a young man by the name of Liam starts a conversation with him.
Liam Jackson’s life is in chaos. He lives with an abusive brother and, at times, takes chances and meets men for money. While Liam struggles, he is also a talented photographer and has some of his work on display at his friend Kat’s gallery.
What Pete and Liam thought was only a one-night-stand, develops into a little more. And then the stress in Pete’s life turns into fear for Liam. Liam’s panic sends him into a bad situation, and he finds himself on the brink of death. Pete, with his own guilt, takes care of Liam, but Liam is by no means out of danger.
Tainted Life is my first time reading Mel Gough, and I found this novel to be very well written. It’s a fairly quick and good read with some tense moments, and the descriptive settings and verbiage give the novel a true London feel. The storyline doesn’t focus on the mysterious cases as much as it does on Pete and how he has to deal with his life and his job. I liked both Pete and Liam and the in-depth look into both these characters. They each have their own issues to face, and they have to decide whether to share them if there’s going to be any chance for an understanding and a relationship to exist between them. As a secondary character, I really liked Kat, who comes through for both Pete and Liam.
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