Title: Triangulation
Series: Borealis Investigations: Book Two
Author: Gregory Ashe
Narrator: Charlie David
Publisher: Self-Published
Run Time: 12 hours and 48 minutes
Category: Mystery/Suspense
At a Glance: I love Ashe’s storytelling style. It’s real, and gritty, and completely engrossing. I am so hooked on this series, you guys, and I now can’t imagine anyone else but Charlie David voicing it.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: After a recent case with a treacherous client, North and Shaw are ready to go back to work building Borealis Investigations. They’re also ready to go back to dodging their feelings for each other, with neither man ready to deal with the powerful emotions the Matty Fennmore case stirred up.
Everything is getting back to normal when their secretary asks for help: her girlfriend’s boss has gone missing. Shep Collins runs a halfway house for LGBTQ kids and is a prominent figure in St. Louis’s gay community. When he disappears, however, dark truths begin to emerge about Shep’s past: his string of failed relationships, a problem with disappearing money, and his work, years before, as one of the foremost proponents of conversion therapy.
When Shep’s body turns up at the halfway house, the search for a missing person becomes the search for a murderer. As North and Shaw probe for answers, they find that they are not the only ones who have come looking for the truth about Shep Collins.
Their investigation puts them at odds with the police who are working the same case, and in that conflict, North and Shaw find threads leading back to the West End Slasher – the serial killer who almost took Shaw’s life in an alley, seven years before.
As the web of an ancient conspiracy comes to light, Shaw is driven to find answers, and North faces what might be his last chance to tell Shaw how he really feels.
Review: I mentioned in my review of the audiobook for Orientation, book one of Gregory Ashe’s Borealis Investigations series, that it took me a bit to get used to Charlie David’s style. Well, I’ve just finished the audio for Triangulation, and while I stand by my comments about his intensity, and that it does take a bit to settle in with his delivery, I also have to say that I am All. In. Both with David’s narration, and North and Shaw’s journey. In fact, I now can’t imagine anyone else voicing this series. Especially North. I love David’s interpretation of North McKinney. The more I hear him, and get to know him, the voice just feels so spot on and authentic to the character. He nails both the snark and the vulnerability. And, all of the dialogue is so, so good. I’m loving it.
Triangulation starts out a couple of months after the events of Orientation. Things are going good at Borealis, and North and Shaw are, of course, still dancing around their feelings. Shaw is also still pursuing his suspicions regarding the West End Slasher, albeit mostly in secret, and is still dating Jadon Reck. But he’s also still battling tons of demons, both from his attack seven years ago, and what happened with Matty Fenmore. He’s hiding how bad he’s spiraling, as well as how consumed he is with the Slasher from both Jadon and North, and it’s only a matter of time until something gives. Shaw doesn’t have the market cornered on turmoil and inner demons, though…North has plenty of his own angst to deal with. Things with Tucker are continuing to go downhill, and he comes to some realizations about Shaw that he can no longer ignore.
The main mystery in the book is once again well-plotted, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. What starts out as a missing person turns into a murder investigation, with Pari’s girlfriend Chuck finding herself behind bars, accused of the crime. North and Shaw work tirelessly as always, chasing down leads, breaking down alibis, and interviewing suspects, trying to clear Chuck and find the real killer. Their friend Teddi also hires North for a side gig, to look into why he’s losing his weekly brunch crowd, which culminates in a scene that includes a cameo that will thrill Ashe’s readers.
I am so hooked on this series, you guys. I love Ashe’s storytelling style. It’s real, and gritty, and completely engrossing. I love it even as I’m shaking my head, wanting to strangle North and/or Shaw, and wondering ‘would two guys really ever treat each other like this?’ *sigh* He’s got me now, though! As I said, I’m all in, and I can’t wait to see how things wrap up in Declination.
You can buy Triangulation here:
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