Squeee!

FINALLY. FINALLY. FINALLY. That's really all I have to say.

Although, I still have such a bad feeling about. Ammon. I love Tean and Jem. They are one of my all-time favorite couples. Their banter makes me actually laugh out loud. I cannot wait for the next series!

JF Harding is my favorite narrator. His voice is sooooooooooo good. If you haven't listened to JF before, get on that right away.

3 people found this helpful

What A ride!!

Audiobook and Story - 4.5 stars

"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other. - Ecclesiastes 3:19"

Book 3 - Adventures of Amateur Sleuths, Tean and Jem and it delivered.

The Character

Like all the other Greg books, we have complex characters. Tean- I love this Vet. He is so loyal, lovable and everythin in between. I love how his mind works and the way he just blurts out thing that can go on and on and ooon! I can never get bored when it comes to Tean. In this book we get to see Tean find himself. Letting go off things that he held dearly that keeps him from experiencing life to the fullest. I loved this soooo much.

Jem- Oh boy! I didn't expect that!! Jem my beautiful, kindhearted, loyal drifter. I really didn't need to read all that. His past broke my tiny peanut heart. I am so happy the way it was handled. It wouldn't be Greg's writing without the grit. Jem has grown so much as a character. I love Tean's influence on him. Together they make the best hilarous combo.

"Sighing, Jem took Tean by the shoulders, turned him back toward the lobby, and gave him a gentle push. “Go home, please. Give Scipio extra treats for me.”
“I’m not going home. I’m going to wait here until I know they’re not trying to do something to you.”
“Like probe me anally,” Jem said.
“Like—no, not like that. What in the world is wrong with you?"

Love these two.

Scipio - Best supporting character ever.

The Mystery
Woooo! This was intense. It had something to do with Jems past. GAAAHH!! I wanted to jump into the book and strangle everyone except Tean and Jem, ooh and Scipio. The rest can go to the depths of purgatory. I enjoyed the way the inestigation was done. So many twists that kept me glued and looking for clues. Kudos Greg. Jem got his revenge. Me lovey so much.

The Relationship
Dear Lawd!! The freaking wait was worth it. Good thing they were already best friends/normal friends according to Tean. Thes two fit together.

Ammon! He doesn't desrve anything. UGGHH!! Go away!

Overall, I had a good time wlistening to this book. JF Harding owns the narration and took me to places I've never been.

Disclaimer! A copy of the Audiobook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

3 people found this helpful

Epic conclusion

From my original review: Here it is—the conclusion to the absolutely fabulous, heart-wrenching, fast-paced, both hilarious and solemn, The Lamb and the Lion mystery series by Gregory Ashe.

J.F. Harding continues to deliver on this beautiful mystery trilogy and his interpretation of the main and supporting cast of characters elevates this from a great audiobook to a remarkable production. Well done, Harding!

1 person found this helpful

Did you know there is this newfangled contraption called the cell phone and it has a record feature?

I'm not yet done with the final installment of the series, And don't get me wrong, I really love it. But I feel compelled to pause and write this mini review just to ask a question that I've asked myself over and over and over again from the very beginning of the series. Why oh why oh why has Jem not recorded Any of Ammon's horrible bullying verbal attacks on him when Tean is not around? I pretty much scream that question to the heavens every time 10 bus out with that other horse shit that goes a little something like, "trust me, you don't know him. he means well. he's a good guy... Because I'm no expert, but Ammon is NOT a good guy in any sense of the word. Get him the EFF out of here post haste, Before I fly into a psychotic rage and eat my phone.

1 person found this helpful

LOVED

I felt like with each book this series just got better and better. I hope there will be more.

This book in particular just drove the point home how great Tean and Jem were together. I adore them!

Clever, witty, delightful

Ash is the best mystery writer (with gay characters) I have come across and Harding is the perfect reader for this series. I wish the adventures of this fascinating couple would continue for many more volumes.

Great story. Great narration.

There were so many feelings in this book. So many. I wanted to give Jem a big hug for learning to read, overcoming trauma that no one should have to experience, and getting back up every time he gets knocked down.

This was an amazing story with excellent narration.

The best of the series!

This book did me in. This book does end with an uplifting enough HFN where it doesn't seem like a cliffhanger, but at the same time it was like the joy got sucked out of me. This story goes to some very, very dark places and this might be THE Gregory Ashe book that had me sobbing the most? And that's saying something since the likes of the Hollow Folk series and the DuPage Parish Mysteries are also what I would consider very, very dark reads. I mean, all of his books contain a certain level of angst, but remember how I felt about the despair of the first book in this series - The Same Breath? This is that times 100. I was thankfully reminded that there IS a short story that takes place after this book in a short story book collection, which I will definitely check out because I definitely need to see Jem and Tean be happy and feasting on McDonalds or something to make up for this ending.

Content notes include sexual harassment, mentions and graphic description of rapes, assault, emotional abuse, manipulation, ableism, mutilation, mentions of animal cruelty, violence, PTSD, police corruption, homomisia, death, and depression.

This book is about people from Jem's past who comes back to haunt him. He met these guys back when he was in Decker, a group home. There have been small mentions about the likes of Tanner, Blake, and Antonio in the previous books, enough for readers to guess what they did to Jem. But in this book, it gets very, very graphic. So, do take care when reading this book and put it down if it gets to be too much. Because this is a LOT.

The mystery aspect of this book is confusing, because there's so many moving parts and people, and lies. And when you're trying to balance all that out with the love triangle (but not really because we knew the entire time who's the endgame here), then there's a lot going on at the same time. Even though I got confused between all the cops and detectives (or whoever) was getting tangled up in this mess, the climactic scene at the end is INTENSE. Very dark, very frightning for Jem and Tean, and just...a lot. This book has a lot of violence and death in it.

You might think, "hey, maybe Ammon wises up and is less evil now that he's come out." BUT NO. He's still awful to Jem and quite manipulative towards Tean. Sure, he's their contact with the cops when it comes to solving these mysteries (and quite frankly, doing Ammon's job for him every single time). But Ammon hiding behind JUST being diagnosed as a "sex addict" isn't the full story and until he gets help from a therapist that can unpack his anger management and abusive nature, I'm going to need him to back off and stay away. Ammon has been so awful this entire series, but seeing him manipulate Tean's family into thinking he's some great guy is THE WORST. The absolute breaking point for me (and thankfully Tean as well) is when Ammon wouldn't take no as an answer until Tean literally ran from him because of commotion with Jem, and then Ammon not letting Tean have his glasses back and proceeding TO BREAK THEM? That was the LAST STRAW. It was so heartbreaking because who breaks someone else's glasses except a complete and utter menace? I thought Tucker from the Borealis Investigations books was the most abusive person ever, but NOPE. Here I present Ammon. They would be friends.

This puts into perspective that anytime there's a sexual scene (even if it's just a kiss), Jem ALWAYS asks Tean for consent. Which is growth from the uncomfortable hugs Jem was always pulling Tean into in the last book. It's been interesting how this book and the relationship between these two men is somewhat backwards than how most romance books play out. There were probably more sex scenes in the first book? And then Jem and Tean became best friends (or JUST normal friends as Tean would say), and then they FINALLY learned to love one another for real.

Tean might've come out to his friends and family many years ago, but he's never really had the support of his family and his closest friend was always Ammon, who used him for his own gain without any consideration for Tean's feelings. So, obviously Tean had a lot of baggage and self-doubt to unpack, but I'm just glad we finally get to see him choosing Jem and realizing what a piece of work Ammon really is. Every time Tean yelled at Jem for something Jem didn't even DO made me sad. But at least Tean finally found out the truth and apologized to Jem.

This is even more reason for me to read the short story that follows after this book! It's unknown at this moment whether we'll really get a sequel series with these two since I know the author is constantly juggling a lot of books and a lot of series at the same time, but I hope we DO get to see more of Jem and Tean. I just want them to be crime solving sleuths and fully in love and in a relationship (and whatever angst that means between them because Gregory Ashe always knows how to work in some angst in an established relationship).

I think it's super cute how we see Jem warm up to Scipio (Tean's dog) throughout the series. We know that animals have a very keen sense in detecting people who are pure in heart (Jem) versus people who mean harm (Ammon). Scipio always growls when Ammon is at the door, but flies towards Jem and almost knocks him down for pats on the head or belly scratches whenever Jem walks through the door. In this series, Scipio is the smartest one of all.

I really hadn't listened to J.F. Harding as a narrator too much before starting this series, but I really like him? It's been awhile since I listened to anything by him because he just doesn't really narrate audiobooks I was interested in reading. But he does do the First Quarto books by Gregory Ashe, so I'll definitely be listening to those. There ARE some instances where I think the voices J.F. Harding does winds up getting confused between the narration of the characters and who's actually speaking, but it's probably not too noticeable? It's just here and there throughout the audiobooks but doesn't last very long before the voice is correct to the person speaking or thinking again.

Kind of off-topic, but I think this series should be sponsored by McDonald's due to all the free advertisement they're getting from Jem here. Makes me crave some fries!

Overall, I think this book is sad, and this series is sad. There are great moments between Jem and Tean, and I'm just happy that they finally realized how fantastic they are together and admitted their feelings for one another. I would be delighted if we get a sequel series, because I would love to see more of them!

Your Killing Me Smalls

So yeah, I don’t think this is the last book in this series. At least I hope not as the ending seems to indicate there will be others. I loved and hated this book at the same time. No surprise there as GA frequently elicits that reaction from me. He is so adept at weaving a narrative that you can’t put down, even though it is like being on a roller coaster – a slow moving roller coaster. And then he leaves you hanging, wanting more. Thus is the journey of Tean and Jem. YES!! They finally admit their feelings for each other. But then OF COURSE it get “complicated.” UGGGGGHHHHH!!!\

In this installment, Jem’s past at the detention center comes back fast and dark. We learn of the horrors he faced there and wonder how he is still sane. His tormenter come back into his life in a surprising way. And Tean FINALLY faces his feelings for Ammon, the s**thead. It’s a wild and at times uncomfortable story. And, of course, has a surprise twist in the mystery that ONCE AGAIN I didn’t see coming. J.F. Harding once again knocks it out of the park with his performance. There is a series of short stories published after this book and as I read them, I hear his voice in my head. That is the mark of an amazing performance.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest review

Great mystery with amazing characters

I really just want to melt over these characters. Tean and Jem are so devastatingly real and relatable, and they make me feel so much. Tean is something special. At first when I started this series, I thought of him as quirky and not necessarily the best decision maker. Tean’s relationship with the married cop was wrong in so many ways, and then he brought a pretty shady Jem into his life. As much as I came to love Jem, he was definitely a risk to the neat and orderly Tean, who worries about the many ways life can end; for him and the whole world. Over the course of the these three books though we came to see how loyal and helpful he was to people, even when they didn’t deserve it. His family didn’t accept his homosexuality and however bad they treated him, he still helped them out financially. His lover made him feel unworthy physically and mentally. I can’t help to see how good he still remained after all he’d been through. He tries so hard in the beginning of this book, to find a love he deserves, but also to have healthy friendships with Jem and his ex, Ammon.

Jem has also made so many changes in his life from the beginning of this book. After revealing that he was dyslexic, he slowly tries to improve himself. He works on reading, and he tries a few legitimate forms of work, but still relies on his ability to con people. Something that really comes in handy when solving crimes as well. He is a fast thinker who can weasel things out of people and himself out of some sticky situations. Learning about his past was the real devastation. The foster mother who taught him in the art of trickery, also used to abuse him. His credit was ruined by someone who should have put him first. And now we learn of the atrocities he suffered while in juvenile detention. His past has affected his life much more significantly than Tean’s did, but the way that he can project confidence in himself and keep a mostly positive attitude is amazing.

Together, I just love them. Though their relationship has been a real slow burn so far, most of it safely locked in the friend zone. Jem would say “best friend zone,” while Tean would insist they’re more like associates. (Their banter had me smiling more often than not.) Friendship intact, Jem starts this book still sleeping wherever is most convenient, empty apartments or with whichever guy who takes him home from the bar or club. Tean worries about Jem and does all he can to help him better his life, and Jem does really want to try. It’s just not that easy, and it only gets worse when someone Jem knew at juvie contacts him to clear his name from murder. At first Jem is fine if the guy goes down for the crime, seeing as how he hurt and humiliated Jem. But if it means that a far worse foe goes free, Jem reluctantly agrees to help.

The mystery in this book was crazy. At first it seemed simple with a couple of former juvenile delinquents who hadn’t quite changed their ways. Then there was a pending drug deal, an entire force of corrupt police officers, and a pair of vigilantes who wanted to see a man named Tanner get his due (just like Jem.) The players in this game of murder and drugs were many, and Tean was forced to do something he never wanted to. It was crazy but they got out, only it wasn’t the happy ending they wanted. Not right away. While Jem got the closure he needed, Tean was not himself. Yet. In this book, Jem really steps up and shows he is the person who is right for Tean. He gives Tean what he needs instead of worrying about his own needs. Jem is the only one to put Tean first. Tean’s family appears in this book again, and they seem like they want to be bettter to Tean, but they have a long way to go. At this point I don’t know if things will be right with them, but finally, finally, Jem and Tean are on the same page and things are looking up for them.

My goodness, I know my review is quite lengthy, but there is only a little bit more. I am not sure if this is the finale of a trilogy or if there will be more to come of this pair. I would gladly read more and I hope there is more, but there was a sense of finality in this book. I really loved the growth of the two characters. Tean grew more of a backbone, and Jem is definitely going to try to stop breaking the law, as much anyway. They aren’t perfect, but they are real and I love them. I definitely recommend the whole series. The audiobooks narrated by J.F. Harding were brought to life with his narrations and I thought he did a great job.