Single Malt by Layla Reyne

Narrated by Tristan James

Single Malt is Layla Reyne’s début novel and is the first in a romantic suspense trilogy featuring FBI agents Aidan Talley and Jameson Walker, nicknamed Agents Irish and Whiskey. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the series earlier this year and was really pleased to see the books being released in audio format. I’m not familiar with narrator Tristan James, but he’s got over thirty titles to his name at Audible so I decided to take a chance and I’m glad I did; he delivers a strong and entertaining performance in this fast-paced, intriguing and sexy thriller.

Eight months after the car crash that killed both his husband, Gabe, and his FBI partner, Tom Crane, Special Agent Aidan Talley has been given the go ahead to return to work. On the evening before he is due to show up at the office, he is visited by his sister-in-law, Melissa Cruz – who also happens to be his boss – and given some unsettling news. The day she was promoted to her current position of Special Agent in Charge, she received an anonymous package containing an encrypted flash drive and information suggesting that the crash was no accident. Aidan is stunned; he has been convinced of that from the moment he woke up in the hospital, but no one would take him seriously. Now, however, Mel gives him the permission to start investigating on the quiet – and tells him, rather cryptically, that she has given him everything he needs to start getting answers.

Aidan isn’t particularly happy about being temporarily assigned to the Cybercrimes unit, but Mel explains it’s because she wants him to assess the suitability for field work of his new partner, Jameson Walker, a former NBA star who retired from the sport following injury, went back to college and then joined the FBI. Aidan had worked with his former partner for fifteen years and isn’t wild about the idea of mentoring a rookie, but he agrees, and soon discovers how Walker has made a name for himself as the San Francisco office’s top cybercrimes agent. Mel’s cryptic comment starts to make sense, and Aidan wonders whether to trust Jamie with the information she gave him… and if so, how much of it.

Jameson Walker – Whiskey – is twelve years Aidan’s junior, but has fancied the pants off him ever since he first set eyes on him three years earlier. Knowing Aidan was married, Jamie never acted on that interest, but still, he’s a bit nervous at being paired up with the man he’s lusted after for so long. And for Aidan, their first real meeting –rather than just saying “hi” in passing – with his new partner is unsettling for an unexpected reason; he never looked at another man in more than ten years, but Jamie’s six-foot-five, well-built frame, intense blue eyes, charming smile and disarming Southern drawl are hard to ignore. Aidan can’t credit the sudden flash of attraction he feels and shoves it aside. As far as he knows, Jameson Walker is straight, and even if he weren’t, Aidan isn’t ready to put himself back out there.

After their first case proves a success, Aidan and Jamie are assigned to work with colleagues in Texas, where the Galveston National Laboratory Biochemical facility has suffered a number of worrying attacks on their security systems. Jamie’s skill (and contacts) prove invaluable as he sets about immersing himself in the system and tracking back and forth to see who could have had motive and opportunity to activate the breaches, while Aidan takes a more traditional approach, talking to people, looking into backgrounds, following the paper trail and making connections – and eventually, they reach the conclusion that the Bio-facility is most likely a dummy target to cover something far more sinister.

Layla Reyne has constructed a fast-paced and intriguing thriller that completely captivated me, even when I occasionally got lost amid the techno-babble (as Aidan calls it, much to Jamie’s chagrin!) The plot is plausible and well laid-out, with none of those incongruous leaps of logic that can infect mystery and suspense stories. She also sets in motion the plotline that will feature throughout the three books in the trilogy; namely finding out exactly who was responsible for the murders of Gabe and Tom.

And while all this is going on, Irish and Whiskey are forging a strong connection, both professionally and personally. Aidan is surprised to discover Jamie isn’t straight as he’d thought, and although he doesn’t hide his sexuality, he doesn’t advertise it, either. Even though he’s no longer playing ball, Jamie has no wish to come out publicly and be turned into some sort of role model for gay athletes, so he flies under the radar as far as he can. Their mutual interest in one another builds steadily (oh, the sexual tension that bubbles under with these two is fabulous!) but Aidan is wary of becoming involved again and opening himself up to the possibility of another devastating loss. It takes a narrowly averted tragedy to bring home to Aidan just how deep he’s already fallen – but if he takes a chance on Jamie, can he stop himself falling even further?

The dénouement is high-stakes and exciting; but before we turn the final page there’s one more bombshell to be dropped – one that threatens to tear Aidan and Jamie apart before they’ve even begun to be together.

As I said at the start, I’ve not listened to Tristan James before, and I admit when I listened to the Audible sample of Single Malt, I wasn’t 100% convinced. Audible samples are often chosen automatically, and don’t always showcase many characters (if any) or the narrator’s best work. But I’m glad I took a chance, because Mr. James delivers a very accomplished performance, and I’m definitely going to be listening to the other books in the trilogy as soon as I can find the time! I readily admit that as much as I drone on about the accuracy of British accents, I’m no expert when it comes to American ones, but it seemed to me that Mr. James captures the essence of Jamie’s Southern drawl quite well and that he differentiates it nicely from the Texan characters, enabling me to easily work out who was who. He gives Aidan a slight Irish brogue which suits him well, although in the text, he is only said to lapse into ‘Irishness’ when he is stressed or tired. However, I do understand that in a book with a fairly large number of male characters, there’s a limit to the number of different vocal representations that can be undertaken by one person, and that accent is a useful means of differentiation. The main thing is that Mr. James’ performance is very enjoyable as a whole; his pacing is good, he employs a good variety of tone and expression and his portrayal of the two protagonists is excellent. It’s a definite recommendation from me for the first Agents Irish and Whiskey story, and I’m eager to get started on the next one.

Caz