Narrated by Greg Tremblay
Please note that there will be spoilers for Fish Out of Water in this review.
Amy Lane’s Fish Out of Water was a fabulous listen; an exciting, fast-paced suspense story, interwoven with a steamy, opposites-attract romance laced with plenty of snark and quieter moments of emotional insight and intensity. Needless to say, Greg Tremblay hit the narration out of the park, so I eagerly jumped into the sequel, Red Fish, Dead Fish, which picks up the story a couple of months later. Following a(nother) near-fatal shooting, private investigator Jackson Rivers is still (and, he insists, temporarily) living with his lover, defense attorney Ellery Cramer, while his house – which was shot to bits in the drive-by in which he was wounded – is set to rights. He’s impatient with his convalescence, he’s jonesing to get back to work and he’s on edge about the status of his… whatever it is with Ellery; Jackson doesn’t do permanence and the deep-seated insecurities that tell him he’s bad news and not good enough for anyone to bother with have him pretty much always poised for flight. Fortunately for Jackson, Ellery has him pegged and is well aware that deep down, Jackson is scared of what’s happening between them and that he’s looking for excuses to run. At least – for the moment – Jackson has nowhere to run TO, and Ellery’s patience and gentle, but inexorable persistence seem to be inexhaustible. Not that Jackson doesn’t drive him nuts at times – he absolutely does – but Ellery is every bit as stubborn as he is, doesn’t take any crap and is prepared to wait for Jackson for as long as it takes.
At the end of Fish Out of Water, Jackson and Ellery had brought down the police corruption ring which had seen Jackson’s brother framed for the murder of a young police officer. But that isn’t quite the end of the matter, because one of the group – the man who is responsible for shooting Jackson and is suspected of being responsible for a number of other murders – has escaped and is still at large. Jackson and Ellery have made the police aware of their suspicions, insisting that Tim Owens is dangerous and should be the focus of an investigation, but they have no concrete evidence – and law enforcement is reluctant to move on Owens as it would then call his arrest records into question and open a massive – different – can of worms. Frustrated, but not giving up, Jackson and Ellery continue to look for information and evidence on their own time, evidence which clearly points towards the fact that Owens has killed many times and isn’t going to stop any time soon. His former partner – part of the corruption ring – may have reined him in somewhat while Owens was on the job, but now, he’s off his leash and is escalating, his preferred victims generally being young, pretty and living on the edge, often having just started turning tricks or taking drugs – and they’re beaten, sexually abused and mutilated before being killed. (I’ll say now that there are some scenes in the story that make for gruesome listening, but there’s nothing worse than anything you’ll have read or listened to in most mystery or romantic suspense novels).
But Owens’ next victim is different – and signals clearly that he has Jackson in his sights. And Jackson – still recovering from physical wounds, emotionally battered as he tries to process the unwanted feelings assailing him in the wake of the death of the woman he can’t call his mother – is vulnerable in a way he’s never been before. While Ellery wants – needs – to somehow prevent Jackson from self-destruction, or at the very least, make sure he comes back to him all in one piece.
Amy Lane has once again done a superb job with the different aspects of this story. The suspense plot is really well put-together – fast-paced, full of action and including some real, tense, edge-of-your-seat moments. And the romance… *sigh*. Jackson and Ellery are terrific together; they’re both strong and stubborn, but in different ways and they complement each other perfectly. We learn more about Jackson’s hellish childhood in this book, and his conflicting emotions about the woman who gave birth to him but who was never his mother, are superbly conveyed and utterly realistic. He’s scarred, and he’s damaged, but he’s not irretrievably broken, even though his conviction that nobody could possibly “want to keep him” makes him do some dumb things in the attempt to pre-empt the break up with Ellery that he’s sure must be coming. Thankfully, Ellery is wise to this and sees through Jackson’s passive-aggressive efforts to put him off, although he does recognise that there might come a time when Jackson really will leave.
“If I come home and the cat’s gone,” he said softly. “Then I’ll know you mean it.”
In between all the gore and the chasing after the bad-guy and Jackson struggling to deal with shit on so many levels, there is still time for some beautifully judged snark:
“Are we going to live?” Ellery asked, acid in his voice.
“Probably not – but I may like you more than anyone else I’ve ever killed.”
and some beautifully sweet moments between our two heroes:
“Because the duplex isn’t mine anymore,” Jackson said softly. “And…and if this place isn’t home, I don’t have anywhere to go.”
Oh, and the steamy sex. Can’t forget the steamy sex :P
Greg Tremblay delivers yet another superlative performance that had me laughing, sighing, biting my nails and tearing up a little bit by turns. I just love his portrayals of the two principals – the slightly gravelly edge he gives to Jackson’s voice brings him vividly to life as this no-fucks-left-to-give sort of guy who protects himself in layers of deadpan snark and sarcasm, but who, beneath it all is a warm, generous human being who – forgive the cliché – wants and needs to be loved. Ellery badly wants to fulfil that function, if only Jackson will let him, and Mr. Tremblay perfectly conveys his frustration over Jackson’s destructive streak, the depth of his affection and longing for Jackson to accept what he is so willing to offer in a lighter, often affectionately exasperated tone that can turn into steely-scary when needed. As is always the case with this narrator, his vocal acting, pacing, differentiation and characterisation are all flawless, and he is an absolute delight to listen to. All the secondary characters are just as impeccably and consistently portrayed; Mr. Tremblay mixes things up by using a variety of accents that feel appropriate, even when they’re not referred to in the text, and his female voices are among the best I’ve heard from a male narrator. Ellery’s formidable mother – nicknamed “Lucy Satan” by a doped-up Jackson in the previous book – makes another appearance, and she’s fabulous – cool, collected and clear-sighted, a tower of strength just when Ellery needs it most.
I read somewhere that there are going to be more books in the series, and I have no doubt that I will gobble them up as soon as they appear; part of the storyline here hints at the involvement of a shady government agency which I am guessing may take a greater role in the next book, and I’m already chomping at the bit. Red Fish, Dead Fish is highly recommended, and I WANT MORE!
Caz
Buy Red Fish, Dead Fish by Amy Lane on Amazon
