Dana and Erryn review The Evening Wolves (Iron on Iron Book 4) by Gregory Ashe. (Released on audio by Hodgkin & Blount on April 14, 2024. Narrated by Tristan James. Listening time of 10 hours and 23 minutes. Ebook published by Hodgkin & Blount February 5, 2024. 376 pages.)
To read the review for The Face in the Water (Iron on Iron, Book 1) click here.
To read the review of The Girl in the Wind (Iron on Iron, Book 2) click here.
To read the review of The Spoil of Beasts (Iron on Iron, Book 3) click here.
Blurb:
Every victory comes at a cost.
The trail has gone cold. For months now, Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset have been trying to find something—anything—that might help them uncover the truth about the criminal organization operating out of the Cottonmouth Club. But every lead has turned out to be a dead end, and every step forward has cost them two steps back.
Until, one night, John-Henry is arrested for a terrible crime.
As their friends gather again in Wahredua, Emery and John-Henry must rush to prove John-Henry’s innocence. The falsified evidence used to implicate him provides them with fresh clues, but as the charges against John-Henry ripple out into the community, they find themselves without their usual resources, and facing new and unexpected opposition.
Putting an end to this evil, they discover, might be possible.
All it will cost them is everything.
Buy Links: Audible | Amazon | B&N | Add to Goodreads
Erryn’s Review:
A fitting end.
Hang on to your seat, you’re in for a bumpy ride. Because, let’s be brutally honest – when you put John-Henry, Emery, Tean, Jem, Theo, Auggie, North, and Shaw in a room together – you know it’s going to be fucking chaos.
Now, I can only share this here, but this is a gem from Shaw:
“I’m not saying you can’t talk about penises however much you want and with whatever language you want – dongs, dingalings, dingos, dorks, prongs, pruds, prawns.” That, of course, was Shaw.
North said, “Nobody has ever called it a prawn, dumbass.”
“Really, it kind of looks like one – especially when yours gets really red. It doesn’t look like a prawn?”
“It doesn’t look like any kind of shellfish”
“Well, not to argue – but it does. And anyway, that’s not really the point. The point is when you use your words like sausage to talk about or dingalings you’re participating in the long Western tradition that values and prioritizes the production and consumption of meat. Which is intrinsically tied to the inhumane treatment of innocent animals.”
“So what? I can’t call them sausages without being part of Big Meat?”
“Well, ideally I’d like you not to refer to them as any kind of particle meat. Bratwurst, Lieber Wurst. Any kind of wurst at all, actually.”
Okay, I almost choked I laughed so hard. Shaw is…endearing. North has my absolute sympathy, although he’s a handful as well. In comparison to those two, Auggie, Theo, and Tean are angels. Jem is…well, Jem. These six make great sidekicks for John-Henry and Emery’s latest adventure.
In all seriousness, when John-Henry is arrested for possessing child pornography, you know this shit’s about to get real. Of course it’s not his, but he’s still under suspicion and no longer an active police officer. That computer tampering, along with some other weird stuff having to do with trafficking, has JH and Re taking matters into their own hands. Add their friends and it’s generalized chaos.
I don’t want to give too much away. Just…yeah, vintage Gregory Ashe. Violence, mayhem, humor, and kids with a cute dog. I loved the story, I loved the series, and if this is the end, it went out with a bang.
Gotta mention Tristan James. Each couple has a different narrator associated with them and I was thrilled to see Tristan returning to helm Emery and Jon-Henry’s book. He’s superb and I loved everything about this audio. You have to grab both it and the entire series.
9/10 Pots of Gold (90% Recommended) – Compares to 4.5/5 Stars
Dana’s Review:
Reading and reviewing the last book in a series is sometimes hard to me. There is a bittersweet feeling especially with these characters. Four couples from four different series by the author that I grew to love in their own series became even more compelling costarring in the other couples’ books. I have to hope that there will still be stories featuring them even if it is separately.
At the end of the previous book, Jem and Tean, and North and Shaw returned home because the people running the illegal animal trafficking, the human trafficking ring, and the illegal drugs had made things very dangerous for all of these main characters. The point was for them all to lay low, but when someone frames John Henry for a heinous crime, the whole gang reunites.
It is insanity at times, just like in the other books. Everyone really enjoys pushing Emery’s buttons and though he still acts like a hot head some of the time, he does seem to be realizing the need to not react too quickly out of anger. I think some of the other guys help him realize it. One thing that I feel like I noticed is that both John Henry and Emery seem to hold themselves responsible for everything bad that happens to anyone they know and care about. So many guilty feelings and as much as they need to find the culprit who framed John Henry as well as all of the other crimes committed in this series, both of them need to stop taking on the weight of the world.
On a lighter note, a particular scene that made me laugh involved Shaw and North creating a distraction that had John asking “Are they actually that good, or do they just bumble into luck like this?” I don’t know how many times I wondered that same question.
Like all of Gregory Ashe’s books, the story is full of twists and turns and though there were some bad guys caught and some bad guys killed, there were a few loose strands at the end of this book for me. I am not sure if John Henry is resuming his position as police chief or if he is going to take some time to find out what he really wants from life. I also want to know how the town sees him after the charges against him were dropped. We do end on a warm note with friends and family gathered to celebrate the holidays. It only has me crossing my fingers for more of this couple, their son and his boyfriend, their friend Nico and hopefully a love story for him, and all these other guys.
It was another great series by Gregory Ashe and a great narration by Tristan James. I appreciate how each couple’s book featured the original narrator it brought so much cohesiveness.
9.5/10 Pots of Gold (95% Recommended) – Compares to 4.75/5 Stars
I’m a long-time Midwesterner. I’ve lived in Chicago, Bloomington (IN), and Saint Louis, my current home. Aside from reading and writing (which take up a lot of my time), I’m an educator.
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