Ash (Prequel to Psychopaths and Sinners, Don’t… Book 4.5) by Jack L. Pyke #LGBT #Audiobook #MMRomance #Disturbing

Erryn reviews Ash (Prequel to Psychopaths and Sinners, Don’t… Book 4.5) by Jack L. Pyke. The second edition of the book was released by Men in Ink Press on May 26, 2019 and is 185 pages.  The audiobook was released November 21, 2019 is narrated by Dan Calley and is 5 hours and 27 minutes. An audio book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Why I read this: I’m addicted to this series.

Blurb: 

“You up for that, hm, Ash? A lesson from an old soul to youth? From me…to you?” (Raif)

Ash Thomas and his gameplay with other men is vicious, cruel. Better to f–k someone over than be the one who’s on the floor, f–ked up, right? But his latest cruelties are about to catch the eye of the Wraith, someone who’s been brought up to play professionally in the shadows. For Ash, beauty and rage aren’t the kind of sins to win him any favours anymore. Life lessons never did come easy, especially when they’re about to walk in off the darkened streets, bringing a hangman with bloodied footprints in its wake.

Buy links: Audible | Amazon | Add to Goodreads

Read Erryn’s review of the audio of book 1 here.

Read Erryn’s review of the audio of book 2 here.

Read Erryn’s review of the audio of book 3 here.

Read Erryn’s review of the audio of book 4 here.

*****

My review:

Fluttermouses, Butterflies and Wraiths

Being a faithful fan of the Don’t series, I nabbed this one as soon as it came out.  I quickly realized these were new characters and I wouldn’t be seeing Jack, Jan, and Gray.  Okay, I’m easily able to adapt.  Something new.  Great.  As long as I got a mindfuck, I knew I’d be happy.

I was not disappointed.

Ash is a great character.  He’s not got his shit together.  He’s barely able to hold onto his auto parts job (mostly thanks to his supervisor and close mate Johnny).  He’s got a fuck buddy with Chase, another mate.  He’s living with his father and that’s a whole other level of dysfunction.

He gets in trouble at work and is punished by being assigned to housesit for his boss.  Now, I knew he wasn’t going to sit quietly for the weekend and behave – that would be completely out of character.  Did I envision the amount of trouble he could get in during a few scant hours on a Saturday night?  Nope.  Was I on the edge of my seat the whole time?  Yep.

Being young and impressionable, Ash is an interesting character.  Cynical at times?  For sure.  Open to new experiences?  Absolutely.  He’s planning a backpacking trip with Johnny and Chase.  An opportunity to get away from his hum-drum life.

On his adventures the night of housesitting, he meets an enigmatic older stranger.  A man who never shares much about himself.  Ash has no reason to trust the man and yet he does.  There’s no logical reason for him to be attracted to Raif, and yet he is.  There’s no rational reason for him to keep unlocking his door at night, and yet he does.

When tragedy strikes, my heart broke.  I didn’t see it coming and was shocked.  Does it set up the next book?  Brilliantly.  There is no happy ending in this book, but there is a promise of more.  More of Ash and more of Raif.  More of the mystery.  More mindfucks.

I can’t wait.

Dan Calley is the narrator for this series and he’s a brilliant choice.  His deep and resonant voice works for these men who range from working class to white collar.  There’s a wide range and Calley handles all of them really well.  Here’s hoping the wait isn’t too long for the next book in the series.

My rating:

10/10 pots of Gold (100% Recommended) – Compares to 5/5 Stars

Website | Facebook| Twitter: @jackl_pyke | Goodreads

Jack blames her dark writing influences on living close to one of England’s finest forests. Having grown up hearing a history of kidnappings, murders, strange sightings, and sexual exploits her neck of the woods is renowned for, Jack takes that into her writing, having also learned that human coping strategies for intense situations can sometimes make the best of people have disastrously bad moments. Redeeming those flaws is Jack’s drive.

Jack’s also a contract editor, working with Dreamspinner Press, DSP Publications, and Harmony Ink. She’s also had the absolute pleasure of editing exceedingly talented indie authors like Adrienne Wilder and Joseph Lance Tonlet.

Basically this all means Jack finds herself incredibly humbled to write, edit, and read solely in the M/M romance genre, with a particular love of psychological thrillers, BDSM, and crime.