Among the Living

PsyCop, Book 1

By: Jordan Castillo Price

Narrated by: Gomez Pugh

Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Victor Bayne, the psychic half a PsyCop team, is a gay medium who's more concerned with flying under the radar than in making waves.

He hooks up with handsome Jacob Marks, a non-psychic (or "Stiff") from an adjacent precinct at his ex-partner's retirement party, and it seems like his dubious luck has taken a turn for the better. But then a serial killer surfaces who can change his appearance to match any witness' idea of the world's hottest guy.

Solving murders is a snap when you can ask the victims whodunit, but this killer's not leaving any spirits behind.

Warning: This audiobook contains explicit adult content.

©2006 Jordan Castilo Price (P)2014 Jordan Castillo Price

Awesome start to series

I dare anyone to read or listen to this book and not want to go right to book two. Great world building and perfect start to the romance of Vic and Jacob. Pugh is the perfect narrator.

Simple and fun

Pros: I LOVE the premise. Never thought I'd be into psychic M/M romance (... actually, it never occurred to me to wonder if it existed). The reader is excellent. It's hot too.

Cons: the writing is a little sloppy at times, with words used incorrectly and clumsy exposition.

Great Book

If you could sum up Among the Living in three words, what would they be?

Excellent, Fast Paced, Sexy

Which character – as performed by Gomez Pugh – was your favorite?

All of them! They were all portrayed so very differently that it was easy to follow each and tell who was speaking and feeling like they were right there.

Any additional comments?

Absolutely great book.

good for what it is

a quick and easy, sexy gay fantasy procedural..satisfying just as that but the potential is there for future books

Solid start to a series

This audiobook is essentially a novella or short story, and a romantic sci-fi mystery. That’s a lot to take on, but Ms Price pulls it off nicely. The characters are diverse yet believable, and the sometimes over-the-top accents given them by narrator Mr. Pugh add to the fun of listening. The tension builds nicely through the book, though the ending was a bit perfunctory, as were the erotic scenes, but nevertheless enjoyable and varied. As the first in a series, it has developed a nice set of characters that I look forward to following through more adventures.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast

I LOVE this series so much!

Full disclosure: this is my fourth rereading of this series... and won't be the last one. I adore everything about this series: the stories, the characters, the world in which they live... everything! But Victor Bayne? Oh, he is my favourite thing in a world of favourites!

I love how complex he is, a low maintenance guy with his SaverPlus' clothes and crappy food habits who still manages to be high maintenance, with his addiction to Auracel, and his paranoia. A flippant, and aloof man, but one who misses Maurice badly and imprints in Lisa in a second. There is a deep vulnerability in Vic, that we get to see in glimpses, one that he tries really hard to hide under an armour of nonchalance. He is awkward and smart; funny and sarcastic, but he is also... him. I don't know how to explaining it well: he takes pride in his job with the police but doesn't mix with them. He likes to do a good job, but he isn't competitive, or an overachiever. When we met him, he seems to be... floating along, but not really living.

And a clue as to why, might rest in the fact that Vic is not only closeted, he has some very obvious issues regarding his sexuality and his own self. This is why he is clearly confused as to why smart and gorgeous Jacob might want to have anything with him. And, TBH, in the beginning, I also had my doubts and didn't trust Jacob, either.

The case in which they all end working (Vic, Lisa, Jacob and Carolyn) is kind of terrifying, but oh, so well done. And I can't fault Vic's taste: Bowie was delicious at any stage of his career, but as Ziggy Stardust? Oh, my!

One of the things that I really loved here is that Vic and Jacob's relationship (if we can call it that at this point) is not rushed. Here they are, mostly, two horny guys who lust after each other. And a bit of psy-kink on Jacob's side :P It's credible, it's realistic... and there are another 10 books (counting Briefs) to expand it, so I'm really happy with how the things are between them.

Lisa and Carlyn are great characters, and they stand perfectly by themselves, Strong women in a men's world, and doing it very well.

And last, but not least... Gomez Pugh! That man is the perfect narrator, with dozens of very distinctive, realistic voices, excellent, wonderful accents and capable of conveying even the tiniest nuance in his narration, An excellent choice for this series

Amazing series!

I love this entire series, I can’t recommend it enough. The evolution of all the relationships and the plot is awesome. The reader is also fantastic and really puts a great voice to everyone.

Want more of this series

Rather than write a book report, I'll just say that I hope to see more of this series, in longer books. Enjoyed the story, enjoyed the premise, enjoyed the performance. I particularly like the way the author included women as active characters as well as men. The author writes well, with nice descriptive text to set up scenes and flesh out characters. The reader could be a little more careful about doing a Latino accent but it was nice to hear him try.

Defenitely interesting

That was an interesting first book in a series. I'm defenitely hooked enough to want the second book. The characters were fleshed out despite how short it was, and Gomez Pugh did a fantastic job narrating.

Paranormal romantic suspense

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this to someone looking for a quick, novella length paranormal romantic suspense read. For me the story was a bit short and didn't have enough romance to satisfy the romance aspect or enough suspense to satisfy that requirement for me.

If you’ve listened to books by Jordan Castillo Price before, how does this one compare?

This was my first.

Which scene was your favorite?

Probably when we first meet the bad guy and find out what he is.

If you could rename Among the Living, what would you call it?

I would probably call it PsyCop.

Any additional comments?

I liked the story with it's beginning world building being given as elements of the story instead of any flat out statements. The characters were believable (except the rather instant attraction between Victor and Jacob). I did think both the romance and action could have been developed more though to make this a longer, more fulfilling read..

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."