Pressure Head

The Plumber's Mate, Book 1

By: JL Merrow

Narrated by: Phillip Humphries

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Some things are better left hidden....

Tom Paretski’s not just a plumber with a dodgy hip courtesy of a schoolboy accident. He also has a sixth sense for finding hidden things. Called in by the police to help locate a body near Brock’s Hollow, he’s staggered to encounter Phil Morrison, his old school crush - and the closeted bully whose actions contributed to Tom’s accident.

Phil’s all grown up now, and Tom’s unwilling attraction to him is back with a vengeance. Phil’s now openly gay - and what’s more, he’s interested in Tom’s personal charms as well as his psychic talents. As a private investigator called in by the dead woman’s parents, Phil is sceptical about Tom’s unusual gift, but nevertheless quick to spot its potential to aid him in his work.

The further they go with the investigation, the less they can ignore their shared past, and the more the pressure and the heat build between them. But Tom isn’t certain he wants to know the secrets he’s helping to uncover, while there’s a murderer on the loose who won’t hesitate to kill again - and this uneasy couple is moving right into his sights.

©2017 JL Merrow (P)2020 Riptide Publishing

So good.. can't wait for the rest of the series!

I've enjoyed all of JL Merrow's books. They just keep getting better. I hope the rest of the series is soon to follow. I'm on tenterhooks!

Narrator is good, just not my favorite

I didn't love it as much as I did the first time I read it for various reasons, but it's still an enjoyable story and a good mystery. It kind of ignores a number of issues, but as a cozy mystery, a snapshot of life in an English village, and the start of a series it's a good bit of fun.

Audio: I do not love this narrator, I find his voice a bit irritating. But, at the same time, it's kind of perfect for Tom so I don't know what to think. He does a good job of delineating the characters and the emotions are handled well, but I was hoping to love the audio and I just didn't.

Entertaining

I enjoyed this audiobook for the most part. Tom’s talent was interesting and I liked him as a character. I’m still not sure if I like Phil. He had his reasons for being awful to Tom when they were in school (bad reasons, but understandable, imo), but I think Tom was too quick to let everything go. Especially because Phil is so dismissive of him when they meet as adults. The narrator was pretty good, though my American ears sometimes had trouble with his accent and there seemed to be a few technical issues with the recording.

Fantastic

I’m so excited that this book is finally on audible! Phillip Humphries has done a marvelous job capturing the feel of the book. I really enjoyed the whole thing. I cannot wait for the rest of the series!

Finally!

I’m drawn to, well a lot of things when you actually list them. One of those things are psychics in various forms, they intrigue me. So I did read Pressure Head a few years ago when I first came across it, and now that it’s been released into audio I was stoked and had to revisit this series once more.

I think that this series and Tom Paretski in particular is refreshing in so many ways, but let me give you a few; his family aren’t natives to the country they live in, his psychic ability also isn’t your typical “I talk to dead people” spiel, and my personal favourite; he’s a plumber. It’s arguably one of the lesser “attractive” fields of employment there is. Everything today is all about the surface, the well-paid and high-profile jobs, your status in society, and that’s why I’m over the moon every time I find a book where the MC works with something that out of the norm, that isn’t all shiny.

As far as his psychic ability goes, it fascinates me how he just finds everything that’s been hidden, be it a leaky pipe, a secret stash of porn or dead bodies. But also, depending on what was hidden it caused him physical discomfort and even pain. Seeing that his best friend happens to be a police officer, he does get asked to find more than his share of dead bodies. This body however is a bit different, this time Tom gets involved in solving the murder. But he had to do it with his old nemesis; Phil Morrison, his high school bully. Let the sparks fly!

Phillip Humphries is a new narrator for me and for the most part he did a really good impression on me and I can’t wait to listen to the rest of the series. I love his accent, its genuine UK, the kind that can’t be faked. Don’t get me wrong there are many narrators that does great accent but there is always that something extra with a genuine accent. It really anchors the story and characters to the place. I also loved how he lived in the story, and varied his tone and pacing after the situation. I liked it!

Pressure Head is a great start to a great series and I can only hope more books will make their way to audio.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Riveting mystery

This is one of my favorite paranormal mystery rereads, and the narrator did a wonderful job with all of the different voices. I can’t wait for the next one.

Mixed Review

Pros: despite a cheap-sounding recording, the reader was enjoyable to listen to. His intonation and interpretation were spot on, and his accent really drew me in and made it feel real.

Cons: The writing is a style of quippy sarcasm often found in comedic drama tv. This one felt very Queer as Folk to me. So if you liked Queer As Folk, you might enjoy this. The main character is annoying, and I didn't feel any chemistry between them.

Gay bashing

SOOOOO I have a huge problem with female writers think gay bashing and bullying is a nothing kind of offense this is not the first gay romance novel that turned the bully from youth into the love interest, and just kinda blew off the bully’s actions….trust me coming from a gay that got bullied…it is NOT an offense you just forget about “because we were kids” it doesn’t matter what u felt for the person, no one just blows it off cause he’s a hot bloke, it’s the kinda thing that traumatizes u for life….and that’s just if it was verbal, if I had been hurt so bad that I was injured for life, because I was running from gay bashing bully’s…..yeah it would NOT be forgotten and forgiven so easily…..ask ANY gay man if they’d fill different…..the answers a resounding NO, it’s not like a straight guy teasing a girl he has a crush on in school….which is how the female authors treat it…..it’s a massively traumatic and life defining time….it shapes us and our courage and utter disgust of bullying…female authors need to understand this, it absolutely devalues what we go through and how hurtful and damaging its.