Fair Game

By: Josh Lanyon

Narrated by: Sawyer Allerde

A crippling knee injury forced Elliot Mills to trade in his FBI badge for dusty chalkboards and bored college students. Now a history professor at Puget Sound University, the former agent has put his old life behind him, but it seems his old life isn't finished with him.

A young man has gone missing from campus and as a favor to a family friend, Elliot agrees to do a little sniffing around. His investigations bring him face-to-face with his former lover, Tucker Lance, the special agent handling the case.

Things ended badly with Tucker, and neither man is ready to back down on the fight that drove them apart. But they have to figure out a way to move beyond their past and work together as more men go missing and Elliot becomes the target in a killer's obsessive game....

©2010 Josh Lanyon (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Great mystery!

Josh Lanyon writes good mysteries and this book definitely shows why. Great and genuine characters, and a well thought-out plot. I love mysteries and romantic suspense and Lanyon delivers on both counts.

A student from the university goes missing and former FBI agent Elliot Mills promises to look into it. What he stumbles across is much more sinister than just one missing student. It seems like there might be a serial killer hunting on the grounds, and one that does not like Elliot poking his nose into his business.

The romance between Elliot and Tucker is a second chance one. They parted in the past just after Elliot gut injured in the line of duty and left the FBI for teaching history at the university. While there is some drama, a hint of angst, it all plays well with the story. It's never drama or angst for the sake of it but truly has a place and a meaning behind it all. I loved watching them dance around each other. Both still having feelings for each other, but also deeply hurt over how it all ended. It was great to be there when they put it all aside to try again.

This book is definitely mystery focused and all things romance comes second place. I don't mind that at all, I love mysteries and trying to figure out who the bad guys are, the motives behind it all, so I was one happy girl beginning to end.

Sawyer Allerde was a good narrator. Not a great one, but far from bad. His deep voice fit well with the story and he had a wide range of voices for all the different characters we encountered. I do wish he'd added a bit more feeling to his narration, but that's might just be me being picky.

Fair Game was a good start to the series and even though Elliot did say his investigation days was in the past, I have feeling trouble will find him sooner rather than later. If you are a fan of mysteries and haven't read this series yet, you should change that now.

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

Runaway? Suicide? Murder...oh my.

New to teaching after his career with the FBI is over, Elliot Mills is not looking for a mystery, but family dynamics get him involved with finding a missing student. And then another student comes up missing, the 2 boys seem to have nothing in common except they both go to school at Elliot's College. As Elliot picks his way thru the clues, he meets up and starts up again, with his ex-lover FBI agent Tucker Lance, and catches the eye of a serial killer who wants to play a game with Elliot - catch me if you can.

Josh Lanyon writes a great mystery, and he does not telegraph the killer so you keep guessing until the very end. JL's men are always sexy, smart, and fun to read. His romance/mysteries give you just enough loving to make them spice but never too much to detract from the mystery.

One of my go-to authors.

On a personal note, there are errors in geographical facts that irked for me (having been born, raised, and still residing in Washington), but it is a slight irritation that no-one not from the Puget Sound area would even know.

bad narration

Really good story. Really good characters. Really good Lanyon. I can only gave the audio 3 stars because the narrator made it hard to follow.He didn't even come close to doing Lanyon's work justice. The Kindle edition gets the full 5 starts. Fair play, the 2nd in the trilogy, has a different narrator & is definitely worth the credit!

Narration lacked emotion

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

The story is good - I'd like to read more about the two MCs.

What aspect of Ray Ramano’s performance would you have changed?

During the sex scene, the narration did not really convey much emotion. It kinda sounded like the narrator really didn't want to be reading that part of the book.

really great storyline and perfect narration.

Just a touch of sexiness with an engrossing story. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Very Good Mystery

I think I'm really going to like Josh Lanyon. I've been wanting to read Fair Game a try for a long time and I'm go glad I finally did. This was a very good mystery that had me thoroughly invested in how all the pieces fit together. Elliot was a great main character who was very sharp even though he was no longer an FBI agent. Throw him having to work with his ex Tucker it made for some heated discussions, but it was clear Elliot still wanted Tucker. This one was well written and all around a good book. The narration was also really good really liked Sawyer Allerde's voice. It was kind of smokey and deep, but not like a heavy smoker. He has this authority and knowledge about him that was fitting to the character. So well done. Really like this audiobook.

Definitely worth reading

I am definitely a fan of this author. His stories are a step beyond most in that they have depth, are very interesting and there is suspense. Not to mention extremely enjoyable.

Great story, not so great performance

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the storyline and plot of the novel. It was a good listen and a good length. The performance was a little too deadpan. Ray Ramano gave the characters very little emotion and didn't alter his voice with the changes in mood. Overall a good book that would be made better with a more enthused reader.

excellent story

I loved this story. The narrator is easy to understand and the story is interesting and entertaining. Well worth a listen.

Entertaining Listen, Again!

Just a note to say that Fair Game by Josh Lanyon is a captivating well written murder mystery novel. Released in 2010, it's one of her older books, but it holds its own against many new murder mystery books. Lanyon's context and setting at a college in Puget Sound is perfect because it's a little "small town", surrounded by thick pine woods that can be spooky to walk through at night, thus the feeling of potential danger is often present. Elliot is a professor at the university who had to leave his FBI detective life after a painful crippling injury to his knee. He left his career and his colleague with benefits (Tucker) behind to start up a new life in Puget Sound University. He lives on a sparsely populated island in a beautiful remote cabin in the woods, commutes by ferry, and is working to recover as much as possible from his knee injury. Elliot gets drawn into the murder mystery when two young men from the college go missing. The story has a variety of characters who may or may not have something to do with the missing students; each personality adding their own twist to the mystery. I'm an unabashed Josh Lanyon fan and have been recently revisiting her novels, both stand alone and series. I recommend Fair Game to those who haven't read Lanyon's older books and to those haven't discovered Josh Lanyon and enjoy a murder mystery with a modicum of MM steaminess.
Sawyer Allerde narrates this book beautifully.