Declination

Borealis Investigations, Book 3

By: Gregory Ashe

Narrated by: Charlie David

Shaw and North are together. Finally. After eight years of knowing each other and loving each other and slipping past each other, they’ve finally told each other how they feel. Borealis Investigations is growing, and they have a major prospective client on the line. Everything is finally moving the way it should.

Until the night Shaw receives a phone call telling him that Detective Jadon Reck, his former boyfriend, has been attacked.

In spite of a warning from Jadon’s partner, Shaw and North begin an investigation into the attack. But nothing is at it seems. City police are working to cover up evidence faster than Shaw and North can find it, and the motive for the attack seems impossible to unravel.

When a conspiracy of dirty cops takes action against Shaw and North, the two detectives realize they are running out of time. They have to get answers about the attack on Jadon before they lose their own lives. But Shaw knows there are things worse than death. And one of them has come back for him, to finish what he started seven years before.

The West End Slasher has returned.

©2019 Gregory Ashe (P)2020 Gregory Ashe

Amazing

This just gets better and better. I feel like Charlie David has found his pace.

Terrific, authentic relationship problems

and believable mystery with lots of surprises! Loved it, highly recommend this book and all the authors works!

Enjoyable Listen

It was great. A lot of vulgarity but I guess that's the way folks talk. Can't wait to hear what's next for these characters. Been a fan of Charlie's great acting and am now one of his great narrating.

Tying up the West End Slasher

This book was brilliant and it is a further example that I love North and Shaw!! I kinda guessed the who that was part of this long mystery involving the West End (but not British) Slasher case, but not the WHY and HOW so it was nice seeing it all come together, even if all of it seemed a little convoluted at first.

Content notes include misgendering a character, violence, mentions of domestic abuse, dirty cops, murders, alleged suicide, and unresolved PTSD.

The start of the book introduces a new character we've never met before and I wondered how this character would even factor into the storyline because the whole thing seemed so unrelated and random? But I really like this new character and how ze is worked into the storyline, and what hir means for another character going forward in the series. The character is gender nonconforming with ze/hir pronouns and hir goes by Truck. Truck is an interesting character in that ze is a scam artist, but I wind up liking hir a lot? Also, Truck is apparently the perfect person for Pari after Pari's fiasco of cheating partners, so I'm really happy for her.

I should note here that, and maybe I'm wrong, Charlie David (the audiobook narrator) pronounces "hir" wrong throughout the entire audiobook? By the time I'm writing this review, I've already gone through the second arc audiobooks as well, and I'm pretty sure he uses the wrong pronunciation for the entire series (which is 5 books where this comes up at this point). The pronoun "hir" should be pronounced "here" but what the narrator says is "her". Although, with all the issues I have with the pronunciations in the audiobook I'm not entirely sure if "here" is pronounced "her" in Canada (where the narrator appears to be from)? I would've expected the American pronunciation at least for a character's pronouns. Because it just sounds incorrect otherwise.

This book takes place two months after the end of Triangulation where we see Jadon on North and Shaw's doorstep very bloodied up and with a threat towards North. We don't see Jadon as much in this book, because his association to North and Shaw, and just being a good detective lands him in hot water for snooping too much into things he should've stayed out of. As far as ex-boyfriends go in Gregory Ashe books, he might be the one I liked the quickest after he became an ex. Like, Jadon is just a good guy. There's nothing really to hate about him. Ex-boyfriends in other series have had a lot more problems to overcome before I finally warmed up to them (looking at you, Nico).

Interestingly, while we have overlap between these Borealis books and the Hazard and Somerset books in that characters appear in one another's books due to their prolixity and just do to being in similar timelines, I don't think we've seen Jadon in the Hazard and Somerset books? So, I wonder if Jadon will ever cross paths with those guys because if Jadon thinks North drives him up the wall, what would a meeting with Emery Hazard do? I don't think Hazard and Jadon have crossed paths when Hazard was working in St. Louis before, but I could be wrong.

This story is unexpectedly very, very angsty, even between North and Shaw. There's a lot of unresolved issues between them even though they're now together. No one does angst between couples in an established relationship better than Gregory Ashe. Their big fight in this book was a stab to the heart, and I love a moment that can give me stabby heart feels.

This book has a puppy (!!!) that North and Shaw both say they don’t want but you can tell they absolutely adore it. They get the puppy on a case that's in a short story, I think? I need to go back and read it to make sure. It's not required reading before diving into this book, but it IS a fun little add-on. And you'll never guess who the puppy loves more. The puppy is so cute! The puppy also has no name (yet).

The Slasher storyline wraps up with this book, but this does end with a cliffhanger into the next story arc because you know who hasn't been dealt with yet? Uncle Ronnie, and most annoyingly, Tucker. They're a thorn in everyone's side and the fast they’re done away with, the better.

One thing I didn't notice the first time I read this because there was so much going on, is that Jadon is still in a coma by the time this book ends?? We never see him get better or get out of his coma. So, if I were to say one part of the ending was odd and left entirely unresolved, that would be it.

I really enjoyed this book and I liked this first story arc. I wouldn't say the audiobook narration is my favorite just because the pronunciations are really just all over the place, and not at all what I would expect from these characters in St. Louis and I find that it is distracting at times.

I am torn...

... between the two series of North and Shaw (Borealis Investigations) and the Hazard and Somerset series. The stories are vivid, the suspense is keeping you on the edge of your seat and the plot is brilliant! I love the way the protagonists in Borealis are growing towards each other in their relationship. There is a lot of baggage to overcome and the way they overcome it and keep finding their way back to each other is simply beautiful. and their office manager is often downright irritating but also wildly hilarious! I can't imagine why I didn't find the books of Gregory Ashe sooner, but I'm so glad I did! Now they have become an automatic one-click for me.
As for the narration of Charlie David? I'm not a fan. I think his timbre often isn't right; even when the story gives a "directive" in how something should sound, he doesn't sound like it. His diction is a bit too refined, so even when the character curses up a blue streak it doesn't sound realistic to me. Then again I never had to close an audible narrated by Charlie David because I couldn't take it any longer. I just listen and think: oh well...