Flawed Justice

The Asylum Fight Club, Book 1

By: Tibby Armstrong, Bianca Sommerland

Narrated by: Gabriel McKnight

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

If there were an emergency number for adulthood, Matt Kincaid would have dialed it months ago. Raising his kid brother alone is already an uphill battle, nevermind when an ugly gang initiation lands the teen in lockup. Again. Only, this time for a hate crime against a local fight club, where settling debts isn't taken lightly. When the club offers to let Matt risk everything in a long-shot match with a man who's as brutally handsome as he is tough, he jumps at the chance.

There are no limits to what Lawson 'The Law' Gaumond will do to protect the club he and his former lovers built. An inner-city sanctuary where Anniston Falls' gay leather culture thrives, The Asylum Fight Club isn't an easy place, but it's home. Taking on a local hothead whose younger brother vandalized the space isn't high on his priority list, but there's something about Matt that cries out for a firm hand.

When renewed gang violence erupts, spilling blood over The Asylum, Lawson and Matt must confront their pasts to find a way forward. Gunshots and knives should be harder to survive than this rough love, but coming to the ring armed with nothing but the truth is their greatest challenge of all.

Contains mature themes.

©2019 Tibby Armstrong and Bianca Sommerland (P)2022 Tantor

Good story, okay narration

I'd been meaning to read this book for quite a long time - and when the audiobook came out, I thought I'd get to it much sooner, but apparently, it took me another couple years. Time flies and all that.
I enjoyed this book & I do intend to keep going with the series. I was invested in the story quickly - I hadn't read the blurb for some time, so it felt even more intriguing at first, so far as learning about the characters and their motivations, with no clear memory of the gist of the plot beyond the very basic premise of the club itself. I liked and sympathized with Matt quite a bit and didn't mind Lawson overly much. I tend to be meh at best when it comes to doms in these types of books, as my own personality leans toward anti-authority, but I could take him for the most part. It helped that Matt could be pretty aggressive himself. Of the more dom-like characters, I preferred Curtis, who also had a large presence in this book, and that's got me intrigued for the next book, which apparently has Curtis as a lead protagonist.
There's a good bit of action in this book and suspense as well. It kind of slowed down around the halfway to two-thirds mark or so, but just as my interest began to wane, the plot thickened and got more intense, so I was sucked back in. So if you think everything is slowing down and maybe losing steam - keep going.
So far as the audio narration, it was decent, but I don't know if I'll continue with the audiobooks or read the e-books. It wasn't bad; I can't pick anything out that was a big negative, so I wouldn't necessarily avoid this narrator in the future; I just wasn't blown away. Audio is subjective, so others might enjoy it more.