Frat House Troopers

By: Xavier Mayne

Narrated by: Peter B. Brooke

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

State trooper Brandt's new assignment to infiltrate a sex-cam operation puts him in a very uncomfortable position, especially since he'll have to perform naked on camera for his audition. Fortunately his partner and best friend, Donnelly, has his back - whether that means helping Brandt shop gay boutiques for sexy underwear or offering Jager and encouragement while he researches porn.

Despite his mortification, Brandt gives the audition his best "shot" - and becomes an overnight sensation. But to meet the man behind the operation, he'll have to give a repeat performance, this time live on webcam opposite the highest bidder. Donnelly makes sure to win that auction for his partner's sake, but their plan has a flaw: faking it is not an option.

In the aftermath, Brandt is a humiliated mess trying desperately to come to terms with what he's had to do for the job and his own mixed feelings. But Donnelly has been on a journey of discovery of his own. Suddenly everything the two men thought they knew about themselves and each other gets turned inside out. Meanwhile, they still have a case to solve…but it may not be the case they thought it was.

©2012 Xavier Mayne (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

BEWARE: SPOILERS LIVE HERE!

Any additional comments?

If you hate spoilers, STOP READING NOW. Click away! Click away from this review!

Allow me a moment to first say this before I begin my rant:

Peter B. Brooke's narration was wonderful. He brought out the humor and passion in this. I really enjoyed his narration. 4 Stars for the narration.

And now for my rant: This story makes absolutely no sense to me.

The plot: State Trooper Ethan Brandt is tasked with going undercover in a sex-cam operation in order to shut them down on tax Revenue code 164.32 - not paying taxes on personal services rendered.

Problem #1 Can someone explain to me how someone jerking off on camera is going to get a business's tax information?

Why wouldn't you just fabricate some way to into the office to work? Or get your tech guys to send a virus and have your "undercover" guy show up to fix the computer and get your info that way? Also - there's no warrant involved so there's no coverage there, and the higher ups tell Brandt they'll make sure to get the video, if he has to do one, stopped. How? Once you do that and it's on the internet - it's out there. Finito. No going back.

Problem #2 Every guy is STRAIGHT. Full on, don't even try to tell him differently, STRAIGHT. Even the ones with boyfriends.

There are two sets of men in this story - the full on camp gay guys, like Bryce and Nestor (I love you Bryce!!) and the "I'm so straight a ruler is jealous" straight guys - even though they're attracted to, kiss, date, or sleep with other men. Apparently no one has ever heard of, or believes in, bisexuality.

Problem #3 Brandt infiltrates the sex cam mansion and becomes very friendly with Nick, one of the guys who works there. I swear to God, I thought Nick was the love interest right up until - out of nowhere - Brandt's police partner, and best friend, Donnelly declares his feelings.

Suddenly, within a weekend Brandt and Donnelly are 69ing each other, there's rimming, and they're declaring their love. This from two guys who, a WEEK prior, literally couldn't stand to look at a penis on a website.

Then, with only one homphobic diner experience behind them they are accepted by one and all without a second's hesitation.

Problem #4 Everything wraps up sooo conveniently, and it's all kittens and rainbows. Kittens and rainbows, people.

Whatever.

Yes, it has some heat (which was pretty awesome), and it's got humor (which was pretty darn funny), and it's got a nice HEA...but so many problems.

On the plus side, I loved Bryce. For Bryce I'm giving an extra star.

So, let's see...4 Stars for the narration, minus 3 stars for all my problems, plus one star for Bryce...

2 Stars

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Fun read

This is a fun read with a great narrator. The story is completely unbelievable and simple. Very predictable, but I still enjoyed the ride. The main theme seems to be can two declared (and they declare it over and over) straight cops suddenly have a relationship. What was somewhat annoying was the simplistic execution of this thesis. And the constant theme of "I'm straight" "I'm straight" "No really I'm straight". OK, we get it you were straight before you weren't. The only saving grace is the MC is very sweet and Bryce is a hoot. I don't think I would have like this book in print, but the narrator is fantastic at bringing the characters to life and parts are really funny. Probably worth a credit if you don't expect too much and just go along with the ride.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Love This Book!

Where does Frat House Troopers rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've listened to many books and don't know if I can rank it, but I can give it an A for Amazing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Even though he was in it for just a minute, I'd have to say it was Nestor. He was so funny and I loved the way he was voiced. Very campy and I could see him very clearly in my mind's eye.

What does Peter Brooke bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Bravo, Mr. Brooke. He has a talent for characterizations and accents. He gives very distinctive voices to each person and makes them very real.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I loved this book when I read it, but hearing it made me happy and sad. I laughed out loud while listening at work, and at some parts would have cried if I weren't afraid that my makeup would run or my co-workers would ask me a million questions as to why I was so upset.

Any additional comments?

I am so happy that such a great book and talented narrator were teamed up. That hasn't happened with many of the audiobooks I've listened to lately. I hope Dreamspinner has more work for Peter and that other books by Mr. Mayne are in audiobook format.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Good but not smex!

Ok.. I like a book with smexy all in it...well at least apart of the story...

This was a m/m romance and it was sooo funny that I was seriously laughing out loud...the story was great...kept me entertained...but not smexy time... well take that back... at the end..but just it didn't meet my smexy quota...so....IDK... I good book, just don't expect smexy time!

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Double Gay For You

So... I thought I'd enjoy this more than I did.
One of my pet peeves is purple prose. And this one was swimming in it. It started out so promising, too. Here we have two (manly) dudes, both straight. Both cops. Perfect ingredients for a double-gay-for-you with the added bonus of friends-to-lovers, right? Well, this kind of fell flat in the execution. See, Brandt and Donnelly don't really have much interaction despite being partners and apparently best friends before they realize they want each other. And after they realize they want each other, they become purple prose monsters.
It didn't help that the narrator didn't give each guy a distinct voice. They were already so much alike, that making then sound alike as well made it really hard to distinguish between the two guys.
There were some funny lines, but I just didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good Story

This was a nice story of two straight cops going undercover on a gay porn site, the best part was the shopping in the gay clothing store and the gay guys was dressing him for the interview to get on the site it was totally funny.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A bit slow in the beginning...

Would you consider the audio edition of Frat House Troopers to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Frat House Troopers?

When officer Brandt faced officer Donnelly in his apartment.

What does Peter Brooke bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The feelings.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. The beginning is a bit slow, which is understandable since the scenario has to be established. I got a bit bored though, right after the party at Donnelly's it gets interesting. There's basically no sex before that.

Any additional comments?

I was seriously considering returning the audiobook but then story had a plot twist and got me totally hooked.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I couldn't stop laughing!! Great comedy.

Any additional comments?

For all it's hilarity I rate the book more 3.5 than 4, but GR doesn't do half ratings as we all know.

ok, where to start? Well first I guess I should tell you that this story is a hoot!! I snickered, and giggled, and shook my head while rolling my eyes. This is a true comedy and you should NOT take this story seriously. Regardless of the authors intent, I am here to tell you this is all about the light heartedness of reading and escapism. There is no basis in any reality for which this story could possible come true (does that make sense?).

I totally and completely believe that Love is Love and that gay, straight or bi, you love you who love, regardless of their sex. Long story short, I believe in GFY (or possibly more apt: Love For You). What I don't believe is that when something like that happens, there isn't a discussion about it. Brandt and Donnelly have been straight their whole life, and in one week, things between them change. But they don't really talk about it. They realize, "Holy shit I'm in love with you, bro!!" and I only just figured it out. "Wow, dude, me too!!!" And that's basically where the conversation ended. And going back to my earlier comment on the fact that this is a comedy and not to be taken seriously, I can understand why there isn't a heavy discussion on it, but their acceptance was just a little too quick and over (wow, gay, ok, love you, come out to EVERYBODY, the end) for me.

As for the police investigation, let's just say I seriously pray that this is not an example of how a real under cover operation would go. It took Brandt being undercover for the investigators to figure out that they Frat House Porn site is strictly legal and fully above board? Umm, they answered their own questions with like a phone call or something to the IRS. How did the DA and all those other legal minds not realize they could answer their own questions with a little something called "work?"

Anywho, this was a cute story that made me laugh and I will enjoy reading the rest of this series. The audio narrator was good, but I kept loosing track of who was thinking what (I don't know if it's because I wasn't paying attention or what, but I kept thinking it was one guy and it turned out to be the other). The editing of the audio seemed off - the transitions between POV was weird at times and their were long pauses that I thought were out of place.

It is more romance than mystery

I bought this book on the recommendation from another web site. I was looking for a good mystery (primarily), with LGBT characters. The mystery isn't bad, and knowing from the description that it was about cops infiltrating an adult website, I wasn't shocked at the sex. That said, the focus of the book is really a romance of two "straight" guys falling in love with each other. I find it a little frustrating that the male characters typically fall into only two camps: "swishy" gay guys, and "straight" guys who just happen to have sex with other guys. This somehow felt homophobic to me. It is as if a "gay" guy can't like football, be a cop etc. and if a guy does like that stuff but also sleeps with guys, he's straight except for the sex. While I know this is a popular trope in gay romance, it doesn't match up with the world I know and takes me out of the story.
The mystery and adventure is a lot of fun. Watching the guys prepare to infiltrate the web site, prepare for their roles and trying to determine what is really going on is interesting and quirky. The sex scenes work, but aren't really my thing.

Over the top fun

Would you listen to Frat House Troopers again? Why?

The plot is so over the top that I just loved it. Don't go in expecting realism. The two main characters are super-hot. There's also a sense of humor in the writing that I appreciate.

Any additional comments?

I think this audio book was tiny bit too long. Editing down some of the minor characters would not be a bad idea.