Kill Game

Seven of Spades, Volume 1

By: Cordelia Kingsbridge

Narrated by: Wyatt Baker

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Homicide detective Levi Abrams is barely holding his life together. He’s reeling from the fallout of a fatal shooting, and his relationship with his boyfriend is crumbling. The last thing he’s prepared for is a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Or how he keeps getting thrown into the path of annoyingly charming bounty hunter Dominic Russo.

Dominic likes his life free of complications. That means no tangling with cops—especially prickly, uptight detectives. But when he stumbles across one of the Seven of Spades’s horrifying crime scenes, he can’t let go, despite Levi’s warnings to stay away.

The Seven of Spades is ruthless and always two moves ahead. Worst of all, they’ve taken a dangerously personal interest in Levi and Dominic. Forced to trust each other, the two men race to discover the killer’s identity, revealing hidden truths along the way and sparking a bond neither man expected. But that may not be enough to protect them.

This killer likes to play games, and the deck is not stacked in Levi and Dominic’s favor.

©2017 Cordelia Kingsbridge (P)2018 Riptide Publishing

Nail biter!!! Sooooo Amazing!!!

LOVED IT! LOVED! LOVED IT! So, I really liked this book. Why?

1. Great PLOT. A true thriller. A vigilante serial killer is slashing their way through Sin City’s baddies. Detectives Levi Abram and Martine Valcourt are on the case. And so is bounty hunter Dominic Russo, ex Army Ranger. Super well paced and interesting. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out who the killer is. I still can’t since this seems to be a five book series. Oh god help me! I won’t be able to wait!

2. The CHARACTERS. Dominic, Dominic, Dominic. *fans self* This hunk of bad-ass is all sweetness inside. With a winning smile. And he’s HUGE. All over. He’s got problems such as a gambling addiction, and no plans for the future. I mean, one can only keep collecting twinks for so long.

Then there’s Levi. Krav Maga expert. Lean, mean, and not the most personable man. He looks down on the likes of bounty hunters like Dominic. So of course, these two are thrown together thanks to our serial killer. And while they only have one sex scene in the book together, it’s scorching hot. There’s other sex, but with other people. No, there’s no cheating aside from a kiss.

Another thing I liked about this book was Levi’s partner, Martine. It’s always wonderful seeing strong female secondary characters who take part in the story in roles other than mother, sister, ex, or BFF.

So, we have a host of characters, male and female. A serial killer of unknown gender. And a budding relationship. Can I just hope and pray that we have a female baddie for once?

This was a NTM narrator and while it took me a while to get used to his voice, I soon grew to love it and thought it was a perfect fit for these guys!! I’ve already picked up the next book in audio (although I’ve already read them all in ebook)!!!

You gotta listen to this book! I can’t wait until the last three of this five book series come out in audiobook!!!

good book. always loved this author

I enjoyed this book. great start to the series, made me want to keep reading.

love this book one of the best

this book had everything I still don't know who the bad guy is and the love store is good to with ups and downs this is one of the best book I have gotten this year so far I will listen to this one more then once that is for Shure

GREAT

Love this book, can't wait for book 2! Great narration and great writing! Tks both!

Surprisingly good, a real plot

(As always, my review is taking the genre into account for how it rates.)

This book was pretty good, it does end on a cliffhanger of sorts, I don't think that's a spoiler given the series title (the mystery isn't yet resolved). I'm definitely intrigued, I feel like I know who did it, but I want it to be someone else for satisfaction's sake. At any rate, a good use of red herring information and clue dropping, it kept me interested.

I appreciated that we got glimpses of the POV characters' lives without the mystery plot being left completely on the wayside. For a first book in a series, it was very nicely balanced between plot, intrigue, and establishing/developing characters. I also thought the author did a great job of filling the book with characters so the story didn't feel insular or superficial, but still let those characters be only side/background characters so the book wasn't overflowing with unnecessary details.

I liked the slower approach to building something between the main characters, though it definitely isn't a slow burn. I hope to like Levi a bit more in the next book, he wasn't a bad character and I did connect to him in some scenes, but compared to Dom I felt he missed a bit of heart.

The narrator was okay, no annoying voices, but not my favorite. As a personal choice issue, I didn't find the voice he chose for Dom fitting at all. I noticed he mispronounced a few more words than seems typical for audiobooks, but it wasn't anything too distracting.

If you liked this book, I'd recommend checking out the Shadow or the Templar series, it is another LEO and consultant series (though completely different set up) that I loved. Hoping this series improves as much each book as that one did.

addictive!

Would I listen to it again: yes
Did the story keep me engaged: yes
Was I invested in the characters: yes

I've waited until the whole series was available in audio before starting this one, and I'm glad I did. It has me intreigued, and knowing I don't have to wait for the next one to be released was worth the wait!

📖 Story comment: Good pace, likeable characters, intersting plot - and it's great to see a strong secondary female character. I like the developing relationship between Eli and Dom, and this has been a good "set-up" for the rest of the series, I'm even liking the "vigilante" seriel killer picking off his version of "bad-guys".

🎧 Narrator comment: I enjoyed Wyatt Bakers narration, his style reminds me of the old "Dragnet" Radio drama's - he has good timing, and it's easy to tell the characters apart, overall I enjoyed it and would happily listen to it again.


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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 8
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator [4⭐] • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in all formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

great read or listen

Narrator was great to listen to and I love this series so much hope they make the rest into audio books sometime as well.

Favorite series!

This is one of my favorite series hands down. It has everything I could want and more.

Fantastic story that's just getting started

I love this book! Levi and Dom have amazing chemistry and the seven of spades is an absolutely a worth opponent! I can't wait to ready more!

Awesome boom!

I honestly don’t know why their isn’t more reviews on audible about this book. It was perfect. Great plot, realistic characters, and a believable development of romance. Unfortunately theirs not enough books like this on audible. Almost all romances and cliche, unrealistic, or one of the main characters is damn near a chick with a dick. Hopefully this whole series gets on audible.