Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas

By: Josh Lanyon

Narrated by: Derrick McClain

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners and best friends for three years, but everything changed the night Taylor admitted the truth about his feelings for Will. But it's complicated.

©2008 Josh Lanyon (P)2017 Josh Lanyon

Great Stories!!

Great reader! I really enjoyed the storylines. The stories flowed together well! The characters were great!

It is a good story,...

... I just wish there was a little more action (outside the bedroom). There could also be a little more details in the end of each story, they all seemed to just stop and you think to yourself "wait what happened next".

Enjoyed this series!

What did you love best about Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas?

The relationship between Will and Taylor as it progressed through all the books.

What other book might you compare Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas to and why?

Not,sure.

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

He does a great job with all the voices.

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

I loved it!

Any additional comments?

Great writing, great narrator.

Point Blank

The fighting/sniping/arguing the MC’s did through the first 4 novellas really took away from my enjoyment of this series. I loved Taylor but I just wanted him to dump Will and move on.

The narrator did a fantastic job and brought the story to life.

Another Stellar Series

Josh Lanyon never fails to spin a thrilling mystery and suspenseful romance. Derrick McClain does a great job narrating. This series is right up there with the Adrien English mysteries. So good.

A little painful to listen to

I like this author's work. Point Blank is not atypical of her work, but the novellas are less polished than her recent work. Props to her for finding federal security officers most of us have never heard of.

It was hard to finish because the narrator has a very stylized way of reading. There are brief, voiced vowels added to the front and back of many words, so that instead of "Will" it's "uhWill" or Willuh." Sometimes there is a sort of "ng" added in there, too. Since this affectation is part of the author's style of reading, it's there in the narration and both character's voices, although the pitch of the voices is quite different. Generally, speaking, the narrator does a decent job keeping all voices distinct from one another, which is a definite strength. Non-American accents are problematic though--even I can tell that the French accent is awful--and the narrator struggles to keep the accents consistent. With one exception, his female voices are pretty good.

Do listen to the sample. It may be that the manner of speaking that ruined the recording for me sounds just fine, or even attractive, to you.

Disappointedly unprofessional behavior

I have enjoyed several other of Josh Lanyon's books so I was thrilled to get 5 stories with only one credit. Unfortunately I was deeply disappointed in this series. Another reviewer has already commented on the thin plotlines of these stories so I won't say any more than agree with that. What I found so unexpected was the blatant unprofessional behavior exhibited by the two main characters. I thought that it was limited to Taylor's (constant) whining in reference to his relationship insecurities (I mean really, jealous about a high school girlfriend???!!!), however Will then proved to be equally so in the last one. They argue in front of others during the course of their professional duties, have sex in a hotel room while transporting a suspect who is asleep in the next bed, they don't call for backup on numerous occasions, etc.

I will mention one other thing that is admittedly not unique to these stories. That is the fact that most all of the M/M books that I have encountered treat the relationship as in line with the traditional heterosexual paradigm, that being two guys being totally monogamously committed to each other with all the jealous tension when a possible third is introduced into the story. I had higher hopes when the David character was introduced that it could evolve into an occasional third. Will and Taylor could still be committed to each other, but David would seem to me to be able to develop into a nice friend to occasionally join them in play. Please note that I am not suggesting this as a titillating kink for the reader, I am suggesting it as a more accurate portrayal of many M/M (mature) relationships where neither party exhibits childish jealous insecurities.