A-Z Challenge Review: Unspeakable Words by Sarah Madison

Why I bought the book: It had a lot of good reviews.

Plot: FBI agent Jerry is used to being passed around between departments.  His brilliant mind is offset by his lack of people skills and so he isn't too surprised when he gets placed on a murder cold-case.  There's some possible new evidence in this serial killer murder case and so Jerry gets paired with John, who is handsome, charming and straight.  They clash heads for a while, especially because John ends up staying with Jerry, until an accident involving a mysterious artifact at the museum gives John a special power and Jerry has to then protect John whilst also attempting to solve another murder.

I'm going to have to be a bit spoilerish in this review because there's no way I'm going to be able to talk about the book without revealing John's special power.  It's a shame really because I bought this a while ago and had forgotten what it was about so the whole thing was a complete surprise to me.  In fact one of the few criticisms I have of this book is that the whole 'special power' thing came completely out of nowhere and flummoxed me for a while.  I thought I was reading a murder/mystery book and so when John gets zapped by the artifact, I was scrambling to catch up and adjust my brain to the new development!  Once I got back in the groove though it was fine, although I was a little disappointed with the gaping hole left when we never discover what the artifact is and why it would 'choose' John to zap.  Jerry makes a couple of half-hearted attempts to find out more but that whole part was dropped later in the book.

Characters: The strength of this book is in the great chemistry between the leads.  Jerry is well aware of his shortcomings and spends much of the first part of the book feeling a mix of resentment and grudging admiration for John, all muddled together with a growing attraction - at first for John's body but then for him as a person.  The fact that John can then read Jerry's mind makes for some hilariously awkward conversations, as Jerry is one of these people whose mind runs constantly and often with many inappropriate comments.  In particular he finds it difficult to hide his attraction for John, which John finds both flattering and embarrassing.  I loved how the whole mind reading aspect of the book was handled, especially because the humour blended perfectly with the romance and allowed the Gay For You story line to develop slowly.  I think the story also worked because we only get Jerry's point of view. Whilst this meant that we don't get John's thoughts during his confusion over his attraction to Jerry, the author had still done a great job in showing us John's developing feelings through his facial expressions, actions and the dialogue which zings between him and Jerry.  There were some great set pieces of action, such as Jerry taking the opportunity to masturbate whilst John is out of the apartment; or when they bump into Jerry's ex-lover; or the tense scenes towards the end of the book which lifted the story from the ordinary, gave us much insight into the character and forwarded the romance in a way that seemed fluid and easy to read.

Overall: I really enjoyed this book. It's not perfect, as I've already mentioned there are a few plot holes and the mystery plot very much takes a back seat once John gets zapped.  However, the positives such as the fantastic electricity between John and Jerry, the engaging writing and the humour in the story, all kept me reading. I was sorry when it ended because I could have read much more from these characters.  I've read a couple of shorts by this author, as well as this novella, and have so far been impressed with the writing and imagination. I'll be keeping my eye out for further releases from her.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.