Tuesday 18 December 2012

The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks by Josh Lanyon

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The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks
Series: --
Pub: Dec 2008 by Loose Id
Author: Josh Lanyon
Genre: Contemporary mystery
Format: iBook; 197p w/ 14 chapters
Whose: Perry & Nick

                        Synopsis
There's a dead body in Perry Foster's bathtub. A dead body in a very ugly sportscoat and matching socks. The dead man is a stranger to Perry, but that's not much of a comfort; how did a strange dead man get in a locked flat at the isolated Alton Estate in the wilds of the "Northeast Kingdom" of Vermont? Perry flees downstairs to get help and runs into "tall, dark and hostile" former navy SEAL Nick Reno.
Reno doesn't have a lot of time for drama queens, but, convinced that Perry's jitters are based on something more than caffeine overdose, he heads upstairs to investigate. By then the body has disappeared. If there's one thing Nick has learned the hard way, it's to mind his own business. But Perry Foster doesn't believe in ghosts and isn't willing to let sleeping dead men lie. And Nick just can't convince himself to walk when it's becoming increasingly obvious someone wants the sexy young artist out of the way — permanently
 
The Thoughts
A Creepy house. A history resurfacing. Murder. Romance.
Brilliant.

As you probably know, remember, guess, I’m a huge Lanyon fan, and this book is one of the reasons why.
Really, if I was the type, I’d be dancing round the room just remembering this story. It’s truly one of his finer works.

Perry walks into his apartment only to find a dead body in his bathtub—yeah, you’ve read the blurb, you get the point. When he runs for it he runs into Nick, an ex-SEAL who really doesn’t want to get involved, but when the body goes missing and then cleaned up, he’s hooked.
Not to mention that doe eyed kid who seems to look at Nick and make him care.

It’s written in third party with both MC’s POV, which was a little confusing; I’m not sure if it was because sometimes he skipped into the other head for just a paragraph and then went back to the other.
Or was it because I’m so use to him writing as first person, or with only one POV that it was odd being in the other.
But then I really having read all that much of Lanyon’s to full know this.

I really liked it. Liked that there was both sides of that and Nicks was the best, and most realistic. Honestly how I see his character in all Lanyon’s others books to be like. to grow like, and how they fall hard. Which is to say, it’s in between the lines rather than him telling us that’s what happening. Which is probably why I love the guys work so much.

Diving into the history had my eyes a little glazed, like if my partner was telling me how his work was that day—you know when he actually talks about it not the usual ‘usual’ grunt. Though it held some interest it wasn’t something that truly fascinated me. But then it’s a reason I’m not great with crime novels. Too much history that I don’t care about, but it’s fucking needed.

I loved it though, staying up way too late to finish. Chocking up near the end. gasping at what’s about to happen.
Oh, oh, they even had a talkative bad guy. I love those guys even if they are cliché. But they are true, hell, wouldn’t you want the blab about something you can finally blab about cause you know they’re gonna die?!

Perry and Nick as so good. Individually and together. They are a great couple and I really liked the surprise Nick showed in Perry. Hell, his who view point of Perry was awesome right up to the end. Like it was the mystery that caught him up, when really it was the kid. And you could see that without him having to point it out (best, he doesn’t point it out. Where big kids, we get it).
Sorry, hit a nerve off one of my Pet Peeves.

Anyway, I think that’s it, the book was awesome. Defiantly one of the tops in what I have already read. And it just proves that he can write and you can enjoy (and this is coming from a person who really doesn’t like crime novels—love it on TV, bores the shit out of me on paper).
So check it out. It’ll be worth it!

Other Stand Alone Novels
Come Unto The Yellow Sands, Fair Game, Mexican Heat, Strange Fortune
Winter Kill--April 2013

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