Title: Game On, Game Over
Author: Chris Quinton
Genre: Contemporary, Action/Adventure
Length: Novel (280pgs)
Publisher: Silver Publishing (8th October 2011)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: John is on a dangerous negotiating mission for MI6 in Tajikistan. He meets freelance photographer Scott, but their casual affair ends when John is injured and disappears. Scott can’t forget him. He tracks John to a sleepy little village in England, determined to take their relationship to a new level.
John Jones, aka Aidan Whittaker, a negotiator with MI6, is currently on assignment in Tajikistan, close to the Afghanistan border. Overtly on a University-run archaeological site, he’s covertly brokering a deal with local tribal leaders. His undercover mission is complicated by the arrival of a couple of Americans; journalist Brent Babcock and his photographer Scott Landon. The two men are there to document the ancient Silk Road, but when Babcock gets wind of a hot news story, he starts asking awkward questions.
Scott Landon is a different kind of trouble for John. Fourteen years John’s junior, gay and single-minded, he wants into John’s bed. Not being prepared to jeopardize his operation, John rejects him, despite being drawn to the younger man. But then events around them spiral out of control.
Purchase Link: https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/coming-soon-c-2/game-on-game-over-ebook-p-639
Review: John Jones/Aidan Whittaker is on a negotiation mission. His plans begin to be derailed by Babcock who is sticking his nose where it could cause trouble. Scott just wants to take pictures… and get in the hot archaeologists bed. But he gets more trouble when his boss Babcock arranges a meeting with a local tribal leader.
This is an interesting combination of settings. You have the first part of the book set in Tajikistan near the Afghanistan boarder; which is dry, dusty, dangerous and fraught with tension. Then in the second part of the book you have the quaint village of Avebury, Wiltshire in England; which is green, lush, quiet and fraught with murderous stories of the long dead.
In the first part, we have John Jones MI6 Negotiator who is trying to broker a deal with some of the tribal leaders. His cover is that of an archaeologist, complications set in when a reporter turns up sticking his nose in where it’s not wanted. Add his photographer, who John feels an instant attraction to and this mission is in serious danger. There is danger, a rescue mission, hot sex, a parting of ways and a gun-fire fight which ends with John’s life hanging in the balance.
In the second part we have Scott Landon, photographer, who has been affected more than he thought over what happened to John. He starts to investigate when he realizes that all may not be as it seems and it leads to the discovery of Aidan Whittaker, expert of Ancient Languages and Literature and an archaeologist. From then on we see Scott’s pursuit of Aidan as he tries to become friends and something more.
This is a brilliantly woven story about two men who get their wires crossed. Both of them thinking the other doesn’t want them when they both actually want the same thing. We see Scott trying to get through to Aidan that he wants more than just quick sex. While Aidan thinks that Scott couldn’t want an older man with a damaged leg who just wants to settle down in the little village he found.
So this is a great book that has a little of everything for everyone, danger, tension, hot sex, gun-fights, slow romance, quaint setting, local hauntings and nosy villages… oh and keep an eye out for the cat TBC (That Bloody Cat) that does battle with Aiden every chance he gets. I highly recommend this one, so get this book, read it and enjoy.