Subject 13 by Ethan Stone

Title: Subject 13

Author: Ethan Stone

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Detective, Thriller

Length: Novel (280pgs)

Publisher: Amber Quill Press (Amber Allure) (25^th March 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Luke Kincaid’s life is exploding all around him. First his lover leaves him to marry a woman, and then childhood nightmares return with a vengeance.

Luke’s friendship with Ben Skinner and relationship with Kyle Morgan helps him heal his broken heart, but the nightmares, which are actually repressed memories, threaten to destroy the peace he has found.

Soon, Luke’s investigation into his past puts his life—and the lives of the people he cares about—in danger. But he refuses to give up, not even when he finds out he is connected to a massive government cover-up…

Purchase Link: http://amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Subject13.html

Review: Luke’s life is forever altered when he tries to convince the man he loves not to marry a woman. Things go from bad to worse when he starts to have nightmares. With the help of his friend Ben, along with his new friend, Kyle, they begin to piece together Luke’s past. But, someone doesn’t want him to remember and the deeper he digs and the more that is revealed, the more danger they are all in.

This is a great suspense, mystery, thriller with a touch of detection work thrown in, that will intrigue and hold you gripped as you delve into a cover-up. Luke is devastated when his lover informs him that he is marrying a woman. He decides that he will convince Shane he is wrong, but he is left heartbroken. When his childhood nightmares plague him again, he discovers that they are real memories and when a visit to a ghost town jogs something loose, he sets out to investigate it.

I really enjoyed this story and thought the plot was really good. The suspense of who is after him, the mystery of who is behind it all and why, and the thrill of someone hunting Luke. It starts out simple enough, childhood nightmares of blue men, but then he starts to remember more, and then Ben takes Luke to a ghost town which reveals more memories, which leads to hunting down more information and survivors of the disaster there. It’s all very well written and woven together, and you end up trying to piece together the pieces yourself and imagining what the disaster really was, and who was really behind it and revising your thoughts when more clues are add… it was great fun.

The romance side was much more complicated, and at times it felt like Ben had two personalities; the completely straight man, who had never had a homosexual thought in his life and then the gay man, who had slept his way through as many men as he could. The conflict within Ben felt realistic at first, because it felt like it may have been a ‘gay for you’ and he was conflicted by it.  But, then I found that it disappointed me, when I realized that he’d had a ton of gay sex before but put on a front of being straight, even going so far as to have a girlfriend. Luke is attracted to Ben and he ends up confused as well with Ben’s actions, but Luke also, at first, seeks comfort in the arms of Kyle who he can take control with and call all the shots. Don’t get me wrong the romance is good, just complicated, and the sex is plentiful, hot and varied ;-).

So, I will recommend this to those who love government cover-ups, suspense, mystery, thrillers, hot sex, relationship woes, danger and a happy ending? P.S. the epilogue was great… could it mean a sequel?