The Pinch of the Game by Charley Descoteaux

Title: The Pinch of the Game
Series: N/A
Author: Charley Descoteaux
Genre: Paranormal
Length: Novella (98 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (24 June 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5Hearts
Blurb: Being a witch doesn’t mean one can beat the devil forever.

Jeffrey Overton, unemployed IT professional turned poker player, pushes his luck once too often and runs afoul of the host of an illegal card club. The man sent to escort Jeffrey to a “meeting” about his supernatural winning streak arrives at Jeffrey’s crappy North Portland apartment, lock-picking tools in hand and a charm to block Jeffrey’s magick.

Head muscle for said host, Mike Wells, is a Daisy from Daisyville. He isn’t a witch. What he lacks in magickal talent he makes up for in brawn, so he doesn’t expect the guy he’s after to overpower him. But once Mike renders Jeffrey helpless, he’d rather seduce him than bring him in.

Jeffrey and Michael ditch the “meeting” and end up hunting some of the same people they ran from, trying to get Jeffrey back into his own body. And that’s only part of the adventure.

The pair travel halfway across the country on the quietest road trip in history and find missing people, empire-building witches, and maybe even the families they’d both thought lost to them.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-906-8

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6421

Reviewer: Prime

Review: I really had to think on this book after I finished reading it. It certainly is different and not in an entirely bad way. The characters and the world that was woven are quirky, even if it is filled with danger and, generally, a lot of odd people. Then again, I suppose that should not be wholly unexpected in fiction.

The story follows Jeffrey, he’s smart but he is also an unemployed IT guys and something of a gambler. And of course, the gambling gets him into trouble, which even Jeffrey knows is something he can’t get away from even if he is a witch. It’s through this that he meets Michael. Michael is sent after Jeffrey who is simply the muscle that needs to grab Jeffrey so that the man can (in a sinister sense) pay his debt.

This is a fast pace story with a good dose of insta-love, which is really needed if you want to consider this story a romance because part of the magick in the book involves body switching (which only appears in the blurb as a throwaway line that does not particularly make much sense).

You need to concentrate while reading this because things happen extremely quickly and the explanation is not always real detailed to make the reader stop and think. For example the word “Daisy” is used throughout the book and the best I could understand is that is simply a non-magick person (Muggle!). Jeffrey trying to find his is body is a big part of the plot and leads into a little twist in the plot which had me thinking, “don’t these guys ask more questions before going off to do something?”

All in all, I loved interactions between Michael and Jeffrey, even when Jeffrey was not in his real body. Jeffrey is hilarious – he is sarcastic and irreverent. Michael is the strong and stoic type, ready to be anyone’s hero.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *