Variable Onset by Layla Reyne

Narrated by Tristan James

I have a bit of a hot/cold relationship with Layla Reyne’s books. They can be a bit hit and miss for me, but I keep coming back to them because despite their flaws, they’re pretty entertaining. The author can create intensely likeable and compelling characters, and she’s great at constructing fast-paced action sequences and interesting plotlines, but at times those plots have been overly complicated and a bit frenetic, so much so that they’ve overshadowed the romance and left little space for character and relationship development. I loved her début Agents Irish and Whiskey series, but was less convinced by its spin-off, Trouble Brewing (even though I really liked the central characters) – so I was pleased when her standalone romantic suspense novel Variable Onset marked a welcome return to form.

The plot revolves around the hunt for an elusive serial killer known as Dr. Fear, who has been killing for many years but has so far evaded capture. Dr. Fear targets couples, kidnapping them and then torturing them by confronting them with their deepest fears until they beg for death – and acts in cycles, killing several victims and then going to ground for years before starting up again. When Variable Onset begins, they’ve just become active again – and for the first time ever, the FBI might just have a plausible lead as to their whereabouts.

Special Agent Lincoln Monroe has been an instructor in forensic science at Quantico for around ten of his fifteen years with the FBI. Field work was never something he felt particularly suited for, but when he is asked for help by his former mentor Oliver Kirk, now a US senator, Lincoln isn’t going to turn him down. Kirk’s daughter and her fiancé have been abducted by Dr. Fear, and if the killer remains true to form, Lincoln and his new temporary partner are going to have less than forty-eight hours to find them.

Lincoln immediately sets out for the small town of Apex in Virginia, where he’ll meet his new partner and commence the search for the couple and the killer. In his haste to get away, Lincoln didn’t even have time to ask the name of the person he’d be working with – and he certainly wasn’t expecting to find a party in full swing at the house he’s going to be living in. Tired and more than a bit grumpy, Lincoln is about to knock on the front door when it’s opened by the last person he expects – or particularly wants – to see: Special Agent Carter Warren, possibly the brightest of his former students, definitely the cockiest and, over the last eight years, the subject of the occasional night-time fantasy. With a big smile on his face, Carter pulls Lincoln inside, presses a wedding ring into his hand and promptly introduces him to everyone as the university’s new librarian. And his new husband.

Carter had a massive crush on his geeky professor back at the academy and thinks he’s even hotter now. He asked for Lincoln to be assigned to this case because he’s the bureau’s expert on Dr. Fear, and Carter created their cover as a married couple in the hope it might draw the killer out. But he’s also not going to miss an opportunity to work with Lincoln and maybe broaden a working relationship into something more.

The suspense plot is clever, with plenty of twists, turns, red herrings and unwelcome surprises as Lincoln and Carter realise that not only are they dealing with Dr. Fear, but there’s also a copycat out there – whom Dr. Fear seems to want them to catch. There are suspects aplenty but clues are thin on the ground – and even when one does turn up, it seems to ask more questions than it offers answers. Ms. Reyne provides considerable insight into the investigative process here – something she always does well – and also does a great job fleshing out the secondary characters and creating the slightly claustrophobic atmosphere that so often seems to cling to small towns where everybody knows your name – and your business.

The chemistry between Lincoln and Carter is off-the-charts electric, and their romance is a terrific slow-burn. I really appreciated that the author takes the time to build their attraction and doesn’t have them knocking boots straight away; their fake-marriage gives plenty of moments that are just dripping with sexual tension, but they’re professionals and act like it. In terms of personality, they’re complete opposites – Lincoln is a bit buttoned-up; he’s meticulous, dedicated and can be rather prickly, where Carter is more lively and outgoing – but Lincoln can’t deny the pull he feels towards the other man, or that it’s the same pull he felt towards him eight years earlier when they first met. To start with, he wonders if Carter has changed all that much, but he soon realises that while Carter is as gorgeous and infuriating as ever, he’s also kind, intuitive and highly competent – and that they’re a good fit, personally as well as professionally.

On the downside, there’s an underdeveloped sub-plot here that concerns Carter’s search for answers about his past. It’s satisfactorily – if maybe a bit too conveniently – resolved, but it had no real bearing on the suspense plotline and the book would have worked just as well without it. And while the romance is nicely done – the UST is fabulous – the author puts a sex scene into the last chapter which, again, is largely unnecessary. I know there are expectations – especially in m/m – that there has to be sex in romance novels, but sometimes, less is more.

Tristan James is a narrator I’ve listened to and reviewed fairly often – although not recently. He’s a favourite with many m/m listeners and I’ve rated some of his performances fairly highly, but his narrations aren’t working as well for me as they used to. I like his voice well enough and his pacing is okay – maybe a little on the slow side but not horribly so – but his vocal characterisations and character differentiation can be inconsistent. The secondary characters are well-differentiated, and his portrayal of Lincoln is fine – he’s opted to use his natural speaking voice (or close to it) for the character – but I didn’t much care for his interpretation of Carter. Mr. James pitches his voice higher than Lincoln’s – so much so that the first time I heard him speak, I thought it was a female character, and I had to remind myself several times throughout the audio that it wasn’t. It’s an odd choice, and there are several occasions where Mr. James begins a passage of Carter’s dialogue at the higher pitch and slowly meanders downwards so that by the end of it, I thought it was Lincoln speaking, which made me wonder if he’d forgotten which character he was supposed to be voicing! (This “voices mix-up” is something I’ve noted in other performances of his, so it’s not a one-off.) It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s noticeable and irritating when it does – and it threw me out of the story a few times.

Variable Onset is definitely one of Layla Reyne’s best books, but unfortunately, the narration doesn’t really do it justice. My advice would be to stick to print if you can.

Caz

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