The Boy with the Painful Tattoo

The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (2014/2018) Josh Lanyon

Christopher and J.X. are moving in together. Christopher has shipped everything he owns and driven up the coast to where JX picked out a house for the two of them.

Between the two of us there was a hell of a lot of junk here. And somehow when viewed inside a cardboard box, all my worldly possessions did look like junk.

Unfortunately, they’re going to have to learn to deal with each others quirks–the same as every other couple making such a move.

I dumped silverware in drawers, placed glasses on shelves, located J.X.’ s toaster, and opened a box of little jars of spices I had never heard of. What was Tajin? What was Egyptian dukkah? Did we even eat the same food?

But to complicate things, J.X. has to immediately head off to a conference, leaving Christopher along to have second thoughts–and find a body.

I skimmed a great deal of this story, because although the murder was interesting, the second part of the story arc–Christopher’s stalker–is rather distressing to read. I just kept wanting to yell, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? DON’T DO THAT?!”

Yet, he did it anyway.

That didn’t make this a bad story, and the murder mystery portion was good (even if Christopher is an idiot at times) but I really dislike reading about the stalker.

Publisher: JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
Rating: 6/10

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