Among the Living

Among the Living (2006) Jordan Castillo Price (PsyCop)

Victor Bayne’s partner is retiring.

Maurice was a sixty-two year old black man who had a lot more gray in his hair at his retirement party than he’d had when I first met him. We’d never been close in a way that some partners at the Fifth Precinct are. We didn’t hit sports bars after our shift for a shot and a beer. We didn’t watch the game at each other’s houses. We didn’t invite each other to family functions— not that I have any family to speak of.

Maybe it was the race difference. Or the age difference. But despite the fact that we didn’t connect on any sort of deep, soul-searching level, I was gonna miss working with the guy.

In the bathroom he accidentally meets Detective Jacob Marks, who he hadn’t previously known to be gay.

This is the part of the story I had problem with, but it’s probably me and not the story–I just don’t *get* random hookups. I mean, I understand that people have them and enjoy them, but… I don’t quite comprehend them.

So, the two hookup in the bathroom, and then Vic is called into work, even though he’s supposed to have the day off.

His new partner is there, and they are sent out on a case, except that Vic has been taking medicine to tamp down his powers.

“The Auracel,” she said, taking the next right, “it works for you?”

“It makes the dead people shut up,” I told her. And, by golly, the high was just an added bonus.

Because that’s Vic’s power and pretty much the bane of his existence-he can converse with the dead, and once they realize it, they won’t leave him alone.

The mystery is interesting, as are the characters. I also want to note that the copyright for this story is 2006, before the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and the world was a very different place. Neither Vic nor Jacob is officially out at work, which matched our world at the time (and I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the amazing changes coming in just a few years).

This would be the reason for the secret hookups, which again, I don’t grok. But I also was somewhat surprised by Jacob. How did he know Vic was gay and how did he know that he wasn’t making a mistake coming on to him? Was it because he’d been watching him? Is that creepy? I don’t feel like they really knew each other at all before the party (other than to say hello in passing) so… the whole relationships just felt off to me.

But the mystery was interesting, and I do want to read another story. Perhaps now they are a couple, I’ll grok their relationship a little better.

Publisher: JCP Books
Rating: 6.5/10

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