{"id":11960,"date":"2019-06-15T15:25:22","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T19:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11960"},"modified":"2022-08-28T18:18:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-28T22:18:48","slug":"point-blank-five-dangerous-ground-novellas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11960","title":{"rendered":"Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas<\/a><\/em> (2017) Josh Lanyon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is a collection of five novellas, featuring Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt, agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security.<\/p>\n

Dangerous Ground<\/em> (2008)<\/p>\n

Six weeks earlier, Taylor was shot during an investigation. Now, as Taylor is preparing to return to work (desk duty), the two have taken a vacation together to see if they can fix what went wrong with their partnership. <\/p>\n

Almost four years they\u2019d been together: partners and friends\u2014 good friends\u2014 but maybe that was over now. Taylor didn\u2019t want to think so, but \u2014 <\/p>\n

His boot turned on a broken door lever, and Will\u2019s hand shot out, steadying him. Taylor pulled away, just managing to control his impatience. <\/p>\n

Yeah, that was the problem. Will didn\u2019t think Taylor was capable of taking two steps without Will there to keep an eye on him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unfortunately, the discovery of an old crash site complicates matters.<\/p>\n

I like both Taylor and Will. I like that Taylor is still struggling to recover from being shot in the chest, and that Will is struggling with feeling guilty over Taylor getting shot.<\/p>\n

The discovery of the crash site and succeeding events are just stretching the bounds of credulity, but I was ok with it.<\/p>\n

Old Poison<\/em> (2009)<\/p>\n

Taylor has been back at work for two months, and has finally been released from desk duty to return to the field. Will is hoping to celebrate Taylor’s birthday and return to full health, but life is always complicated, and nothing is what Taylor wants or expects.<\/p>\n

I really like Taylor’s house.<\/p>\n

The house was an original Craftsman bungalow. It had been in terrible shape when Taylor bought it two years previously. Actually, it was still in terrible shape, but Taylor was renovating it, one room at a time, in his spare hours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is another mystery that stretched probability, but again, I was ok with it.<\/p>\n

Blood Heat<\/em> (2010)<\/p>\n

Taylor and Will find themselves in New Mexico trying to recover an escaped prisoner, while also trying to work out whether Will is going to take his promotion and reassignment to Paris.<\/p>\n

This one was kinda ridiculous, but I was amused anyway.<\/p>\n

Taylor looked back at Hedwig. She bared her teeth at him. No shit. Bared her tiny white teeth like Monty Python\u2019s Rabbit of Caerbannog.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think turkeys could fly,\u201d Taylor said suddenly, seemingly still brooding over his close encounter with the local inhabitants. \u201cYou don\u2019t think there are bears or anything out here?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo way,\u201d said Will, who did absolutely think this state forest had bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and a whole lot of other critters Taylor didn\u2019t need to know about.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was my least favorite story of the five.<\/p>\n

Dead Run<\/em> (2011)<\/p>\n

Will has been in Paris for almost a year, and Taylor has finally managed to get his vacation to go visit him. But sighting a suspected terrorist (long in the tooth though the terrorist may have been) upends everything.<\/p>\n

Will and Taylor were putting their fellow travelers to shame. Taylor ruffled Will\u2019s hair, and Will tried to put Taylor in a headlock. <\/p>\n

Well, you had to do something when you\u2019d never kissed in public.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I particularly like about Josh Lanyon’s writing is that injuries are not something brushed off. A concussion has repercussions–physical ones–that don’t just disappear.<\/p>\n

I quite liked the settings of the catacombs and cemeteries. <\/p>\n

Kick Start<\/em> (2013)<\/p>\n

The final story has Will and Taylor back in the state, out on their own and struggling to get their business off the ground. It also finds them traveling to meet Will’s family, before his brother Grant leaves for a tour of Iraq.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Will isn’t out at home, and that complicates things even more.<\/p>\n

Will is who he is. He didn\u2019t become gay for me. I didn\u2019t make him gay.\u201d Taylor\u2019s sense of humor sparked back into life\u2014 did Grant think he\u2019d forced Will to watch musicals? Eat quiche?\u2014 but he squelched it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We also get a glimpse of Taylor’s family, which is also complicated.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t always been this thrilled with his sexuality. In fact, she had been very uncomfortable and unhappy when he\u2019d tried to come out in college. But as society and her social circle had adjusted their attitudes, her feelings had changed. Now she seemed to believe having a gay son was a kind of cultural coup.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I quite liked these five novellas, and will gladly pick up another story with these characters.
\nRating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Point Blank: Five Dangerous Ground Novellas (2017) Josh Lanyon This is a collection of five novellas, featuring Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt, agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security. Dangerous Ground (2008) Six weeks earlier, Taylor was shot during an investigation. Now, as Taylor is preparing to return to work (desk duty), the two have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,18,8,42,148,26,56],"tags":[50,177,544],"class_list":["post-11960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-anthology","category-mystery","category-police","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-josh-lanyon","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-36U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13687,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13687","url_meta":{"origin":11960,"position":0},"title":"Requiem for Mr. Busybody","author":"Michelle","date":"December 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon Michael misses his days as a crime reporter. His life now consists mostly of his apartment building and his research. But when his elderly neighbor disappears, Michael reaches out to his ex, Detective Leonard Drake with his concerns. Here's the thing about Josh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Requiem for Mr. Busybody","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Requiem-for-Mr.-Busybody.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11885,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11885","url_meta":{"origin":11960,"position":1},"title":"The Darkling Thrush","author":"Michelle","date":"May 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Darkling Thrush (2012) Josh Lanyon I've read a lot of Josh Lanyon books in the past year, and I adored most of them. This is a fantasy M\/M romance and... I didn't much care for it. Colin Bliss is in London for an exchange program to get work experience\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/The-Darkling-Thrush.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14069,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14069","url_meta":{"origin":11960,"position":2},"title":"Tarot Sequence novellas & stories","author":"Michelle","date":"March 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Tarot Sequence novellas & stories (2020) K. D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) I was informed that there were Tarot Sequence short stories and novellas online. After finishing The Hanged Man I immediately sought them out. Most of them can be found in the twitter thread I linked to above. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12214,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12214","url_meta":{"origin":11960,"position":3},"title":"A Dangerous Thing","author":"Michelle","date":"November 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Dangerous Thing (2002) Josh Lanyon The second Adrien English book finds Adrien tired of dealing with Jake being firmly in the closet, so he heads off to his grandmother's ranch--only to discover a disappearing dead body. He also can't find the caretaker of his property--who seems to be taking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dangerous Thing","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/A-Dangerous-Thing.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13694,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13694","url_meta":{"origin":11960,"position":4},"title":"Sergeant Delicious","author":"Michelle","date":"December 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Sergeant Delicious (2020) Annabeth Albert I shouldn't have started off today with a Josh Lanyon short story. No other short story was going to measure up (unless it was another Josh Lanyon short story, which I don't seem to have on my TBR pile.) Xavier is going to be discharged\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sergeant Delicious","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sergeant-Delicious.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21999,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21999","url_meta":{"origin":11960,"position":5},"title":"Lament at Loon Landing","author":"Michelle","date":"May 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Lament at Loon Landing (2023) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) This is the sixth book, and accidentally came out after the seventh. However, since it's a cozy series, that wasn't a serious issue. 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