Review: Enjoyable
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2013
I LOVED "Cop Out."  This isn't quite on that level, but I still really enjoyed it.Ivan is a Toronto cop who is on leave after having to shoot and kill a guy who had shot a fellow officer and friend.  He's called into his captain's office and is asked to do an off-the-books undercover job, checking out someone who is thought to be drug-dealing for the Russian mob.  He's to do it secretly because the captain thinks there's someone in the department who is leaking information.  Now, Ivan knows he can lose his career for doing something unofficial like this, but he's not quite thinking right, and he believes in getting a criminal off the street and finding out who the leak may be.His target is Parker, who happens to be looking for a room-mate, and Ivan is set up by his captain along with the University Housing (Parker is a student), as the prime candidate.  Parker looks somewhat suspicious, a young guy in a big house with questionable friends, but otherwise not at all a criminal master-mind.  Plus, Ivan is falling for him.  Between Ivan's inability to open up to his psychologist during appointments and also not being able to open up to his friends and partner on the police force (as they might give away something to the unknown bad copy), Ivan is not having the best time.  And falling for a possible drug-dealer is the cherry on that bad cake.The story of the police officer who was shot, was covered in the previous book.  It was good to see those characters, but not necessary for the enjoyment of this story.I really liked both Ivan and Parker, and enjoyed Ivan's friends and his partner, who were outstanding secondary characters.  The story and characters were interesting to stand out from the many m/m tales I constantly read, which is saying quite a bit.