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High Fidelity (2009)

by M. Chandler(Favorite Author)

4.38 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Lulu

series

Shadow of the Templar

review 1: High Fidelity, the last instalment of the Shadow of the Templar books, is the perfect colophon for the series. It is so good I even forgot to eat during the whole day it took me to finish reading it, then realize I was starving, grab some food and star reading it again immediately afterwards. Now I feel weird… I do not know if I should cheer because there is a HEA or weep because it is over… High Fidelity lays everything even. Two things happen more or less at the same time. On the one hand, Simon learns that Jeremy is being chased by Viktor Karpol (the all-powerful evil mind behind the events in the first book) and, worried about the possible consequences for his career in the FBI, fails to help Jeremy in the only thing he asks for him. On the other hand, Simon himsel... moref has to suffer a disciplinary process when the inconsistencies about his statement on the final shooting at the end of With a Bullet are discovered. Suspended from FBI until further notice, and feeling guilty for the possible consequences his actions can bring about for Jeremy, Simon sets on a trip to find out where Jeremy is hidden and to try to help him in any way he can. Finding Jeremy turns out to be difficult, but not as difficult as convincing him of his helpfulness and dealing with his eclectic team when they all turn up hot on his trail, trying to protect Simon and bring him home safe and sound.So… The book has everything. It has action, it has tension, it has humour and even drama. There are machinations, secret plots, explosions, and confrontations. There are glamour and exotic settings. Fast-paced, there is no time to rest, as events follow one another without giving you time to breathe. Simon’s team continue to behave in their own crazy way, if even more radical in their oddities: Sandy is even more bossy and aggressive, Johnny more hieratic and remote, Mike completely wired and nutty as a fruitcake, and Simon and Nate as geeky as they can get. As for Simon and Jeremy… Well, Simon behaves most of the time as the biggest jerk on earth. He mistreats and threatens Jeremy without real reason. Somehow, when Jeremy gets fed up and walks away from him it sort of feels right… But painful. As for Jeremy… Well, who knows what happens in his secretive head? I must recognize there was a moment when I was convinced there was no way out of the weird situation Simon and Jeremy were in. But there is a happy end, which had me smiling and sad at the same time. I have got really attached to Jeremy and Simon, and I am finding it very difficult to let go of them. I am sure the Shadow of the Templar series is one I am going to keep revisiting very often.
review 2: I liked the final instalment a lot more than the previous book. In this book we are basically watching Jeremy suffer because of Rich's mistake. Jeremy is running from the Russian "mafia" and well Simon feels like he needs to help. There is a problem here though:1. Whilst Simon cannot be blamed for Rich's mistakes, his insistence of only being there to help Jeremy was because of his guilt.2. Simon only showed up because he was suspended - (due to protecting Jeremy funnily enough). He freely admits this and fine at least he is honest.Simon makes Jeremy feel small all the time. Jeremy never asked for Simon's help nor did he ask for his team's help. They all showed up and whilst I understand Sandra's position the woman needed a slap. Her territorial pissing contest wasn't cute. Simon threatening Jeremy all the time because "he loves his team more than Jeremy" was not cute either. This is a hard series to review because you actually need to read it. This series manages to throw you in a river of emotions and reactions which is probably a plus in the author's eye.I do think Simon redeems himself though, only because finally Jeremy reacts in a way that scares Simon. We see Simon realise that Jeremy isn't "this guy" as Simon said. Jeremy is not no one and even though Simon always knew that, finally admitting it was actually sweet in his arsehole(ish) way.The series is more about the crime or cases, and I would like to point out that the romance is secondary. You shouldn't go into this series expecting a typical mm romance. The main characters are with each other pretty much 90% of the time; however it is usually showing them either fighting with each other, working with each other, having some banter, some groping and off-page sex. There are secondary characters who are a big part of Simon's life and thus this book. I enjoyed all the secondary characters (not so much Sandra at times). Mostly the main characters are complex and funnily enough not full developed because the case is always more prominent than the characterisation. Simon is easy to hate and I am 50-50 when it comes to him. I adore Jeremy and to be honest I think he should either slap Simon more often or cut and run.Overall, it's an interesting series it does come with a lot of faults but the e-books are like 61p or 99c - and for 450-550 pages the series is heaps better than those published in the big e-houses and some prolific authors out there. less

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