Among the Living: MM Urban Fantasy (PsyCop Book 1) Kindle Edition

After speeding through what's currently available in the Psycop series, starting with #1, Among the Living, I find myself now dazed, winded, and wondering what life was like before I found these books. What did food taste like before Psycop? Was the sky always that color blue? How did I get this far in life without reading Victor's awesome voice before?Among the Living is the first part of Victor Bayne's story--a cop in a world where psychic abilities exist, and his talent, the ability to see and talk with ghosts, makes him an ideal pick for the Chicago police department, since being able to talk with a victim, even one that is deceased, can be a big help in catching criminals.But Victor's life isn't a shiny disco ball of psychic awesome--Casper the friendly ghost is a lie. The ghosts that can communicate are normally cranky or freaky and the ones that can't talk are horrifically redundant, repeating their last moments over and over. And the only way for Victor to turn off the angry voices of the dead is to scrape together a cocktail of both legit and illegal pharmaceuticals, and then ride out the haze.But there are some things he can't escape from with drugs, and that includes dealing with a new partner as well as tracking down a serial killer who is somehow murdering his victims so completely, there isn't a shred of ghost left behind. All that, and suddenly he finds himself on the radar of fellow cop Jacob Marks, a sexy mountain of a man who doesn't at all seem freaked out by Victor's abilities.There's a lot I love about this series, and Victor's voice, at times acerbic, other times floundering, is one of my favorites. His POV is incredibly realized, and it invokes such immediacy that you really feel you're in the story, walking the streets with him, finding out too late that his new SaverPlus sport coat has yet another food stain on it.But one of the things I love about Victor was that even when he is snarky, you still sense that underlying vulnerability of someone who doesn't think anyone will really understand what he sees (or if they did, would want to stick around with him.) It's that vulnerability that makes Victor's surprise about Jacob forcibly sliding into his life all the more palpable and meaningful.The author does an excellent job with characters in general and you can really hear each distinct voice--from Victor to his new partner Lisa, to Jacob and his psycop partner Carolyn, to even Jackie, the dead prostitute who saunters outside Victor's apartment building, ready to rant in his face about the John who did her in. The dialogue is aces, and the characters feel very developed and real.And the mystery is also engaging, but what you're really getting here is the beginning of a much bigger story--Victor's life, his relationships, and his ability, how he develops his ability and how that ability is sought after. After flying through this first novella, then hitting the next volume Criss Cross, and then going through the rest of the series (now at six volumes, and still going), all I can say is that this is an excellent ride. If you like this volume, you are in for a real treat with the others because it just gets better and more developed with each installment. (And longer, which is awesome.)The author has put up the first half of this book on her Psycop site for free to read, so if you want a bigger taste, you can check it out there.All I can say is "Enjoy!" and maybe afterwards, you'll be like me, dazedly wondering what the world was like before reading this series. Was the sun always that bright?

I actually like this book. Do I love it? No. I liked the main character, the world building and I really liked the plot.But Vic’s relationship with Jacob just doesn’t make any sense to me. It came from left field and had no true foundation. They don’t know anything about one another. They hardly worked the case together and now they’re what? Temp roommates? Boyfriends? I don’t know. They just didn’t vibe well at all imo.I will definitely read the next one in hopes the relationship gets SOME sort of development. Maybe Jacob will even get a personality besides being “hot and a cop”.All in all this story is good. The romance felt cheap and underdeveloped. The plot was actually pretty great.

This novella introduces you to Vic, a gloomy sarcastic bastard, a psychic and cop. Vic is awesome and grumpy, defensive and insecure, drug reliant, and somewhat surprisingly tries to be a good cop around all that. But that attitude:"I’d always thought that rules were just for people who tended to get caught."He is also a level 5 psychic, seeing and talking to dead people (handy for a cop in homicide). This book introduces you to Vic's attitude problems, a handful of interesting characters we get to know further over the series, and the Psycops corp of this alternative universe.Price does an excellent job of writing this series, world building with casual explanation, and hinting at a complex and painful history for Vic that is exposed piece by piece over the series. The series is told from Vic's point of view, and I might list him as my top snarker ever.Mystery, paranormal creatures, varied superpowers and how they might be exploited and misunderstood...this is a rich novella with a thread of an mm connection starting between Vic and Jacob Marks (hotshot cop "looking like an Italian model").I highly recommend this short book and the entire series. Professionally written and sufficiently edited (just a missing word here and there). I wish I was starting this series again for the first time (instead of re reading it for the 6th time).Some things I consider about mm booksSexy Scale 1-5:4Sex, while we are in Vic's head, can be awkward and self conscious, and somehow all the hotter for the reality of it. For a short novella with action, mystery, plenty of characters and introducing a new world, there is a goodly amount of explicit mm sex.Humor scale 1-5=4Vic is very funny, observant and somewhat depressed and insecure at all times. He has a very unique and highly amusing voice and I love hanging with him.Angst scale 1-5:2We get glimpses of the long painful haul Vic has completed to get to this point in his career... (flashbacks, mistakenly diagnosed mental illness, drug reliance) and we do feel Vic's worries and insecurities. But we also note that Vic isn't doing too bad...and, in fact, things are looking up for him in this novella.Likable MCS Scale 1-5: 5Well, I think I've sold Vic enough (snarkiness being my favorite personal characteristic). Jacob Marks is hot, smart, sexy, cop, muscles with a fashion sense...and he is crushing hard on Vic. Vic is pretty unsure about all that...not that he doesn't dive right in.Like the idea of Psycops?For high snark ratios with mm and fantasy/paranormal, I recommendJ.L. Merrow's Plumber's Mate series (psychic)K.J. Charles' Magpie Lord series (historical fantasy)Possible spoilers/triggersVic pops pills pretty regularly to keep his psychic powers muted so the dead aren't screaming in his face all the time....even in this short novella there is more than a thread of the self justification and denial that are hallmarks of an addiction.

I selected three because this is a story condensed into a novella. There was a lot more world building and character development the author could have incorporated. Some of the magic felt forced and the relationship, cute but haphazard.Overall Vic is a man who hates his power and seemingly himself. He is snarky and enjoys sex. Jacob is a sexy cop who puts on the moves and is fascinated by all things psychic. Very... straight forward, limited characters. However their interactions were fun and the overall story was interesting. So it got a three. I think the author's work definitely warrants reading the second one. I hope it really expands the world.

i think "reliable" was the note i added most often to my copy - I'm trying not to dwell on what it says about me 😅it was a very entertaining readi loved the density of the writingthe audiobook was great 5 starsbut i had to read too or i kept missing the said and the unsaidreally really goodone of my fav part about the book is that it's not just two men in a bubblethe work/miss/trust/like or doubt other characters and this characters seem to have their own background/family/feelings

Awkward medium Victor Bayne might be able to handle an otherwordly murder spree — but the hot and charismatic non-psychic who suddenly picks him up? Victor might be in trouble.After meeting the author, I picked up the first book — and then immediately bought the whole series. If you love paranormal murder mysteries and shy, awkward protagonists (like Widdershins by Jordan L Hawk, but modern day), then you will love the PsyCop series.

This is a review of the whole series. It's marvellous! The characters are so engaging and the story slowly unfolds book by book. I was so pleased to see there will be more to come as I hated having to say goodbye to these people.OK so I 'm updating this review! Have just re-read the series so I could read the latest book - and loved it all over again. I absolutely adore Vic and and Jacob but the supporting characters are also fantastic. I'm just really sad about having to wait to spend time with them again.

Notre héros Vic est un flic gay aux pouvoirs psychiques: il peut parler avec les morts. C'est super pratique pour résoudre des enquêtes criminelles, la victime lui raconte tout ce qui s'est passé, et hop, le tour est joué. Sauf que, cette fois, les morts ne lui disent rien. Rien. Nada.Ce roman est un mélange d'enquêtes criminelles, de romance m/m et de paranormal. Ajoutez-y une bonne dose d'humour sarcastique, et vous obtenez un cocktail savoureux et irrésistible. A consommer sans modération.

yeah Okay, sometimes books come along and they're so damn good they blow your mind. Like this gem of a series. Victor Bayne, the psychic half a PsyCop law enforcement team has amazing psychic abilities. He meets fellow officer Jacob Marks, the non psychic cop at the retirement function for his aging partner Maurice, and the two cops enjoy some hot sexy times in the downstairs bathroom.Victor is given a new partner, the seriously awesome Lisa Gutierres, who has her own secrets and the two of them begin investigating the newest serial killings of gay men. Things go pear-shaped when its discovered that Lisa has psychic abilities and Victor partners up with Marks and his psychic partner the ever truthful Caroline.This series is very fast paced, witty and seriously laugh out loud funny, while being a very gritty with a well thought out plot for a whodunit. Do yourself a favor and DL the book, if you love M/M cops books your in for a treat because Victor and his 'I see dead people thing' totally steals the show.