High & Hell Water by Charlie Cochet (Thirds #1)
Released: July 7, 2014
M/M Paranormal Romance
Dreamspinner

Reviewed by Mandi

When homicide detective Dexter J. Daley’s testimony helps send his partner away for murder, the consequences—and the media frenzy—aren’t far behind. He soon finds himself sans boyfriend, sans friends, and, after an unpleasant encounter in a parking garage after the trial, he’s lucky he doesn’t find himself sans teeth. Dex fears he’ll get transferred from the Human Police Force’s Sixth Precinct, or worse, get dismissed. Instead, his adoptive father—a sergeant at the Therian-Human Intelligence Recon Defense Squadron otherwise known as the THIRDS—pulls a few strings, and Dex gets recruited as a Defense Agent.

Dex is determined to get his life back on track and eager to get started in his new job. But his first meeting with Team Leader Sloane Brodie, who also happens to be his new jaguar Therian partner, turns disastrous. When the team is called to investigate the murders of three HumaniTherian activists, it soon becomes clear to Dex that getting his partner and the rest of the tightknit team to accept him will be a lot harder than catching the killer—and every bit as dangerous.

Hey – a twitter recommendation! I love that kind. Angela James tweeted that she read the first three books in this series (five are currently out) and she gave them high marks, so I clicked. I’m usually not a paranormal m/m fan (I’m not sure why) but I gave this a try and it is a fun book.

Dex is a human, living in a world where not so long ago, Therians aka shifters were created due to the use of biological warfare. When the infection started, there was chaos – and the government took control forcing all Therians to register and get marked on the neck, so with one glance, you know what type of shifter you are dealing with. In order to keep things civil between the scared humans and the advanced Therians, the government created “THIRDS” or the Therian Human Intelligence, Recon, Defence Squadron. Both humans and Therians serve on THIRDS, meaning they are supposed to deal with crimes without prejudice.

Fast forward some years later, and we have one of our heroes, Dex. A human and working on the human police force, after he testifies against his partner in favor of a Therian, the human force does not look upon him kindly. Forced out of his job, he gets offered a position on THIRDS, where his adoptive father and brother work. He is placed on the Destructive Delta unit, the “highest, most dangerous, most sought after in THIRDS…” He is taking the place of a man who was recently killed, so not the most ideal situation for Dex.

From here, Dex meets his new teammates, his new partner Sloane (ring the HEA bell) and he gets called into solving his first crime with THIRDS. Dex is a very sarcastic, goofy guy. He always has a comeback, and a lot of times he doesn’t always take things too seriously. He made me laugh a few times, but he has a relentless personality. This may get on some of your nerves. Since he started working for what is to be this very high, dangerous position, the team acted somewhat unprofessional. It’s fun, but I was expecting super alpha, strict, dark action – and it’s more light-hearted. It’s almost like the team is full of Lassiters (from Ward’s bdb series). They all give each other a hard time, they goof around, they make fun of each other etc… It took me a while to settle in to all of them – but they are all likeable and made me smile.

Dex’s partner is Sloane, a tough, no-nonsense leader. He is pretty exasperated by Dex at first, but eventually as he gets to know him, their relationship takes a turn for the physical. I liked Sloane a lot – maybe even more than Dex. He wasn’t as loose-lipped and took things a little more seriously. There isn’t a HEA at the end but things definitely start between Sloane and Dex.

The action is consistent throughout the book, although the bad guy is pretty obvious.

A fun read – I’ve already bought the second book.

Grade: B

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