Iced Out

Title:  Iced Out

Author:  K.M. Penemue

Publisher:  Less Than Three Press

Length:  96 pages

Rating:  C+

Triple Shot of Yum

 

Blurb:  Signal’s primary duty is to follow up on small or incomplete leads given to the U.S. government. This time, the lead could be big: Sex trafficking in Macau, China, with an American working behind casino owner James Song. 

Drake is sent to the glamorous Diamonds Hotel and Casino to look for evidence. While there, he meets Victor Mason. Victor is pleasant, handsome, and just happens to match the vague description of the American Drake is looking for. 

But in the colorful, glittering casino world, nothing is quite what it seems. The enigmatic James Song certainly isn’t, and Drake is quickly running out of time to sort lies from truth.

 

Review: A fun and cute short story that had me engaged and entertained from beginning to end. 

Drake is sexy and sweet, honorable and tough. He works at Signal which takes the jobs that are too small for the CIA. He and his partner/back up/best friend, Jamie are adorable together. 

I liked the Everyman quality to the characters, there is something sexy about men who are real, flawed, normal. Men who don’t have perfect physiques and can’t always say the right thing or make the right choices.

The casino is kind of amazing. The descriptions were so vivid I felt like I should be able to go there and play poker myself. It was almost a character in itself. 

This is one of those where it’s hard to write a review without spoiling things. The story is short and I don’t want to give away too much and ruin any important plot twists or surprises. So I’ll just say that I really liked the story. It’s a great quick read with a lot of action, some intrigue and some sexy times. 

The short length and engaging characters and storyline make it a nice, or as Beans likes to call them a good “waiting room book”.

Reviewed by Nina