About Immortal Seduction
by M.E. Monte
156 pages/73000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-466-3, 1-60370-466-3
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
Darren Cox has been an operative for the Retriever’s Division of the Agency for Afterlife Activity for ten years, ever since he was killed by a rival sniper agent on earth. In that time, his cold demeanor has scared off too many partners to count. When he meets Tanner Simms, the youngest operative to work in their division, he knows his afterlife is about to become a lot more complicated. The energetic, friendly nineteen year old is only too happy to glue himself to Darren’s side and learn all there is to know about helping the troubled souls of the dead cross over. Even the prospect of banishing a demon or two isn’t enough to scare off the exuberant young man.
What Darren cannot make sense of is why his boss insists that Tanner needs to learn from him, or what the special talents are that his partner supposedly possess. It isn’t until he sees a telltale marking on Tanner’s lips and his partner shares the events in his dark past that Darren realizes the power Tanner possesses, and that he is the one the demons speak of in fear as the “Demon Slayer.” Tanner’s unique abilities will be needed in order to defeat the possessed ghost of a serial killer determined to take one last victim with him before crossing over.
Can Tanner and Darren take out the bad guy without losing their afterlives? Find out in this exciting novel.
Review
Mychael Black, co-author of the Prince’s Angel books, writes: Darren Cox is not your typical... cop. Along with his annoyingly chatter-prone partner Tanner Simms, Darren works for the Retriever Division of the Agency of Afterlife Activity. When trouble rears its ugly, demonic head, it’s up to Darren and Tanner to step in. Danner, however, isn’t so sure his young partner is up to the task at hand. Tanner, instead, seems more intent on prodding Darren at every turn until the man finally crumbles. And when it does, sparks fly, shocking Darren into what he’s most afraid of. But what happens when he discovers there’s much more to Tanner than meets the eye?
With Immortal Seduction, author M.E. Monte has taken the concept of a ‘ghost story’ and completely flipped it on its head. The world itself is beyond enthralling, drawing you into this realm of undead officers who are sworn to keep the rest of the living staying that way.
Darren is stubborn and growly, but Tanner is his perfect match. Tanner’s secrets are strong ones and I was constantly worried about how Darren would react. But the end more than made up for the deliciously wicked angst throughout. Add in some wonderful paranormal elements, and you definitely do not want to pass this one up!
Sample
“The Chief just called for a collective meeting. Each unit’s attendance is mandatory.”
Darren Cox tried to ignore the voice of his young, overexcited partner and focus on completing the paperwork from their last assignment, but it was a difficult task when the object of his irritation was leaning one slender hip on the only open space on his cluttered desk. He stubbornly tried to avoid eye contact in the hopes that the kid would be able to read his body language for once.
“It must be something important if the Chief wants everyone there, don’t ya think?”
Darren sighed and rubbed his weary eyes. He had been focusing on his latest report for close to three hours without a break. Having been dead for over a decade now, he did have the advantage of not needing to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. The disadvantage was he couldn’t use any of those bodily functions to escape the annoying, male teenage presence that was void of the knowledge of personal space.
He had been partnered with Tanner Simms for a little over a month now, had gone on ten assignments with the kid, and had been unable to convey his full dislike to the cheerful nuisance. It usually only took a week for his partners to take the hint and quit trying to befriend him. In another week they usually requested a transfer out of his department into another in the agency. For the life of him, ha-ha, he couldn’t figure out what made Tanner such a slow learner. He wasn’t treating the guy with any more warmth than his twelve previous partners, and yet the nuisance followed him around like a puppy, practically worshipping every foul word that left his mouth.
“I have an idea, Brat. Why don’t you shut up and wait for the Chief to explain what’s going on when we get to the meeting?” Darren barked in his best pissed off voice. It didn’t take much considering his voice was gravelly from not being used in hours.
Usually his rudeness would end any conversation and result in the person getting angry and storming off or retreating into a hurt silence. Tanner did neither of these things. He smiled and continued to swing his legs and perch on his senior partner’s desk.
“Sure he’ll explain, but its fun to try to figure out the mystery before he comes out and tells us. Maybe this time we’ll need to retrieve the soul of a lounge lizard who died before confessing his love to a certain senorita. He might be standing below her balcony right now, serenading her with his ghostly ballads. Or it could be a drug dealer who died before delivering his last big shipment and fleeing to safety across the Mexican border. Maybe we’ll even get caught in the crossfire-”
Darren pushed away from his desk and stormed towards his supervisor’s office without looking back to see if his young partner was following. He bet the kid was still rambling on, even though there was no longer an audience. Darrem often heard Tanner talking to himself as he wandered around the office, performing whatever menial duties had been assigned to him. It was a good thing the kid was already dead, because he would rather talk than live.
The plaque on the Chief’s door read “Malcolm Reed, Retriever Division Supervisor, Agency of Afterlife Activity.” Darren opened the heavy metal door to find the rest of his division operatives seated around the Chief’s desk, apparently waiting on him and Tanner. His partner sauntered in right behind him and flounced into a chair with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
“Told you I could get him in here in less than five minutes.”