SPECTR: Volume 1

Note: part of this review appears in my review of SPECTR Vol.2. If you plan on reading this wonderful series, start with this volume and move directly on to Vol 2. They are two parts of a single great epic.SPECTR is an astonishing series. There are actually at least six "books" between SPECTR1 and SPECTR2, and I almost didn't read any of them because I'm not a big fan of either novellas or short stories. I should have had more faith in the remarkable talent of Jordan Hawk. God knows, I virtually ate the entire Whyborne & Griffin series even though the whole paranormal thing is not exactly my favorite genre. But, like those books, SPECTR's characters and settings are so vivid and attractive, in Ms. Hawk's capable hands, that they transcend their genre and deliver just about everything you'd want in a book: top-flight writing, incredibly imaginative background, thrills, spills, insights, hot sex, and relentless character development. I'm not at all sure what else one could ask for.In Ms. Hawk's imagined world (which takes place in our time, mostly in South Carolina), SPECTR is the government agency that regulates paranormal activity. "Mal"s (paranorMALs) are the equivalent of gays through recent American history - disrespected, sometimes attacked, fired from jobs with no protection and right-wing politicians demanding they cede even more of their rights (for the protection of "normal" people). Sound familiar? It should. In this tale, the "Mals" are the new gays of an America that cannot seem to live without scapegoats - especially in the religious sphere. The parallels are entirely intentional.John is a young SPECTR agent who was sent to the SPECTR school when "reparative therapy" didn't work, and his parents wanted to be rid of him. This gorgeous young exorcist graduated into SPECTR, and because the organization became his parent and offered the only peace and security he'd ever known, he became its biggest supporter. Caleb, on the other hand, is a young, gorgeous twink, barely-employed and an unsuccessful painter who has a major problem with authority. He has very minor paranormal gifts, and he's lived in the closet with the help of his beloved big brother Ben.Ben is murdered and his body turns up missing. Caleb joins his sister-in-law and her cohorts in "God's Fist" tracking down Ben's body, which was taken over by a demon of some sort. In the process of ridding Ben's remains of the demon, he falls three stories through the floor of the abandoned house where they catch up with what's left of Ben. He dies. He is revived by his sister-in-law. Miraculously, he is also healed of his extensive and fatal injuries. In fact, at the moment of death, Caleb was possessed by the same demon who inhabited Ben's body. The demon inhabits the first body he encounters once he has been dispossessed from his previous one. What nobody expected was for the demon to end up inhabiting a live body, as he does when Ben is saved from the jaws of death. Big problem: there are now two of them in there.If he is not exorcised within 40 days, Caleb will be stuck with him forever, and likely sent to prison by SPECTR for the rest of his life, to protect the public from his permanently-ensconced demon. John is called in to perform the exorcism. It doesn't work. It must be a very powerful demon.As it turns out, it's not a demon at all (in fact, it feeds on demons, a great benefit to humanity ) - it is closer to a god. And yes, "Gray" (the demon inside Caleb) is pretty cool, So cool that Ben, Caleb and Gray end up in love with each other. This is the strangest and most powerful menage in the history of gay fiction - and Ms. Hawk handles it with aplomb, especially the incredibly tricky bit of Caleb sometimes being just Caleb, sometimes Gray, and sometimes, both of them.They have adventures in every book (chapter) as we're introduced to incubi, werewolves, wendigo, ghouls and all kinds of supernatural creatures that Gray, John and Caleb have to control. And, simultaneous to these individual adventures, the main plot, dangerous corruption at SPECTR, continues apace.As I read, I kept thinking, what a great movie this series would make. And that makes a lot of sense in the context of Ms. Hawk's writing, which is so vivid, it's virtually cinematic. Her scenes (especially the battles!) played like a movie, in real-time, across my mind's eye. She did the same with Whyborne & Griffin, and it is a stunning gift, not to mention a great pleasure for the reader.SPECTR is an astonishing work by a great writer. Do not dismiss it as a paranormal-genre book because it is so much more. In fact, do not miss it. Period.

I already posted a reasonably long review separately for book 1, so here I'll focus mainly on the themes and issues that develop or continue in books 2 & 3. I hope this doesn't wind up spoiler-ish.Caleb (despite beginning to acknowledge a thrill in the hunt) still hopes that John will find some way that actually works to exorcise Gray and thus allow Caleb to rebuild a more normal life. John is torn between the narrowing deadline for the same hope, and the knowledge that the next step legally mandated after capturing Gray in a spirit bottle will be to have the Non-Human Entity "humanely destroyed".John's exorcism attempts and research don't turn Gray against him, presumably because Gray is confident that such attempts will fail, as many other humans over the centuries have failed to do any more than inconvenience him for a span of time negligible to his immortal patience. The restrictions Caleb and John demand on when he is allowed to feed vs. when a possessed is a recoverable victim often frustrate and/or confuse him, but his eyes *are* being opened to other ways of looking at mortal existence.On the romantic side, Caleb worries that he may not really be more than a temporary tool and research challenge to John, and the lack of acceptance by the other SPECTR agents he's obliged to work with doesn't help. John meanwhile is ashamed to admit to himself that he feels attracted not just to Caleb but also to the etheric power and predatory grace of Gray, even as his emotions are more than he expected, especially so soon, for Caleb. Gray enjoys the utterly new experience of sex, and feels possessive of John, but Caleb worries what might happen if Gray (with his fangs and claws) rises too near the surface at the wrong moment, both in terms of injury and of John's possible reaction.Action-plot wise, dealing first with ghouls not acting normally for ghouls, then an incubus who seems to be connected with his natural enemy, the anti-paranormal political faction, proves that SPECTR's agents don't know as much as they thought. There are some exciting scenes during each case, and some intriguing questions raised.I will restate (from my book 1 review) that the book mainly alternates limited-3rd-person past-tense narrative sections in John and Caleb's PoVs, with breathless limited-3rd-person PRESENT-tense scenes of Gray, often during a chase. Gray's wonder and curiosity at the vivid sensations of a living host is also in the Caleb sections, in their internal dialogue.Proofreading-wise, I caught just two minor typos, a missing "of" and an I-should-be-me. Format-wise, there doesn't seem to be any Table of Contents page, though the Kindle app's in-book menu does include one.Now onward!

I have read lots of books with demons vampires etc and its nice to find an author who has a different take on it all. Basically Caleb is an unregistered paranormal who accidentally gets possessed by Gray a vampire. John is a top Exorcist but can't remove Gray from Caleb no matter what he tries it just won't work so instead Spectr the company he works for recruit Caleb and together John Caleb and Gray help solve crimes. Really good series of books with a twist. Recommended

I thank you for creating a fascinating character,who I hope we are going to learn more about in subsequent stories.It will provide a rich vein of entertainment.Sexy as he'll too.

I love these books so much. <3 I just finished the 6th and I feel a need to go through them again and pay more attention to it all. My goodness...X3

Si vous cherchez une histoire originale, sexy et déjantée, vous l'avez trouvée ! Les 6 volumes doivent se lire à la suite, car c'est une seule et même histoire, située dans un laps de temps assez court (2 mois au total environ).Entre l'agent fédéral John Starkweather et le jeune Caleb, c'est le coup de foudre. John est un séduisant exorciste, chargé de traquer les démons et de les envoyer à la destruction, tout en s'efforçant de sauver les victimes. Pour cela il faut que la possession soit récente : moins de 40 jours, sinon malheureusement la possession devient définitive et la victime doit être supprimée. Caleb vient justement d'être possédé par un démon, et John est chargé de l'exorciser. Mais après plusieurs tentatives infructueuses, force est de constater que le démon de Caleb est particulièrement puissant, résistant, plutôt sympathique par ailleurs, et qu'il n'a aucune envie d'être délogé. Or il le faut sous 40 jours, sinon Caleb ne pourra plus être sauvé. Le compte-à-rebours a commencé...C'est un joyeux mélange d'action et de fantastique, plein de bonne humeur et très gai (très gay aussi). Les scènes de sexe sont nombreuses, tout en s'intègrant parfaitement à l'histoire, et voir le gentil végétarien Caleb se transformer peu à peu en une redoutable créature gothique est parfaitement réjouissant ! Bref, c'est drôle, passionnant et tout à fait distrayant.