Splintered

This was an enjoyable read, and a good audio book as well. I could have used a bit more variety between the voices. Hutch (the sexy but grizzled cop), Byte (the GQ hacker), and Granite (the Goth geo-something specialist) all had uber deep and raspy Dom voice. So that fell a bit flat. But otherwise he had good emoting and tone throughout, and I'd recommend it as an easy listen.
Now the book itself. As I said, an enjoyable read. I had some vague suspicions as to possible villain that I think the Feds should have at least speculated on. But despite this being a mystery, you're not really supposed to figure out who the culprit is, because they never even have any viable suspects.
This is more about the working relationships and process of trying to catch a killer. The banter between the three co-workers was cute, although got to be a bit much at times. While the romance took a back seat (which I'm fine with), I just didn't feel the chemistry between our two MC's. Part of the problem was that Noah went from the shy socially awkward nerdy professor, to the aggressor/seducer, and this just didn't feel true for me. I would have been fine with this book having no sex while they developed a friendship/attraction, and tease us into the next book with promises of smexin. It was too early here so it felt rushed and out of character.
The climax was also slightly rushed, although to be honest I didn't mind, because I wasn't look forward to some huge traumatic torture scene or something. The resolution also, felt slightly off to me in a way that could have been easily fixed.
So there's a lot of criticisms here, as is typical with my 3 star reviews. But the reason it's a 3 star book is because despite all the nit-picking I did enjoy it throughout. I have read some phenomenal stuff by SJD, so I trust their writing skills, although this certainly wouldn't be an all-time favorite. That being said, I intend to keep an eye out for book 2 so I can continue on with these guys.
Review by Sandra
heartsonfirereviews.com

This book is one of my favorite reads of the year. In the book, FBI agent Hutch and his team are called in to investigate the murders of effeminate gay men in Chicago. What they find is a case pretty much ignored by the homophobic local police force. When they start investigating they realize that there are more murders than they originally knew about. A lack of evidence and a killer who knows to scatter bodies across jurisdictions make the investigation very tough.
Hutch is a great character. He reminds me of Will Graham from The Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. He is a profiler who gets into the mind of the killer. This causes him quite a bit of self-loathing. Luckily he has a great team backing him up. I really enjoyed the scenes between Hutch, Byte and Granite. Their banter was fantastic and you could tell they really cared for one another.
Noah is a PhD candidate in forensic psychology. He is obsessed with serial killers. This obsession stems from the murder of his mother and sister at the hands of a serial killer when Noah was young. Hutch notices Noah at the latest crime scene and pictures reveal he has been at others. Noah fits the profile of the killer and becomes their first real suspect. Hutch quickly doubts his original assessment and Noah eventually becomes part of the investigation.
This book is first and foremost a mystery/thriller. The killer easily rivals Thomas Harris's bad guys. Romance definitely takes a back seat. Despite this I did feel a connection between Hutch and Noah. Their attraction to each other was evident from their first meeting.
I look forward to reading more books in this series. I highly recommend this book. Fans of the Hannibal Lechter and Alex Cross series should really enjoy this.

4.5 Stars ~ Ah, Jo, I've missed you. It feels like forever since I've had a new release from you, and, frankly, it's been hard. I've been in agony and torment, day after day, pining away for your writing. *grins* Okay, maybe not that bad, but I've missed you. So, you can imagine my reaction when I heard about 'Splintered', book one in a series by the same name. There was squealing, Jo. Squealing, I tell you. Because not only was I getting a new SJD Peterson book, but it's a serial killer murder mystery, starring a hot FBI agent and an equally gorgeous forensic psychologist. I'm in heaven.
Special Agent Todd Hutchison, Hutch, and his team have been called in after the murders of two young, male, openly gay men, who were tortured and their genitals mutilated, only to discover another fifteen cases, within the same area, but over eight different jurisdictions. Hutch is furious that Chicago's \"finest\" don't seem to care a whole lot about the deaths of, as they say, \"faggots who were asking for it.\" Nice, huh? Even better is that for a few of the first murders, no evidence was collected, and the deaths were ruled suspicious instead of homicide. Hutch, Granite, and Byte sure aren't going to stop in their hunt for this killer, though. Hutch knows he's got the best team of them all. Hutch is a profiler at Quantico with an eerie ability to slip into the minds of killers, Granite is a genius at geographical profiling, and Byte, well, you guessed it, there isn't a computer system around that he can't get information out of.
“What makes someone look at a gay man as something less than human? That their death doesn’t matter because of who they shared their bed with?”
Enter Noah Walker, graduate student in criminal psychology, whom Hutch has spotted in the crowds at several of the dump sites. When Hutch and Granite go to talk to Noah, Hutch interprets his nervousness as guilty or suspicious behavior, when, in fact, Noah can't believe he's meeting the man he's admired for so long, and Hutch is even more gorgeous in person than Noah could've imagined. Noah has been fascinated with serial killers since he was in junior high. In fact, the living room walls of his apartment are covered in newspaper stories, maps, photos, etc. It's a little disconcerting to the average Joe. But Noah lived his own nightmare as a child, when he came home and found his mother and sister murdered, and that killer has never been found.
This was an exciting, thrilling, sexy, book, and an intense ride. Hutch and Noah are fascinating characters, each with their own histories and reasons for doing what they do. Hutch is not far away from burnout when he meets Noah, and Hutch really needs a little light amidst all the darkness he sees. The author penned an intricate murder mystery, with a killer I wasn't expecting. I'm really looking forward to the next book, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this one.
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.