Title: ⟫ Static (The Teams Book 3)
Author: ⟫ Romilly King
Blurb: ⟫
This is Static - communications expert, extrovert, former witness, surrounded by secrets
In a team of monsters I’m the normal guy. The one making peace. The one soothing the raging beasts in the likes of Blue and Snipe. I don’t mind, I trained as a witness, I’ve always been good with the borderline personalities [remembered sadness and guilt].
I guess that’s why I’m drawn to Janus. I sense the complications in him. He’s like a puzzle I want to solve.
When he calls me, utterly terrified, panicking, totally at odds with his usual personality, I know he needs me. I’ll move heaven and earth for those who need me.
I’ve got a huge saviour complex. Show me a cause and I’ll nail myself to the nearest tree for it.
Janus is a cause I’d willingly martyr myself for, and I’ve never even seen his face.
He has hidden himself all the time I have known him, but so have I. If I’m going to save him I’m going to have to show myself, the real me, to him and to the team.
Static is the third book in The Teams, the new series from Romilly King, author of the Handled and Outreach series of mm romances and gay thrillers. Set in the same universe as Handled, the world of The Teams is dark, morally ambiguous, and full of secrets and lies. Please be aware this book ends on a cliffhanger.
Review: ⟫ I ended up giving this book a 3 star rating because I enjoyed the story. BUT - I hated the cliffhanger. Like, raging and moaning at my daughter about it because it was so completely unexpected, and in my opinion, kinda unforgivable. Why not simply wait until the rest of the story was ready before writing such a cliffhanger? Why split it into two stories when it was for one couple and Static was relatively short? I just couldn't figure out the reasoning behind it and it truly spoiled this book for me.
Now, I know that it’s partially my fault for not reading the blurb fully – it does state at the bottom that the book ends on a cliffhanger. And I have read other stories that had ended in such a way, understood the reasoning and been relatively happy to wait for the resolution. There was just something about this one that enraged me.
The story was unexpected inasmuch as it involves a Dom/sub relationship – I didn’t see it coming, although the control aspect of things made sense in the context given. There wasn’t very much relationship building, but perhaps that’s because things have been building up to this in the other Teams books – Static has always had an interest in Janus, so I guess I should accept that that is all the ‘building’ we’re going to get.
I would have liked to know more about Static’s previous experiences, especially in relation to his first Witness. There seemed to be a lot thrown into the pot that covered a lot of bases but seemed very surface in the way it did it. There were also a few noticeable spelling and grammatical errors that dragged me slightly out of the story – it could do with a bit of an edit maybe? Perhaps I am letting my disappointment colour my view? Anyway, I’m going to leave it as a 3/5 for now and revisit once the fourth book is available – hopefully
Janus will complete it satisfactorily and I can view them (in my head) as one book.
