Title: Convicted
Series: The Bureau Book Five
Author: Kim Fielding
Genre: Paranormal Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: MM Gay
Publisher: Self
Reviewer: Pat; Linda, Paranormal Romance Guild
Get It On Amazon
About The Book
Vietnam veteran Kurt Powell’s addiction almost cost him everything, but a job as federal agent with the Bureau of Trans-Species Affairs helped him find sobriety and purpose. Now he tracks down dangerous paranormal creatures as well as humans who abuse their magical powers in illegal ways.
Sent from Belfast to the United States as a boy, Desmond Hughes later fell into a disastrous relationship that led to horrific murders. He’s spent seventeen years in a bleak prison with few comforts and no hope of release.
A new mission throws Kurt and Des together in a desperate attempt to prevent disaster. Sometimes what’s long been lost can still be found, but the road to redemption is never easy—and a mutual attraction may not ease the way.
The Reviews
We have two reviews of this one today for you. The first one is by Pat:
Culpability and forgiveness, the themes of Kim Fielding’s latest Bureau story, brought up memories of my childhood and the debate over capital punishment after the murder spree of Charles Starkweather. Like Des in Fielding’s story, Caril Ann Fugate, Starkweather’s girlfriend, was either a naïve teen who wasn’t involved or a willing participant in the mass killings. And like Des, Fugate was sentenced to life imprisonment.
But the questions of her culpability and whether it was possible to forgive her for any part she played were rife, just as they are in Fielding’s story.
Agent Kurt Powell of the Bureau of Trans-Species Affairs has been through the fire both as a war veteran and a drug addict, so it’s no surprise his superior sees him as the man most fit to accompany convicted felon Des Hughes on a hunt for undetonated magical boxes. Both men are wary for their own reasons. Kurt is ambivalent about Des’ guilt and power. After seventeen years in prison, Des wants to soak up as much of the outside before he’s returned to his cell. Both of them fear that the lure of escape might be too much for Des, ruining Kurt’s career at the Bureau and placing Des in peril as a fugitive.
Like my childhood question of Fugate’s culpability, Kurt is plagued by whether Des is a hardened killer or as innocent as he seems. On his part, Des questions how he could have seen what his partner and lover was doing constructing and setting off magic explosions. How much he participated in the killings also plagues him. As Des and Kurt think about their pasts, they realize that for them to respect each other and get along each man must make peace with his past and take responsibility for his future and his actions. Going with the flow just isn’t good enough anymore.
Author Fielding is a master at finding believable happily ever afters to complicated relationships and love for the seemingly loveless. This book excels at both. Fans of the Bureau novels and fans of seemingly hopeless matches will love Convicted. It’s a story that can be read and reread, each time getting a new level of enjoyment.
And the second by Linda:
Kurt Powell is a Vietnam veteran, a father of a seventeen year old son, an ex drug addict and drunk and now a federal agent with the Bureau of Trans-Species Affairs. It was the Bureau that saved his life a life that was going nowhere but down. A new assignment will take him to the Bureau’s Nevada prison, a prison with no hope, a prison where noone escapes except by death.
Desmond Hughes was born in Belfast,Ireland where he dreamed of one day being an Amercian unfortunately he is now an Amercian locked away in a small cell with no hope for the future. He has spent seventeen years with only a few books, a little television and a small amount of time outdoors but always at night. Des spent time living on the streets until he met Larry Krane a man with money, smarts and happy to take Des under his wing. Larry built boxes that he claimed would be given to the angels to use against demons but first they had to test them using humans as guinea pigs, something that Des took an active part in which is the reason he is where he is and Larry is dead.
Kurt’s assignment is to find boxes that Larry might have hidden, boxes that in the wrong hands could be disasterous and in order to find them they need Des’ help. Des knows he is guilty of assisting in the death of dozens of people but he always believed he was doing the right thing, that the angels would help people live and end disease, all lies, the only reason for the boxes was power.
For the first time in seventeen years Des can sleep in a soft bed, eat delicious food, wear clothing that fits and finally see the sky in the daytime. He knows that at the end of the search for the boxes he will return to his cell but for now he just wants to accumulate as many memories as possible including his memory of Kurt. Both men have killed and even though Kurt killed because of orders and war he can’t get the deaths out of his head, Des knows he is responsible for aiding in killing innocent humans but he is paying for it.
Two men both alone in spite of an ex-wife and son and a job that he loves Kurt always feels alone missing the one thing that he needs companionship and love from another man. Des doesn’t get to speak to another human being unless it is when the doctor comes but he has accepted his punishment and does whatever he has to to survive it. The more time the two men spend together the more they crave each other but how can there ever be anything more between them when Des is headed back to his prison, or is he.
I love this series and each book just gets better and better. We usually see the uglier side of humanity but there is always hope for redemption.
Five Stars.
The Reviewers
Pat:
Pat Henshaw:
- Is a she, not a he.
- Writes MM romances.
- Has interviewed Arlo Guthrie, Big Bird, Fred Rogers, Liberace, and Vincent Price.
- Has lived and worked on all three US coasts and in the middle of the country, too.
- Has been a reviewer, costumer, librarian, and teacher.
- Has ridden an elephant, touched the pyramids, and stood at the edge of a volcano.
- Believes love is essential to everyone’s happiness.
- She wants you to remember: Every day is a good day for romance!
Linda:
I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.
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