Being an openly-gay detective in Birmingham comes with its share of problems. For one, the pay is awful. For another, Jake always gets stuck with the crappy undercover jobs. Like posing as a prostitute to catch the new crime boss in town—a man notorious for rough sex with pretty young rentboys.
Jake’s latest op is fraught with difficulties, all of them men. Like his partner, Mac, who he’s secretly fancied for months. And his new client, Graham, who he keeps sleeping with for reasons far beyond maintaining his cover. And of course there’s the target, Frank Warren, who’s much harder to lure than Jake had anticipated.
The longer the job drags on, the tougher it gets for Jake to juggle his own needs with those of the job. They may be closing in on Warren, but Jake’s heart—and moral compass—are slipping through his fingers. Mac is there to back him up, but is he really the man Jake needs? Tough to tell among all those lies Jake's been telling himself and everyone else.
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With its storyline of an undercover cop playing the role of prostitute, Necessity's Door fits in seamlessly with the other titles in Riptide Publishing's Rentboy Collection. While there's a feeling of implausibility in Jake's actually going with the men who stop for him, it didn't hamper my enjoyment of this story in any way.
At the start of the story Jake is definitely in turmoil after his boyfriend walks out on him taking all of Jake's savings. It's made him a bit desperate to make ends meet. Add in his current assignment working as a rentboy to track down a drug dealer and you see Jake at an all time low mentally. He's lonely both mentally and physically and it's led to some reckless decisions. I understood his feelings of frustration and desperation and how easily that can lead you astray.
Mac was a good and loyal friend and I appreciated his honesty with Jake in all matters. He was a good moral compass for Jake and I can see why Jake was attracted to him. Graham too was just what Jake needed. He brought some much needed humor to his life and made him feel cared for. I wish we'd gotten a more vivid impression of Graham though. The glimpses we get feel like just that, glimpses without much substance.
Considering the subject matter the sexual interludes aren't very graphic and are often summed up in two or three sentences. The story flows along nicely but the ending felt a bit rushed and too perfectly tied up to ensure a HEA. This doesn't detract from this enjoyably written story with likable characters put in an intense situation. Fiona Glass has created an emotionally intense story featuring conflicted yet admirable characters which has me clamoring for more of her works and brings the Rentboy Collection to a satisfying conclusion.
My rating for this is a B-/C+
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
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