karlakolumna

I've just accidentally deleted the book from my shelves and therefore deleted my review. UGH! Fan-fucking-tastic. [Look at me using this "word" for the first time ever. ;)]I am delighted. Ah, WTH, I might as well write a new (improved) one.Anyway, The Slayer's Apprentice was a 3.75 stars read for me.There were many aspects which I really liked. This was definitely an interesting and engrossing thriller. It was different from other M/M Romance books because here we dealt with a serial killer.Phoenix Love is one very manipulative, broken, sociopathic boy, teenager really. He didn't have a normal life. Far from it. Phoenix' showed signs of anti-social behaviour even as a kid. He was, after all, chosen--by The Crucifix Slayer--with the intention to be his apprentice, to make him the next slayer, for a reason. Having been kidnapped and tortured, having been at the mercy of The Slayer obviously didn't help either. By the time Phoenix managed to escape his mental stability was far from stable.Nevertheless, despite his horrible experiences, Phoenix took Echo, a baby the Slayer had also kidnapped, with him and, ever since, took care of the little boy with such a passion. Even though he himself was still just a boy at the time, he tried his very best to give Echo a loving home. His devotion to the boy possibly was the only thing that kept him sane on some level.Now, meet Senior Constable Daniel Hart.Hart enters Phoenix' life first when the former steals his wallet at the bar Phoenix is working at. Instead of reading him his rights, Hart prefers to turn a blind eye on Phoenix', well, criminal behaviour, but not that a blind eye on the guy himself. I'd call Hart lovestruck from the very first time he laid eyes on him.Now, here we get to the part I've had a problem with: I really didn't buy the sudden love Daniel Hart felt for Phoenix, immediately. In case you haven't read any other of my reviews yet and don't know it: I really don't believe in love at first sight. I don't buy it. I dislike reading about it in my books with a passion.So, there. Thus, this part of the story didn't go to well with me.But it's not just the love-at-first-sight thing. On top of that I didn't get how any respected and intelligent police officer--Constable, whatever--could possibly make the decision to leave Echo, a five-year-old (or something like that) in the care of a clearly labil young man, if you can even call him that with his barely eighteen years, who shows clear signs of an anti-social disorder. THAT lacks any rationale.Furthermore, I've had a problem with the dynamic between Hart and Phoenix. As I said, Phoenix is a manipulative sociopath and uses Hart like he pleases. He plays him mastefully--like a fiddle. He pushes him away and the next minute he is all sweet and lovely, when he needs Daniel for something, that is. And Daniel Hart lets all this happen, while wearing his rose-colored glasses. This naivety towards Pheonix didn't sit well with me. Daniel Hart seemed to be the most unalert and most un-policeman-ish policeman ever. What I REALLY liked, however, was the the thriller aspect of the book. The whole time the reader is asking himself if the reappearance of the Crucifix Slayer is really that, a reappearance, or if Phoenix is responsible for the new crimes. And there's enough evidence, or clues, that indicate the latter might just be the case. Another question is: Who the hell is the original Crucifix Slayer? That part is very well done, and it's the reason for the rounded-up-to 4 stars.All in all, this was an entertaining and gripping enough read.