Collared

by T.A. Moore

When ex-priest Jack finds a dead man nailed to his bed, he knows it’s going to be a bad night. He just has no idea how bad. Now he’s been recruited by his own personal demon to find the thieves who killed a man, kidnapped his family, and stole something of indescribable value from the demonic Math. To find answers he has to delve deep into the infernal underbelly of his town and face his own past. Jack’s been promised his soul back if he succeeds. As local cop Ben Ambrose risks his own soul by following too closely in Jack’s footsteps, and with a child’s life on the line, Jack has to decide if it’s a deal he’s willing to make.

Previously published by Dreamspinner Press in the Devil Take Me anthology, January 2019.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, Audiobook, Urban Fantasy, Queer, Mystery

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 28, 2020

About the author

TA Moore is a Northern Irish writer of romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance novels. A childhood in a rural, seaside town fostered in her a suspicious nature, a love of mystery, and a streak of black humour a mile wide. As her grandmother always said, ‘she’d laugh at a bad thing that one’, mind you, that was the pot calling the kettle black. TA Moore studied History, Irish mythology, English at University, mostly because she has always loved a good story. She has worked as a journalist, a finance manager, and in the arts sectors before she finally gave in to a lifelong desire to write.

Coffee, Doc Marten boots, and good friends are the essential things in life. Spiders, mayo, and heels are to be avoided.

Website: www.nevertobetold.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TA.Moores
Twitter: @tammy_moore

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF ~40%

World-building was rushed and unclear, the characters weren't enjoyable in any way, and I felt like the story I was getting was not what was implied from the blurb. Not my kind of thing.

[Annika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook review

4,5 stars

This was another hit for me – and not only because of the fabulous narration.

Making deals with the devil is detriment to your health, but that doesn’t stop people from making them. On the contrary, the allure of the forbidden could be irresistible. Over the years Jack has learned to take life in a stride. He knows what goes bump in the night, what monsters hide in the closet or under the bed. So when he finds a dead man in his bed he knows his trouble has only begun. When Math, his personal demon, and sometimes lover, recruits him to find what was stolen from him. But the task isn’t as easy as it might seem as the thieves have no problem killing anyone in their way. And their next victim is a little girl they’d kidnapped.

It’s not easy to create a good short story, and one that doesn’t feel rushed or incomplete, but TA Moore absolutely did that with Collared. There was great world-building, fleshed out characters and interesting plotline. I wouldn’t have minded this story to be a full length novel, but that’s because I’m greedy, not because anything was missing.

Greg Tremblay is a fantastic narrator and voice actor, and sadly it’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy one of his performances. I love how he makes the story come alive, and this time the listener feels the grittiness, harshness and horror of everything. He made you feel Tracey’s fear, but also her determination. What little we got to know about her was fascinating – and a little bit terrifying. Tremblay also perfected the push-pull, love/hate/resentment/longing with a bit of confusion and resignation between Jack and Math. To say feelings were mixed was an understatement. But Moore created that wonderful mess, and Tremblay made you feel it. I can’t say that I understand their relationship – I’m not sure they do (Jack and Math) but I think that’s also why I enjoyed it so much. I mean anything between a condemned ex-priest and a demon is sure to have complications. Anyway Tremblay is as magic as this story and I wish for many more stories to come.

Oh, and fair warning, this story is very well written and expertly narrated so the many gruesome scenes might evoke more than a little nausea, and a bit of an aversion to food.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly imaginative writing, ambiguous morals, sharp observations and an intriguing plot. I'm a huge TAM fan, no matter what genre she's writing in (and she experiments with a lot).

There's an equally (even more?) intriguing prequel - Dead Man's Handle - here.

[Natalie Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, hell! TA Moore didn't waste any time dragging us into her incredibly dark story. We walk right into her story finding a dead man nailed to the bed that begins to move and talks. Bearing witness to this phenomenon is Jack who was calming drinking booze and waiting for whatever else. And whatever else is quite something. We find that Jack is an investigator of sorts--an ex-priest who became 'addicted' to one hot and handsome demon by the name of Math. Math charges him to find the people who killed a man, kidnapped his family and stole something absolutely priceless. Be prepared to sit on the edge of your seats with this one, folks. You simply can NOT predict, at any given time, where this story is going. And that is simply the best thing of all. Enjoy this wonderful tale of darkness.

[Kassu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-⭐

This is a dark and gritty world with zero healthy relationships. Hell is bleeding into this world and it's bleak, sprinkled with some body horror. I did like a lot about the world and the protagonist: undead ex-priest obsessed with a demon. But I think there's about 20 too many mentions of his dick hardening. He's super lusty about Math, we get it. After a while it's just redundant to mention his every sexual thought.

Part of Devil Take Me anthology.

[Diane Dannenfeldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wasn't really a romance. Math, the demon, loved Jack to best that a demon can. The story was pretty dark and gory. Jack is an ex-priest who sold his soul because he loved Math. I loved Math even though he is evil and holds Jack's contract/soul he does care for him. Something has been taken from Math and he dispatches Jack to find it. Didn't even occurred to me what it was.

[Stonemagpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn’t know what to expect. It takes place in a sort of Constantine-esque world where some people can see the demonic. I loved the concept but it needed more room to grow.

[John-Torleif Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn’t impressed

I have read many things from this author and enjoyed them immensely. This, sadly, was not one of them. I wanted to see more of a story of something, but this ended up being something of a series of small scenes that were somewhat chronologically ordered. Ambrose’s role felt a bit serendipitous and convenient, and not really believable.

I wanted to see the insidious corruption that the demons incite, but only got a few signs of it between all of the huge implications of years of corruption, instead.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sometimes, when you couldn’t change what was going on and you didn’t want to understand it, all you could do was shove it under the bed and make sure your toes didn’t stick out from the covers.”

This author has a way of sending chills ratcheting up my spine and she did so, unashamedly and in endless waves, as I read ‘Collared’. It’s the story of Jack, a soulless and damned ex-priest, who is tied to the demon he called forth years ago and forced to do its bidding. Now he has a chance of getting his soul back and maybe, just maybe, Jack can beat Math at his own game but there’s a little girl’s life on the line and Jack is going to have to use all of his resources to save her.

Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews

[Morwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read a book in one sitting, but I devoured this book in one session.

Jack, a damned ex-priest, is not a hero by any measure, nor is his demon, Math. They are, however, bound by a great deal more than a simple contract for jack's soul. The heat between them is incandescent. And while Jack doesn't bother often with hope, he still feels like this one time, he needs to do the right thing. There's a little girl involved, an innocent.

This isn't a long book, although I wanted more of it. Ms. Moore is an artist who paints with words. Her prose is rich, and savage. It grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. I could see what she described, smell it, taste it. Ms. Moore has a gift, and while some people might think it's a bit dark, I thought it was delicious.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really dark/gritty/gory.

Greg Tremblay is always good, but this was ... not my cup of tea. 3 stars because it was a 2-star story (again, because I don't like this kind of story, not because it was a bad story) but an additional star for Greg.

It definitely feels like part of a longer story (and I think this is part of a larger 'verse) but this is extremely in medias res and while the major storyline is resolved, there's so much unexplained that it's a bit uncomfortable to read.

Also not kidding about the gore - I had to pause what I was eating, because of how descriptive and gross some of the scenes were.

Not sure I'd look for more by this author.

[Ollie Z Book Minx · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is *almost* romantic suspense and I’m tempted to call it that, even if it doesn’t meet my usual criteria, because the ways it skirts that edge are thought-provoking af. I wanna noodle about this on a meta level and I love that. I hope there is more set in this world and also all of the aus I’ve read so far by this author hit me like that, so I know that even if there isn’t—there will be something just as fascinating to sink my teeth into in the next. which… LOVE.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narrated by Greg Tremblay, who does a great job. I picked this one up because it was included as part of the kobo plus listen program, and I’ve read other books by this author. The blurb is really short, and didn’t give me sense of the plot. Hint: it’s dark. Very dark. I was thrown into the story, and felt confused/off rhythm throughout. The sex scenes weren’t sexy. But the story is compelling.

Kobo plus listen

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
So I LOVED the world in this. The descriptions were beautifully dark and macabre. I think my biggest hold up with the lack of emotion between the two MC’s. And it makes sense, it does… but it could have been deeper imo. It was more of a story of obsession on both parts rather than love. Even if they say they do? Idk. But I definitely enjoyed this quick book!

[Garc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the story, it was captivating with the right amount of steam but I wasn’t all the way in. I read something I’d like but wasn’t fully engaged. I’ll probably circle back when I’m in a better frame of mind.

[Carminex3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, first read from TA Moore. Gruesome descriptions, masterful writing and pacing. Fascinating and disturbing. Looking for more now.

[Cleo Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This was scary and perfect. Bittersweet and creepy. Love, hate, death and everything in between.
I love it!

[Marsilisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it as part of Devil Take Me anthology

[Karsyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, and the audio was well done, but I didn't get invested. I didn't care about the character, and therefore I didn't care about the story overall.

[Missjoanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a suitable Halloween read but not for the faint hearted unless you can take on board what crazy relationships develop when the underworld leeks into our world!!

[Miriam]

Dark. Too dark for me. Grim and despairing.

And I can cope with morally grey characters who act decently. But I don't know what to do with people who seem decent but don't act it.

[Randy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF@33% I tried, but this was just awful in multiple ways. While the author seems skilled at depicting imagery and mood, after a full third of the way through, I still had no idea what the actual point of the story was. The story was jerky and disjointed and did nothing to draw me in or make me care the least bit about anything being told. Rather than a coherent story, it felt like jumbled pieces that were hobbled together hoping that a coherent tale would emerge, but sadly, neither materialized nor captured the attention. I would get through a section and drift to thinking about what errands I had to run or what was on my to-do list rather than wanting to continue with the “story” as it were. A good story draws you in and makes you want more, this just made me never want to return or read anything by this author ever again.