Big Cypress Crossroads – Bren Christopher (3 Stars)

Noah Taylor lives deep in the Everglades, coming out on the weekends to lead curious tourists through the beauty of the Everglades.  He unexpectedly comes across a hanging body in the Cypress trees and a mystery unfolds as to why the body is there and who put it there.

Scott Chandler is a detective with the Miami-Dade police department, shot in the line of duty and just recently allowed back in the field.  He’s been following a large drug cartel and the trail leads him to the Everglades and to Noah.  The two men end up working together and it’s not just the mystery that unites them.

Noah has had dreams since he was young and it wasn’t until he met Scott that he realized that he’d been seeing Scott in those dreams.  The two fall in love but is it enough to solve the mystery and can Noah keep Scott safe from what he sees happening in the dreams?

I liked this book, for the most part.  The mystery was intriguing and I loved the description of the scenery, it made me want to go down to Florida and see the area for myself.  Noah and Scott’s relationship was nice to see too, though it was faster than I like to read.  I know with books, you have to move things along but I wish there’d been a bit more of them trying to get to know each other.

There were some things that bothered me though.  The fact that Noah never really told Scott his involvement in things, especially since he loved Scott.  Noah always seemed to have some kind of ulterior motive and that at times, he was using Scott for his own revenge.  Yes, he did finally tell him but it was only after Scott had to drag it out of him.  Also, I can’t see Noah being allowed to be such a large part of the investigation.  Going off and doing things on his own, I could believe that, but not with the police allowing him in so close.  Scott’s attitude towards things irritated me also but not as much as Noah’s.

I did like getting the glimpse into Santeria.  It wasn’t the stereotypical thing that you see for the religion, it was more real and that was nice to see for once.

Overall, I give this book 3 stars.  The mystery was good and for the most part the characters were good.  I would’ve liked to have seen a little more of a build up between Noah and Scott but that could just be me.

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