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The Definitive Albert J. Sterne by [Julie Bozza]

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Julie Bozza

The Definitive Albert J. Sterne Kindle Edition

by Julie Bozza (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Albert Sterne, forensics expert with the FBI, is so obnoxious on the surface that no one bothers digging deeper. When he’s sent to Colorado to investigate what turns out to be the work of a serial killer he encounters Special Agent Fletcher Ash and they end up reluctantly joining forces to unravel the case. It’s only a matter of duty, though; it can’t be more, because Albert doesn’t do friendship – and he certainly doesn’t do love!

Length: 626 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Language: English

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Review

"A very gripping thriller. At first I was a bit shocked that it has almost 700 pages but once I started reading I couldn't stop. The part I enjoyed the most was the love story between the two main protagonists. All the characters have depth and are complex which made them very realistic. I found this book very fascinating and I will definitely read it again." Rainbow Awards 2011, Runner Up (equal third) in the Best LGBT Mystery / Thriller category

"That's what I love about Julie Bozza; each of her books is so different. She's eclectic and it shows. ... I think this is a love it or hate kind of book. It's a bit dry in the beginning, but once you push though that and kind of go with the flow of the novel, it's awesome and singularly different from other MM books. ... I highly recommend it. I want to hug it." Rosa, My Fiction Nook

"This isn't a romance, but it is a love story. Not romantic love but deeper, more meaningful love. And she also says a whole lot more in a fascinating analysis of what she sees as the main theme here: This book is about charm. The use of it. The abuse of it. The lack of it. The strength of it. Albert Sterne is not a charming man. He is impatient, abrupt, arrogant, irascible ... Fletcher Ash, the only person who has managed to penetrate his defensive field, possesses charm in abundance. He gets on with everyone. ... He likes people. On the surface, you'd assume that being charming is a good thing, yet one of the hardest hitting sections of the book involves a scene where Fletcher comes to realize that he's been charmed by someone else." "Charm: A Two-Edged Sword" blog post by A.B. Gayle

"Two complex and complicated men in search for a cunning serial killer. Excellent book for patient readers. ... a terrific novel, ambitious in both its scope and complexity and it is a wonder that it wasn't picked up by some mainstream publisher. ... if you have patience and enjoy the challenge and complex characters and relationships, you will be rewarded by this gem of a novel. Highly recommended" LadyM, Reviews by Jessewave

"This FBI based thriller abut the search for a vicious serial killer by an FBI agent assisted by the titular Albert, forensic genius and the most obnoxious man in the Bureau, is probably the most satisfying story I've read so far this year. Give it a go and I promise that the charming Fletcher Ash and the appalling Albert will stay in your mind and your heart for a long time." Elin Gregory, Saturday Recs

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Julie Bozza is an Aussie-English hybrid empowered by writing, fuelled by espresso, calmed by knitting, overexcited by photography, and madly in love with Amy Adams and John Keats. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN : B07QGM44WN
Publisher : LIBRAtiger; 2 edition (16 April 2019)
Language: : English
File size : 5651 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 626 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 192586913X

Best Sellers Rank: 962,070 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 6,460 in Serial Killer Thrillers
- 13,668 in Crime Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- 17,863 in Gay Fiction (Kindle Store)

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6 ratings

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Outstanding

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 July 2019

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Not sure I missed earlier editions of this book. Perhaps I was meant to read this version. I love the way jumps between timelines and character POVs. Every character is well drawn including the killer Garrett. This is a complex ambitious and challenging novel. A wonderful love story between two very different men. Bozza's skill as an author makes us love and champion what could be two potentially unlikable protagonists. Albert in particular is wonderfully fascinating person in the hands of the author. I am not a great fan of the sequel , but I could stay in the company of Albert and Fletcher forever. Each man has his demons but overcomes them in his own way.

The 600 plus pages sailed by - that's how good and engaging this story is.

Manifold Publishing has consistently put out high quality work. They set the bar very high and Julie Bozza demonstrates this. Love this book and love this publisher. Recommend.

Rosa, really

Albert is definitive AND unforgettable

Reviewed in the United States on 3 May 2014

Verified Purchase

I was hesitant to buy this book. It’s 624 pages, people.

624. PAGES.

That’s not a book, that’s a major commitment. That’s like a marriage: Is *this* the man I want to divorce?

But much like my first engagement (ha, ha, ha – actually I’m totally serious) I said what the hell, sucked it up and opened my screaming wallet. It was $7.95.

I lost you at $7.95 didn’t I?

Oh, c’mon, people, it’s not some NOOB. It’s Julie Freakin’ Bozza. The other of such wonders as The Apothecary's Garden (love), Butterfly Hunter (no, I haven’t read it, but I OWN it) and Homosapien: A Fantasy About Pro Wrestling. Which is about wrestling, fer chissakes. It’s not my favorite of her books, but it’s at least awesome in its singularity. (It’s a gay romance novel…about wrestling. It bears repeating.) That’s what I love about Julie Bozza; each of her books is so different. She’s eclectic and it shows.

Now. Alfred J. Sterne. He’s kind of a poop. He’s isolated and he likes it that way. No, he’s not isolated because he has social anxiety and he’s just waiting for someone to notice that his rose has not yet bloomed. He really doesn’t like YOU. He’s a genius and he isn’t afraid to tell you he’s a genius. Not to mention that your intelligence is just a micro-drop in the Waterworld-like ocean of his intelligence. If it ever occurred to him to care, he would be confused as to why a simple statement of fact would bother you. Then he would totally dismiss you from his mind.

Somehow, however, he becomes friends, whether he likes it or not, and later more than friends, with rising FBI talent Fletcher Ash. Fletcher is intelligent, handsome & likeable. He has a supportive family. He’s also chasing a serial killer, with Alfred’s help, that completely changes his idea of himself.

This is my experience while reading the book:

I liked it.

I wish Alfred would unclench his butt, for, like, FIVE MINUTES.

I liked Fletcher (or Ash).

I really liked the book.

I really liked Alfred, even if he still needed to unclench.

I HATED THAT &%^*% FLETCHER ASH. I saw it coming, but he really P*&^% ME THE *&^^* OFF. His major mistake is similar, but different, to Tornado’s in Bareback.

I HATED this book.

Did I even want to finish it?

Yes, but I was never reading THIS BOOK again.

I was really liking Albert.

I could understand Ash’s reasoning. Albert's not exactly a talker.

Okay, maybe he’s not such a penis and Alfred’s not a total poop.

The serial killer is super creepy. He’s in some way <i>relatable</i> and that makes him SERIOUSLY SCARY.

This book is fantastic.

I love Ash & Albert.

I love this book but I may never read it again ‘cause it’s such an emotional rollercoaster.

I love this book and I’m going to reread it.

The today: some jerk on Lendle wants to borrow it? But I NEED it. FINE. Read it. I need to share the love anyway.

I think this is a love it or hate it kind of book. I highly recommend it. I want to hug it. And if you don’t want to spend $7.95 I’ll let you borrow it on Lendle. I GUESS.

One person found this helpful

Sirius

Terrific story

Reviewed in the United States on 23 April 2013

Verified Purchase

REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT DEAR AUTHOR,I PURCHASED THE BOOK

This is a difficult book for me to categorize. Despite our heroes trying to catch the killer for the most part of the book, I do not think this book is a mystery. We learn the name of the killer several chapters after the book begins, so even though our guys learn his name much later, it is not a surprise for the readers. I guess I would call the book a police procedural or FBI procedural with romance mixed in but not dominating the story.

There is a reason why the killer is revealed to us early - the author gives us several chapters in the book through killer's eyes. Note that these chapters are NOT for the faint of heart. When I was rereading this book for review I wanted to get through these chapters as soon as possible and was skimming some of them. There are probably five or six chapters in the book through the killer's eyes - it is vital and necessary to the story - but I could have done without them, even though it is not that much for a book which has 35 chapters and an epilogue. I thought that one of the themes in the book was to try and understand the killer as much as humanly possible, but I am in general not a fan of figuring how and why monster's mind works, and the sadistic murders just made me sick. I read and reread this book for Albert Sterne and Fletcher Ash, for their characters and their stories. Their friendship and romance are intertwined with trying to catch the killer, so I had to endure him.

Albert Sterne is without any doubt one of the most memorable characters I have ever "met" in the genre of mm romance or in any genre, really. I have to admit though, that when I started the book I expected to meet somebody more unpleasant than Albert ultimately turned out to be. Oh, do not get me wrong, Albert is plenty rude and very blunt, but first of all, he delivers his insults with such wit that I laughed every time it happened, and second his actions to me spoke much more loudly than his words.

I find it amusing that in real life I like people to be polite when they are talking to me and try to be polite myself, but I adore snarky characters in fiction so very much. And even in real life, when a person is blunt to the point of being insulting, if I feel that the person's heart is in the right place, I will still respect that person.

Albert is a forensic pathologist with FBI and he is brilliant in what he does, but not many people like him, because this is how Albert talks to people:

"Dismissed!" And, as Albert reached the door, Jefferson muttered with what sounded like genuine regret, "If we were at war, I could have you shot for insubordination.

Albert snorted. "If I had the time to contradict everything in that rather absurd statement, I'm sure we'd both benefit. But I have a plane to catch".

"Albert caught the tail end of the shared smile, and groaned. "McIntyre, you're wasting my time asking me to be polite, for the sake of an infatuation with the doctor?" They had reached the prep room, where Albert and Celia began cleaning up. Albert pulled on a lab coat over his suit. "You must be trying to prove something trite like opposites attract".

When Albert and Fletcher meet in the course of the investigation that will occupy them for years to come, they are not magically attracted towards each other but they are slowly but surely become friends. Fletcher sees beyond Albert's walls, partially because Fletcher is portrayed as someone who can often read people very well, but I think it is also because he likes Albert and wants to know a complex person behind the façade. Their building relationship was fascinating for me to read about. Every time I thought I figured out their reactions towards each other and the reasons why they reacted that way, both men managed to surprise me.

Albert is a person who likes being in control of his life, so when he realizes that he is in love with the Fletcher, he wonders whether Fletcher is suitable for his love. Albert is a scientist and has built up some walls around his emotions, so of course it made sense to me that he would apply logic and reason to him falling in love.

"But beyond that, what sense did it make for Albert to love a man who seemed to lack qualities, such as self-control, that Albert particularly valued?"

I expected Albert's character to develop so that he would learn to value his emotions more, to open up, etc. But the only obvious changes that happened in Albert were that he tried to accommodate Fletcher a little bit more and be there for him in a way that mattered. But whether those were personality changes or he just let his walls down a little bit, I am not sure. In any event, whatever happened worked perfectly for me.

I was also surprised at Fletcher's reasoning for attempting to take the relationship with Albert from the friendship they shared to a new level. The more the story progressed, the more I wondered several times whether for all his intelligence and being able to read people correctly, Fletcher was lying to himself. I actually ended up thinking that the answer was not that simple. Fletcher could manipulate people very well, but he was also not always honest with himself when analyzing his actions.

I was so happy to see that even when I as a reader could see clearly that these men could not live without each other, Albert does not become a fluffy bunny that was really nice and polite to Fletcher. Oh I thought he was there for Fletcher every time he needed Albert, but the verbal expression of that love was so very Albert every single time. I loved it. I loved that Albert would call Fletcher on his manipulations and self -pity but would still stay.

As Fletcher says at some point in the book:

"This might not be perfect, what we have. It might be fraught with difficulties. You might not be willing to call it love. I might have lost my faith. But, Albert, I've come to realize that it's necessary. You and me together, it's necessary. That's all. Very simple, really. And I'm willing to proceed on that basis".

I also want to note that I do not know how authentic is the description of forensics pathology, FBI procedure and other technical stuff in the book. I felt that the story reflected great deal of research, but I do not know. I believed in it and I thought it was written in a very entertaining way, I was very happy that people who investigate murder were actually shown to do a great deal of actual investigating, but I am not an expert, so check it out and judge for yourself.

I recommend this book very highly, especially if you love snarky, complex heroes and if detailed descriptions of murder with torture do not scare you. A-

3 people found this helpful

Thomas R Patchen

Surely Not For Everyone... But What Is?

Reviewed in the United States on 14 July 2016

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Albert Sterne is blunt, rude, repressed, brilliant and too compassionate for his own good; therefore, he simply refuses to live his life like anyone else... and by the end of the book I really liked him and wish I had an Albert in my life. His countrerpart and paramour, Fletcher Ash, is his total opposite (outwardly) and also an appealing character. This book is very well written, the story is interesting and there is unconventional romance. The book is quite long and I can imagine some might not have the patience for the longer passages where there's not much action... but I enjoyed the slower pace and seemingly inconsequential little details. Oh yeah, there's a serial killer, too... I did not like him or the horrible things he did.

Murphy Irene

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 5 October 2016

Verified Purchase

It was good but seemed like one book broken up.

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