Linda
Written on Jan 18, 2016
Even if Closer is set in the Mageri universe, which I know and love, it took me a while to invest with the story, since most of it happened over the span of just a few hours, and Kane and Caroline were the only characters.
Closer is a strange little story, where most of the action happens inside of Caroline's head, while she is unconscious. She's not hallucinating, either, what happens is actually as reals as can be. Kane was on his way home, just needing the paper before he brought his beers home, when a stranger brushed by him and made him lose his last quarter. As a sensor, Kane could feel the man's emotions, and also feel some of his memories. What he saw and felt made his blood freeze, that man was a serial killer! Even if one of the worst things breed can do in the Mageri world is killing a human, that is exactly what Kane does. He will not let a serial killer continue his bad work.
In order to not be caught and put in breed jail for the next 100 years, Kane swiftly lifted the dead man's wallet and car keys, then drove to his house. Only when he arrived there did he realize that there was someone in the trunk - and that was the unconscious Caroline. After putting her on a bed, he touched her, and somehow entered her sub conscience, and she was not happy to see him. For the next several hours, they hang out in Caroline's head, getting to know each other, falling in love and all that. What I had some trouble with was when they started saying things like 'It's always been you'... for all of the four hours they knew each other? I'm all for suspending disbelief, and I can even get the paranormals who fall in love more or less instantly. But saying things like always - and meaning in the past up until now - that threw me.
I would have enjoyed this more if less time was spent inside of Caroline's head, because then getting to know them would have felt quite a bit more realistic. The story is well told, though, and of course, Poole narrated it to perfection! If you're a Mageri fan, you will probably enjoy this short trip into that universe.
Kane wondered if any man in her life had really noticed how beautiful she was.