Type of read: Commuter Read.

What made me pick it up: BookTok made me do it.

Overall rating: I was coming to 'Haunting Adeline' from seeing so much talk about it over on BookTok. I did the thing and read 'Satan's Affair' first (that was a literal dumpster fire) and I had hope that Carlton would get their poop in a group for the Cat & Mouse Duology. No. Nope. Didn't happen. I do think that having read 'Satan's Affair' before 'Haunting Adeline' gave a bit of perspective but it wasn't necessary. By reading both, you get the scenes from Zade and Sybil's perspective; however, it doesn't give any missing links or vital information that you can't live without.

I think my struggle with Carlton's books is that they are so poorly put together that it takes away from the story - because yes, even though 'Haunting Adeline' is heavy on the spice, there is actually the bones of a decent story. I just wish Carlton (and their editors) put as much effort and attention into the overall composition of the book as they did to Zade's nether region. Sexy/smutty doesn't have to mean poorly created.

I've most definitely read worse, so I do plan to finish the series at some point (series whore, remember?). But I will get through my current reading list before diving into the next one. I also have to prepare myself for the horrible structure and word choice before willingly sacrificing more time to bad editing and ill-formed content.

Some thoughts while reading:

Spoiler

-Carlton still really needs a better editor. The repetition of words and general wonkiness of sentences is just not it.
-As a gun owner, the only thing I can think about during *that* scene is what a pain in the ass that would be to clean. For someone who supposedly respects his weapons and his craft...that ain't it my dude.
-This character development makes absolutely no sense. Zade is literally the type of person he hunts down.
-I do not understand how this book made it past an editor/publisher. It's not even the content, it's the actual construction of the book. (Update: realizing this was self published, that makes so much more sense.)
-I absolutely hate it when an audiobook audio is very clearly rerecorded and doesn't fit the original audio. Gah!
-Why is there so much going on in this book: a haunted house, a stalker, a death gone wrong many years ago, main characters attempting to solve said death gone wrong, weird nicknames that the characters have given themselves (manipulator/shadow...wtf?), drug rings, pedophiles being hunted and killed, Halloween festivals, angry moms, blood rites, rituals, secret societies that somehow get magic powers, Daya working for Zade's company but yet she doesn't know him...EVEN THOUGH HE HAS INCREDIBLY IDENTIFIABLE FEATURES AND IS THE FOUNDER, politics, hackers...it's never-ending.
-Carlton's pacing is so painful, it's like they forget about random storylines, get stuck in the smut, and then suddenly remember they need to connect the dots.
-Why am I hearing three different variations of how to say Daya's name...is it Die-uh, Day-a, or Da-e-ya? Give your narrators phonetics, please.
-I love this completely realistic image they paint of hackers being all-knowing, all-seeing, all connections having magical people that can solve murders and splice cameras and snoop on anything they want, whenever they want. *insert eyeroll*

Reader's Note: As always, read your trigger warnings, friends. Carlton does us all a favor and outlines all of these at the beginning of the book but if you're participating in the audiobook version, make sure you know what you get into. 'Haunting Adeline' includes death, dying, torture, sexual assault including rape, stalking, weapon play, domestic and child abuse, talks of and critiques of mental illness, sex trafficking (child and adult), and non-consensual/dub consensual encounters.