Guest Review: Fish on a Bicycle (Fish Out of Water #5) by Amy Lane

Jackson Rivers has always bucked the rules—and bucking the rules of recovery is no exception. Now that he and Ellery are starting their own law firm, there’s no reason he can’t rush into trouble and take the same risks as always, right?

Maybe not. Their first case is a doozy, involving porn stars, drug empires, and daddy issues, and their client, Henry Worrall, wants to be an active participant in his own defense. As Henry and Jackson fight the bad guys and each other to find out who dumped the porn star in the trash can, Jackson must reexamine his assumptions that four months of rest and a few good conversations have made him all better inside.

Jackson keeps crashing his bicycle of self-care and a successful relationship, and Ellery wonders what’s going to give out first—Jackson’s health or Ellery’s patience. Jackson’s body hasn’t forgiven him for past crimes. Can Ellery forgive him for his current sins? And can they keep Henry from going to jail for sleeping with the wrong guy at the wrong time?

Being a fish out of water is tough—but if you give a fish a bicycle, how’s he going to swim?

Reviewer: Annika

I have probably said it before – and most likely will do it again, but Fish out of Water is by far my favourite series by Amy Lane’s. There’s just so much to love about it, so many great characters you care for – even the ones you only meet in passing. I would have to agree with Ellery, there’s something with Jackson that draws people to him, like moths to flame we are all drawn to this battered man. I can’t believe it took me so long to get to this book. I mean I did try to hold out for the audio and Greg Tremblay, but I’m weak and caved…

When we catch up with Ellery and Jackson they are both recovering from their last battle. And the recovery is a rough one, months long even, but they are both determined to make it through, to start their new firm and for life to settle a bit. And for a while that plan works out well, they are mending and are in the process of finishing the renovations for their newly acquired office space, when a client walks in asking for their help. One is a lawyer (not yet able to practice law in the state) and one is Henry, a 27 year old army vet with a chip on his shoulder to rival the Empire State Building, and the baggage to match. How no one had strangled that man is a complete mystery to me, because when we first met him he was anything but pleasant to be around.

Also, holy moly the amount of angst that was jam packed into this story. I physically ached, while reading some parts, had tears in my eyes for others. And often did I want to hit someone, mostly Jackson or Henry, over the head for being stupid. I know they both had their reasons for being so closed off, I mean the shit they had in their baggage was enough to last ten people several lifetimes over. But still, for their sakes as well as the people that cared for them, I wanted them to open up a little, to share their hurt and be able to heal just a little bit. I don't think they will ever fully heal, especially not Jackson, but I wish for him to at least stop bleeding from his old wounds, that they could scab over or even scar. And I mean that literally as well as figuratively as he seems to always amass new injuries.

It would be nice to see Ellery and Jackson working smaller cases every once in a while. I mean there must be some cases out there not drenched layers and layers of conspiracies, assassins or kingpins? What was it Kryzynski said, “You can’t lift up a single goddamned rock and not find a goddamned fire-breathing dragon, can you?”, because man are there hordes of fire-breathing dragons in this series, I mean couldn’t they find a wolf or bear to wrestle with – you know it might be easier on their health and life expectancy.

I only have one negative thing for me and that was the crossover to yet another series. Personally I’m so rarely a fan of this, I don’t mind spin-offs, those are another chapter all together, but connecting books and series that have nothing in common don’t sit well with me, I’m sorry it feels like a marketing trick and on me it has the opposite effect than what I assume is the desired one – to buy and read the other series. Sadly I tend to go the other way. This is highly preferential and I know many, maybe even most readers love any and all cross-overs.

On a positive note I really like Henry and Jackson. I mean it was clear early on that the two of them were so similar that they would either end up killing each other (and they did a fine job trying to do just that, I might add), or end up on the same side fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. I’m really looking forward to see where their partnership will lead them, because let’s face it, that’s where they are heading.

I'm addicted to Ellery and Jackson and even Billy Bob, and hope there will be more adventures in the future. I also hope that those adventures won't land any of them (or their loved ones) in the hospital, but going by experience, there will be many more scars to come.

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