The stories themselves are good-not-great 21st Century noir crime stories with a tough-guy antihero protagonist. The performance is okay. And I like that they didn’t get a stereotypical baritone tough-guy voice.
In book 1, the Asian-American girlfriend (who is an otherwise non-character) of Jack is blatantly referred to as “geisha” and “yellow fever”. In book 2, a transgender (non-)character is repeatedly misgendered, referred to by the T-slur, and being blackmailed for their identity (and put in the same category as adultery, sports drugs, and insurance fraud).
While it’s understandable that the author is going for a pulpy film-noir feel, it is highly implausible that 30-something middle-class professionals living in LA will talk like this.
Another strange habit the author has is elaborately describing real-life LA locations that have nothing to do with the plot and feel like page fillers. None of the above is a deal-breaker. But they break immersion. And suggests a lack of editing,