A picture is worth...

What kind of connection could they have? Tell us in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details. 

Double Up by Vanessa North

Title: Double Up
Author: Vanessa North
Purchase at Riptide (Preorder until August 25)

Cover Artist: LC Chase
Genre: contemporary
Length: 37k words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf

Knowing he’s loved can make any man fly.

Fifteen years ago, Ben Warren was a wakeboarding champion: king of big air, ballsy tricks, and boned grabs. Until a career-ending injury left him broken in ways he still has no hope of fixing. Now he takes his thrills where he can get them, and tries not to let life hurt too much.

Then Davis Fox arrives in Ben’s sporting goods store with a plan to get in touch with his estranged brother by competing in the annual wakeboarding double-up contest. The catch? He’s never ridden before. It’s crazy, but Ben’s a sucker for the guy’s sob story—and for his dimples, too—so he agrees to coach Davis.

Davis is everything Ben isn’t: successful, confident, and in love with life. And he wants Ben to love life—and him—too. But before Ben can embrace a future with Davis, he needs to remember how to hope.

~*~*~*~*

This story really blew me away. First person, present tense isn’t my first choice, but is perfect to tell the story of retired wake-boarder Ben Warren’s story of finding himself and love with architect Davis Fox.

Davis has a younger half brother whom he’s not allowed to see, a wakeboarding phenom who’s also the son of a local conservative politician, Rodney Romeo, and he’s desperate to find a way to connect with Ridley. Learning a dangerous sport well enough to compete alongside an expert in a short time seems perfectly reasonable to a man who doesn’t have a lot of other options. Ben can help him learn what he needs to know, and they are immediately attracted.


Why this is and isn’t a good idea on so many levels unrolls slowly: we get to suffer along with Ben when he missteps with Dave, or when his own past and current issues interfere. We also get to see glimpses of happiness, but the secrets Ben doesn’t want to share makes him a poor candidate for everything Dave thinks is a good idea. The layers of revelations are really well done, tantalizing and foreshadowing to the reader and hitting poor Dave square between the eyes with past and possibly future damage.

Ben’s friend Eddy is the politician father’s opponent in almost every way, from political stances to resource use. Eddy’s flamboyant and over the top (he answered a phone when? It was funny but also nonsensical.) and the perfect combination of support, push, and knowledge. He’s on board with almost anything that annoys Romeo Senior, and has plenty of devious ideas for raising blood pressure while furthering Dave and Ben’s plans.

The author feeds us tidbits on what’s going on inside Ben’s head while his relationship with Dave jumps from wake to wake and occasionally crashes. Dave’s a really good guy with some blind spots he has to get around. The two of them sizzle together. The fallacy of only anal sex is real sex appears, although here it’s tempered with trust issues and some growth and ends up working pretty well.

The sport is vivid and the one mass explanation of the competition is worked in organically. One major plot point got the fade to black, which both worked and annoyed me, and I'm not really sure how that could be resolved without making this a different book. I guess I'll live with it on the rereads. :D

Wakeboarding is a good metaphor for Ben and Dave’s relationship, thrills and crashes and all. Terrific story. 4.75 marbles

Copy received through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Coming this week

Thanks for swinging by this week. We had reviews of Ged Ruggles' Pine Valley, a novel of humor and social commentary,  and Eden Winters' novelette length Highway Man. Twice as long as before, and seriously good. We also had a prompt pic of a Jason Stackhouse look-alike being disciplined by a puppy, so anyone who has a story to explain that, do pass it along. 100 to 1000 words please.

Coming, we have a novella length story from Vanessa North, called Double Up, and Lloyd Meeker's new novel, The Companion. I want to stroke that cover. We also have a prompt pic to make you ponder, and hopefully to inspire.

For those of you who are concerned that a couple of novels on the carousel are being overlooked, don't worry. Kate Pavelle will be along on a particular date for her blog tour, so I'll tell you about that book when she can join us. Lou Harper's latest Dead Man book will have buy links active soon, so I'll hit the "publish" button once I've edited them in. Great follow-up to the other two probably isn't much of a spoiler. ;)

Keep reading!

Highway Man by Eden Winters

Title: Highway Man
Author: Eden Winters
Purchase at Rocky Ridge Books
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: PD Singer
Genre: contemporary
Length: 15k
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf

Killian Desmond’s dreams died in a flash of pain and the scream of twisted metal. He lost it all the night a tour bus sailed off a mountainside, sending his band—with his brother—to their deaths.

Killian is dead too, if the papers are to be believed, and living a half-life of odd jobs, rodeo rides and pick up gigs. The road that once meant freedom is now Killy’s exile. No strings, no ties, no names for the one-night stands.

Answering a tribute band’s ad thrusts him face to face with his past, and into the arms of the one man who just might understand.

~*~*~*~*

I read this in its first incarnation and loved it then, but in its new form we get about twice as much story and I think I love it about twice as much now. I would not have reviewed again except the new version is double the original word count and with a different thrust. And hotter than the first time around too.

The original was gritty and raw story of a man who’d been eaten by fame and all the shit that comes with it, until tragedy let him step away and into the shadows. We get all that and more here—the man Killy beds but refuses to call by name has a much greater part. In a handful of words Tex shows his soul and his past. Three sentences become enough to show why he’s the perfect man for Killy, who never wanted to let anyone close again.


Killian Desmond's running from his demons -- everyone thinks he's dead and he's content to let them believe it, he'd prefer not to be found and connected with the rock star he was, and he's hiding in plain sight, letting his name and everyone's preconceptions cover him. He's leading a drifter's life, never staying on long, never kissing the one-night stands he finds on the Internet or at a truck-stop, and he probably won't stay til morning anyway.

He won't even call the man he makes a date for sex with by his name --that means remembering, forming a tie. Letting the hurt catch up maybe. Killy will call him Texas instead, and isn't prepared for the quiet acceptance of who he is and why he's running. 

The music Killy’d grown up with and used to define himself gets a rebirth here with Tex’s help, in a concert scene that grabs you by the throat and shakes you until you can’t breathe but still feel like you’re dancing. Hope and music and pain and maybe even some rough-hewn might-become-love jump off the page.

This is a story of pain and coming to terms with it, and getting back a few vital things that were lost, even if some losses can never be made good. Killy and Tex are going to make a future with a saddle, a guitar, an old Ford Bronco and each other. Dayum but Eden Winters gets a lot into fifteen thousand words.

A picture is worth...

Much too cute. Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details. 

Pine Valley by Ged Ruggles

Title: Pine Valley
Author: Ged Ruggles
Purchase at Amazon
Cover Artist: unknown
Genre: romantic comedy, social commentary
Length: 58k words, approx 151 pages
Formats: mobi

Most men of ambition would kill for the chance to play a bracing game at Pine Valley, the most celebrated, and exclusive, golf course in the world. And in the summer of his 30th birthday, Jeff Carpenter gets his chance.

Trouble is, Jeff isn't exactly a man of ambition, having put his literary dreams on hold 10 years ago for a soulless back office job. Nor did he ever master the art of the swing farther than once making par on the giant dinosaur hole at his local childhood mini golf.

But a chance encounter with the son of Pine Valley's most senior councilman at a Philadelphia gay bar sparks a clandestine romance that plunges Jeff into a web of intrigue that threatens Pine Valley's very existence.


~*~*~*~*

This first novel from Ged Ruggles offers a smorgasbord of social commentary to go with a low key romance, a look at all the social changes that threaten the status quo of "cis WASPy male rules". While it’s uneven, there are chuckles, and some flashes of brilliance. Expect irreverence and over the top situations, and don’t ask too much of the romantic arc.


Jeff, the hapless editor of children’s books, is questioning his sexuality at the late moment of being engaged to a longtime friend/girlfriend, but the questioning doesn’t go much farther than finding handsome business student Kent in a gay bar. They hit “I love you” early, and after that, it’s pretty much chasing after various threads of the mysteries. They peck each other upon the lips, and it’s frankly easier to see them as buddies than lovers. The ex-fiancée is certainly taking this well.

They do have oddities to investigate with the ritzy country club of the title, where Kent’s father is a high poobah and engaged in skullduggery that starts with manipulating the member list and gets worse. Haves become have nots, justice becomes a quaint concept when compared with wealth, and social climbing leaves footprints on the faces of those in the way. Jeff’s out of his depth, but bumbles through to find clue after clue, though Kent has a slightly better idea of where to look. There’s a lot of slapstick to go with some tart social observations, and plenty of pop references from the tragically hip to economics as seen by Piketty.

Some of the secondary characters are gems, particularly the Gallaghers, who have secrets and know where the other bodies are buried, and Amy, Jeff’s erstwhile fiancée turned Obligatory Pushy Best Girlfriend. Wisecracks fly, and what better way to get clandestine video than with a titcam?

The style unfortunately lets the material down. POV changes without notice or signal. Witty comments and descriptions get diluted with homonym confusions and strange grammar, and the book would benefit from proofreading. Some of the technical flaws such as inappropriately autonomous body parts may have already been addressed by the author (personal communication) but were there in force in my copy.

While I’m not sure I can wholeheartedly recommend the book as it now stands, the author can tell a story and will advance in his craft, so I will definitely read his next work. 2.5 marbles.

Reviews and quotes and coming this week

It has come to my attention that my reviews have been quoted here and there. That's fine as long as it's accurate, so no fair using a dozen ellipses to piece together a sentence. Keep in mind that Fair Use involves brief quotes and proper attribution, otherwise, quote what you need.

In the last week, we had a review of an ancient Greek-set story, Alexios' Fate by Kayla Jameth, a luscious couple for a Thousand Word Thursday prompt pic, and a thousand word excerpt  from Eden Winters' novel Diversion. Good stuff, read the rest.

Coming this week, we have a review for Highway Man by Eden Winters, another nommy prompt pic, and a review for Double Up from Vanessa North. We may have another surprise review--stay tuned.

A Thousand Word Excerpt from Eden Winters

From Diversion, by Eden Winters

The locker rooms were fairly clean, it being early in the day, and Bo and Lucky shed street clothes in favor of shorts and T-shirts in a communal dressing room. Lucky peered at Bo’s ass while humming Black Eyed Peas’ My Hump, and making up his own words: My big old juicy rump…I turn around and things fall down…

Bo gave him the evil eye, nose scrunched as though he’d whiffed something nasty. Being in a gym locker room made funky smells a distinct possibility. “What?” Lucky donned his best innocent expression.

Bo grumbled and stalked away, finding his way to ring two alone.

Lucky’s second thoughts began when he found his opponent flexing, stretching, and bouncing in place through a series of warm-ups. Oh shit. Ex-Marine. Might have a clue. Lots of muscles. Longer reach. Still no match for mean and quick. Maybe. Lucky threaded his fingers together and lifted his hands way up and behind his head, loosening up. He might have to absorb a bit of punishment.

In the next ring two men sparred, decked out in helmets, gloves, and pads. If genius at the door had been paying any attention he’d be approaching now, insisting Lucky obey the gym rules about protective gear.

“You ready?” Lucky asked Bo, ready to get the show on the road. Protective gear had no place in Bo’s upcoming lesson.

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with my training, but bring it on.” Bo stood proud and tall, possibly expecting a fair fight.

Lucky didn’t fight fair. Using his size, or lack thereof, to full advantage, he dropped to the canvas, sweeping Bo’s legs out from under him and rebounding to his feet in one slick move.

Bo dragged himself upright, the light of awareness glinting in his eyes. Returning Lucky’s shit-eating grin, he faked with his left and jabbed with his right. Lucky danced out of reach.

They circled, each seeking weakness in the other. From the corner of his eye Lucky noticed a few fighters assembling around the ring to witness what they probably saw as a grudge match and not Richmond Lucklighter’s Introduction to the Cesspool of My World.

Roughly five minutes in the ring raised Lucky’s appreciation of his new charge. The man knew how to use his fists, even if he did rely too heavily on his hands while ignoring the rest of his body. Twice more Lucky caught him in a sweep. The next thwarted attempt proved the man eventually learned.

Lucky lost all sense of time and place. He focused on his breathing, how he held himself, the subtle shift of Bo’s muscles that betrayed a punch aimed his way. Occasionally he wasn’t fast enough or misjudged and a blow landed on his shoulder or chest, and once, his face. That would leave a mark.

He danced and faked, seeking to tire his opponent rather than beat him. If he’d really wanted an easy victory, Bo would already be laid out on the canvas. Art hadn’t lasted ten minutes during orientation. For some reason Lucky felt the need to test his protégé’s capabilities.

They prowled, they clinched, they jabbed, they fell into perfect rhythm, orbiting each other, seeking an opening. The man might one day be Lucky’s equal. At least in fighting. He didn’t find a worthy opponent often.

Exploiting a split second of distraction while Bo wiped his sweaty brow, Lucky brought the lesson home, catching him on the chin with a lightning fast left hook, followed by a good swift kick, tumbling the man to the mat. Lucky dived like a duck on a June bug before Bo even hit the canvas, easily pinning the larger man.

Despite the rush and heady affirmation that he was “still da man,” defeating Bo hadn’t been easy. Lucky grinned at the fallen fighter, not a gloating grin, but a, “You did good, but I can still beat you” grin.

He hauled a still-stunned Bo to his feet and helped him out of the ring. One arm wrapped around a firmly muscled back, Lucky guided the loser back to the locker room to comments from the bystanders on form, stance, and who’d won bets. Usual gym talk.

In the wake of a testosterone high, Lucky showered, not bothering to hide his appreciation for Bo’s body, lean and taut with light muscles, more of a swimmer or runner’s build than a gym rat’s. Bo didn’t turn away or cower beneath the not-so-subtle scrutiny; he merely lathered and rinsed his hair and body with practiced efficiency. His broad shoulders tapered down to a trim waist, ending in an incredibly firm yet round ass. The guy easily stood six foot. And while he’d never make the cover of GQ, he wasn’t too hard on the eyes, especially when compared to the rest of the department.

Lucky’s cock responded to the intriguing view and he turned away to hide his budding erection. Taunting a rookie was one thing, perving on a coworker another matter entirely—even if he did want a closer look.

Once dried and dressed, Bo asked, “Mind telling me now why we went a round in a gym when you’re supposed to be training me?”

No harm in explaining, Lucky supposed. “I am training you. Our little exercise today served two purposes. One: you can tell a lot about a man by the way he fights. And if we’re gonna be watching each other’s backs, it’s best to know what you’re capable of.”

Bo chewed his bottom lip, brow scrunched. “Makes sense, in a twisted sorta way, I guess. What’s the other reason?” 

“To let you know from the get-go how badly I can kick your ass. Anytime you want to challenge me, remember this day.”

**************************************************
There we have it, an early scene from one of my favorite novels in one of my favorite series. Lucky and Bo's first book is back! 

There are good guys, bad guys, and then there’s Lucky.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter flaunts his past like a badge of honor. He speaks his mind, doesn’t play nice, and flirts with disaster while working off his sentence with the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau. If he can keep out of trouble a while longer he’ll be a free man–after he trains his replacement.

Textbook-quoting, by the book Bo Schollenberger is everything Lucky isn’t. Lucky slurps coffee, Bo lives caffeine free. Lucky worships bacon, Bo eats tofu. Lucky trusts no one, Bo calls suspects by first name. Yet when the chips are down on their shared case of breaking up a drug diversion ring, they may have more in common than they believe.

Two men. Close quarters. Friction results in heat. But Lucky scoffs at partnerships, no matter how thrilling the roller-coaster. Bo has two months to break down Lucky’s defenses… and seconds are ticking by.

Buy it at Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Kobo, Rocky Ridge Books, and Barnes & Noble.

A picture is worth

 Aw. Tell us about this kiss in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details. 

Alexios' Fate by Kayla Jameth

Title: Alexios’ Fate
Author: Kayla Jameth
Purchase at Breathless Press
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Mina Carter
Genre: historical
Length: 55k
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf

Seduced by a king, pursued by the god Apollo, and wooed by his slave, can Alexios escape his fate and find love?

Mature King Lykos has a sexy confidence that turns Alexios' head. Seduced by Lykos, Prince Alexios discovers a world of men he's never known before.

Meanwhile his slave Galen has gotten tired of waiting in the wings. He sets out to woo Alexios and win his heart.

Even Apollo can't leave Alexios alone. The young prince finds himself pursued by a god and in danger of a perilous love.

How will Alexios follow his heart when he unwittingly wins the favor of a god? Can Alexios escape the fate of Apollo's past lovers and have the man he wants?

~*~*~*~*

I’m not sure this story should be regarded as a romance, because there are a number of elements that argue for a very gay historical. Alexios, our lead character, is on the cusp of manhood and his father the king has a number of decisions to make regarding his future.


The history is strong in this book: the author clearly knows and loves the period and the culture, and does her best to make us understand the times. The degree of detail in the setting and the actions is deep, letting us understand why certain events unroll as they do, and why Alexios seems to be in bed with nearly every male character in the story.

The son of a petty Greek king, Alexios is to be mentored by another king of the region as befits his rank. His first choice comes with some baggage: his father does not approve. Some of the other choices are attractive politically and abhorrent personally, but Alexios may not have the final say. He’s aghast at the idea of marrying years earlier than normal, or at all, and he’s interested in exploring a relationship with his slave, Galen. This is the only romantic arc, but it’s in low relief. Galen has no POV scenes, and very little to say. Those who know the period or some history will smile with recognition.

Gods meddled in the affairs of mortals on a nearly daily basis in these times. Our other POV character is Apollo, who precipitates major plot points and leaves something for a future age because of his meddling.

The style hearkens back to some of the less inspired translations of the Odyssey: I would have been happier with 157 “wine-dark seas” than the very passive construction that pervades the book. Body parts act independently, persons are acted upon with no particular agency, and emotions are strangely absent. We do get a flat rape scene and equally passive healing power of cock, but until Apollo threatens to upset everyone’s apple carts, nothing sets the pulse to pounding. Even the pursuit promised in the blurb comes across as mild interest.

A vast knowledge backs this story, but the style needs to catch up. I’m willing to accept the MC experimenting sexually with an assortment of partners as just part of the times, his growth, and the plot, but I need to be emotionally moved more. 3 marbles

Dead Man and the Lustful Spirit

Title: Dead Man and the Lustful Spirit
Author: Lou Harper
Purchase at Amazon  (free)
Purchase at All Romance eBooks (Free)
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Genre: paranormal, short story
Length: 8000 words (approx 30 pages)
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf

Denton is a necromancer and his boyfriend Bran is a witch. It's not as exciting as it sounds. They don't even get to dress the part, unless it's New Year's Eve and they've been invited to a costume party. Denton is happy to let his hair down, but coaxing the reclusive Bran out of his shell is hard enough without a demonic spirit crashing the party.

Convincing the spirit to return whence it came from will call on Denton's special skills, but not in necromancy.


~*~*~*~*

Now that we have Denton, who sees death traces and has some necromantic abilities which he’s exploring and polishing with Bran’s help, and Bran, the antisocial witch and herbalist, as an established couple, Lou Harper sent them to a New Year’s Eve party. What could possibly go wrong?


Funny you should ask—another party-goer has exactly the sort of problem that only people with Denton and Bran’s abilities can solve. The guys are having a medium good time—Bran and his dubious social skills are having some issues with the crowds amd the small talk, while Denton’s natural exuberance lets him acquire people and information like black capes collect cat fur. The banter is funny, the situation not too dire, but certainly needs to be dealt with.

I enjoyed the story, which starts with humor (who knew the right lure for certain demons is fresh cookies?) and keeps going. The couch in Bran’s apartment gets a turn as a secondary character and made me snort.

This is a lovely small taste of this couple, who get together in the first book of the series, Dead Man and the Restless Spirits, reviewed here, and it’s free, which is kind of the author. And like those cookies, it’s enticing me to have more. Dead Man and the Army of Frogs is the next volume in the series.4.25 marbles

A picture is worth...

 

Grudge match? Making a point? Competition? Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details. 

Dead Man and the Restless Spirits by Lou Harper

Title: Dead Man and the Restless Spirits
Authors: Lou Harper
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Genre: paranormal
Length: 166 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

Denton Mills has a secret: he can see dead people. Or rather, how they died. It's quite a drag in a city like Chicago, teeming with the echoes of the no-longer living. Rather than whine about it, Denton has learned to live with his troublesome talent. His adaptability comes in handy when he meets his enigmatic new neighbor.

Bran Maurell catches Denton's eye right away, but unfortunately Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious is as standoffish as he is alluring. However, after an unexpected introduction from Bran's cat brings the two men together, Denton discovers they have a mutual interest in the spirit world. Herbalist by day, Bran moonlights as a witch, performing house cleansings for a fee.

From Bran, Denton learns that his knack for interacting with the dead qualifies him as a necromancer. It makes good business sense for them to team up and rid Chicago of its pesky spirits one grateful client at a time. Amongst ghostly adventures the attraction between the men is impossible to ignore. They seem like perfect partners—unless Bran's not-so-little secret comes between them.

Warning: men loving men, ghosts with attitudes, and a portly feline with hidden talents.

~*~*~*~*

Denton, our POV character here, first appeared in Spirit Sanguine, another of Lou Harper’s books that I enjoyed. Now he and his odd ability to see the death traces have their own set of stories.

The author’s favored format of interlinked shorter pieces in one volume is here, though I recommend they be read in order. We get to follow Denton and his new herb-growing, spirit-banishing neighbor on a series of adventures.


Denton’s fun: he has an irreverent take on life, which helps him deal with the constant surprises his ability provides. Imagine, let’s go get a coffee, whoops, someone had a heart attack on this spot six months ago. He’s a website designer by day, with Joy, his partner, foil, BFF, and occasional assistant. She has a small but entertaining role in the adventures. With her help, Denton lands an apartment sitting gig next door to the alluring but curmudgeonly Bran.

Bran has his secrets, which help explain his take on life. Here’s a guy who could definitely use a sense-of-humor adjustment, and how his bouncy, cheery mom raised such a dour man has to perplex her. Denton finds him attractive, and I hope as the series grows Bran can relax a little more under Denton’s attentions. He sends a lot of mixed signals that keep Denton off balance. He doesn’t want to admit to everything he is or can do, but once he understand what Denton is, he can help hone his new neighbor’s skills.

From haunted restaurants to possessed psychics and a tragic mystery, these two cope with paranormal events that incidentally provide Bran with a nice income. He’s good at what he does, and better with Denton for a partner. The external story arcs wrap up in their own sections, which makes the longer term character growth a little choppy, but it is moving steadily. Gabe, the slayer, and his partner Harvey the vampire from the Sanguine books make some important cameo appearances here.

The treatments of both the men and their adventures is done with a light hand and make for a quick and addicting read: I buzzed through this volume, the short Dead Man and the Lustful Spirit, and the latest in the series, Dean Man and the Army of Frogs, all in short order. More on those later.

These stories left me smiling, and Murry the cat is quite the personage. 4 marbles

Coming this week

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July, lying in the sun with your kindles reading hot man romance... Oh well, guess you know what I did!

This week is gonna be another Lou Harper week, because when I get to reading this author, I'll take a whole series at a time.  Look for reviews on all of her Dean Man stories. Of course, we'll have a hawt prompt pic, so anyone who feels the urge to write to a prompt, or who has an excerpt that might fit, let me know, we'll have an extra treat.

Happy reading!

The Next by Rafe Haze

Title: The Next

Authors: Rafe Haze

Purchase at Wilde City Press

Purchase at All Romance eBooks

Cover Artist:  not stated

Genre:  thriller 

Length:  83k

Formats:  epub, mobi, pdf,  print

He never thought he’d become one of the agoraphobic sludges of New York City—trapped with one view of a courtyard and a head full of wrenching memories. Dumped, disconnected, and depressed, he surrenders to spying on the neighbors as his only entertainment.
Until one day, without warning, the lascivious and suspicious behavior of the closeted lawyer in the huge apartment across the courtyard leads him to a spine-tingling conclusion… his neighbor is a murderer.

Perhaps collaborating with the beautiful and fierce Detective Marzoli to catch the killer can finally breathe life back into a man suffocated by the stranglehold of a tragic past. Unless the killer across the way decides to make him… The Next.

~*~*~*~*

The cover is a pretty good metaphor for this book—whatever that man makes you think, turn it 90 degrees.

Our nameless protagonist lives in a downward spiral of despair—he’s given up on the world. His songwriting mocks him, his girlfriend gives up on him, his agent’s all but forgotten him, and his bank account has that hollow sound of terminal emptiness.  The opening is so bleak that I seriously questioned being able to stay with the protag for the rest. DNF at the 10% mark was a real possibility, staved off by the prospect of elderly Field and Streams at the dentist's office. We’re not even given a name as a point of connection.

 The action heats up when Detective Marzoli appears at the door with questions about a neighbor and a bit of man-flirting in spite of the condition to which Protag has sunk, mostly for informational purposes.

We’re treated to a non-standard investigation of the upstairs neighbor’s disappearance—he’s considered inconsequential and only Marzoli (no first name ever given) cares enough to pursue. We’re also treated to a slow unraveling of Protag’s defenses and his past, which is messy. Marzoli has his own issues, which don’t become clear until late in the story, and because of the order in which things happen, don’t even begin to explain his attraction to Protag as more than observer of strategic windows. (Seriously, after a year in a 650 square foot apartment clogged with dirty clothes and garbage, a forty year old man who hasn’t seen the sun or exercised and lives on takeout is going to resemble a grub found under a rock. Given his stated torpor in his daily life, let’s not speculate on his hygiene.)

The style is more literary than we’re used to in romance: Protag spends a lot of time fingering the textures of his soul and of New York City. We get flashbacks to his past, a moment here, a trauma there. It’s a wonder he’s functioned this long, and up to the year of hibernation, this well, without intensive therapy. Poor guy, and no wonder his brother Paul fell apart. Participating in the investigation best he can with his limited mobility gives him something important to think about and heals something within, aided by Marzoli’s interest.

Protag begins with a semi-committed relationship with Joanna, who gets an undeserved helping of scorn, even though she’s stuck with him past the bounds of sanity, and hasn’t entirely given up on him, however badly it’s expressed. In true “out for you” fashion, he doesn’t much question his attraction to Marzoli, only contrasting it with other relationships with men in his life, including adults who should have been soundly kicked in the ass. (I have a small weird admiration, overridden by a nuclear level of hate, for the grandfather.) Marzoli is a good guy, if somewhat unexplored, but that’s inherent in the structure of the story—we have only one POV and bigger concerns: the tension lasts most of the book. We get enough to be hopeful for them.

The investigation is marred by a couple of assumptions based on slivers of data, but the solution is actually terrific. The action sequences at the end are pretty cool, and we are left understanding all the whys.

A stronger, or perhaps more competent, editorial hand would have been nice, eliminating some continuity errors and spelling and punctuation that veers from British/Australian conventions to American, which is peculiar in a book set in New York with a US born protagonist. Everyone who touched this book needs to review apostrophes. Some words either do not mean what they're meant to mean, or might be local slang that doesn't export. Frex, from the blurb--sludges? Really? (Had I been looking at blurb only, I would have passed for that bit of stupid, but instead I found the story via a discussion of food vs gay men, which intrigued me into buying.)

I did have to keep reading in spite of the many small bounces out of the story, and I would read more from this author, but there were an awful lot of bounces. If you're looking for thrills, it's derivative but done well, if you're looking for romance, it has insta-issues, but as a whole, worth the read. 3.75 marbles

Pissed off Crys

I host a lot of pictures at Photobucket, but that's probably a big mistake. However, after several hundred posts, it's kind of a large error to fix systematically.

The problem is that the wowsers who patrol Photobucket while clutching their pearls with one hand and poking the delete button with the other have paid a visit to my account. I know they do this: I interviewed for the position because when my health deteriorated there wasn't a lot else I could do, but this sucked too bad to do even then. 

So, book covers I can't even identify are missing. Book covers. Bare man chests, how awful. Two men embracing, the horror. I am so mad I can't see straight. I linked those pictures to reviews, and now my reviews are broken. So, visitors, if you stumble on something that needs fixing, put a comment on that post and I can find it through the dashboard. I found a few already but I know there are more.

Thanks, and let the bare chests roll.

A picture is worth...

Is he rising? Is he falling? Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

Prisoner 374215 by Angel Martinez

Title: Prisoner 374215
Author: Angel Martinez
Buy at Mischief Corner Books

Purchase at All Romance eBooks (Free, go for it!)
Cover Art: Freddy MacKay
Genre: Short story, science fiction
Length: 10500 words
Formats: mobi, epub, pdf

While the cell is sparse and cold, at least this one has a bed. The figure resting there is too thin; too still, the prominent bones the result of long starvation, the stillness the product of too much anguish and abuse. He watches, though. An anxious, intelligent mind still occupies this frail and failing body, one that watches and wonders about the new guard occupying his cell each night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This fine story is my gateway to the writing of Angel Martinez, and I guess I just must be the last one to know. Turns out the story placed second in shorts at the Rainbow Reviews in 2013, and it deserves the award.

The story starts grim, and the abuse theme warning is certainly appropriate. This is science fiction with a gay character, not a romance. As science fiction, it stands up to the best I’ve read recently for atmosphere and for worldbuilding. The nameless prisoner dares not hope for more than that this day not contain too much pain.

There’s plenty going on just outside his view though, and his guard brings in bits and snippets, so that we know there are greater events unfolding. What the prisoner must do is crucial to those events. It’s very well done, and ends in something good, both for the universe and for the prisoner.

There are more stories set in the Esto universe, which I am now inspired to read. 5 marbles