Review: The Astral Mage (The Captains Of The Wolf #1) by Hurri Cosmo

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

Kyruis has had a life full of woe. Shuffled from one foster family to the next, unwanted because he is different, a freak of nature, Kyruis has never felt safe, never been safe a day in his life. Kyruis a wanted man. He’s an Astral Mage, better known as a “Soul Giver”, a race of people who can bring people, animals, things back to life by reattaching their energy or souls. Now most people believe that Astral Mages are but a myth so few exist in the galaxy. But for those who know better, the Astral Mages are captured and traded for the highest fee and that is Kyruis’ current fate.

Kyruis is a prisoner on a spaceship, captured and sold to the highest bidder when pirates attack the ship he is on. Captain Tilbarr of the spaceship Wolf brings Kyruis on board his ship, he has no idea that not only has he found a true Astral Mage but also the one person who makes him feel alive and in love. But the Confederated Authority, the governing body for planets, is hot on their trail and it wants Kyruis at any cost. Just as Tilbarr realizes how much he has come to care for Kyruis, Tilbarr also realizes that he might have to give the Astral Mage up or lose his ship and his friends in the bargain. When the Captain must choose between love and loyalty to his crew, can there be any winner?

The Astral Mage is the first book I have read by this author and it appears to be the first in a science fiction series. However, I think that although this book shows some promise, I will be stopping here with The Astral Mage. Let’s go over some of the more winning aspects of the story. Cosmo works very hard at building a detailed and interesting universe in which to place the story. At the end of the book, the author has placed a complex and lengthy Terms and Definitions section that covers construction elements and minerals, names of the Wolf’s crew to extinct bird species and insects. One glance at this part of the book and you have the pros and cons of this author’s writing. Hurri Cosmo is so absorbed in her world building that minutiae that is not relevant to the story basics is included but not a lot of information about the titular race of the story. For example, here is her entry for Screaming Vulture Beasts:

Screaming Vulture Beasts: They are large birds that live in several of the extremely deep craggy valleys that exist on Velel. They are brutal beasts that rip apart their living prey when they capture it, usually in flight. Ancient history of the planet denoted tribes would throw livestock off the cliffs to keep the beasts fed so they would not feed on the people. In modern day, though, the beasts have become wary of the people knowing they can and will kill them if they come close. There are warning systems in place that warn the towns and cities as well if the birds approach. They have become more of a tourist attraction although to get close enough to watch them feed is still considered very dangerous and ultimately stupid.

To be honest, I don’t even remember them in the story as interesting as they sound. But this story is so jammed packed with “stuff” that the important facts and issues are overlooked. There are pages of entries like this. But her entry for the Mages? This is the sum total, already given in the same words in the story:

Astral Mage: The Soul Givers. There are also “carriers”, who are the only ones able to give birth to an Astral Mage. The blood line started to dissipate due to inter-relations with other species. A full-blooded carrier is rare and full-blooded Astral Mages are even rarer.

The author gets so lost in the extraneous details that she forgets the focus of her story is that of the Astral Mages and that happens from the beginning. We begin the story of The Astral Mage with Kyrius a prisoner on a spaceship rocketing to a destination where he is to be handed off to some unnamed buyer. Kyruis is a rare almost mythical creature but the Captain of that ship treats him as he would a whore. This makes no sense considering the fees that are being paid for Kyruis and has been inserted to bring a prurient angle to the story. You know the author is in trouble when things so south right from the beginning. Then the story switches focus from Kyrius to Tilbarr, the Captain of the Wolf who attacks the ship Kyrius is on and the book becomes The Captain of the Wolf (The Astral Mage #1) instead of the other way around. And once the attention is on Tilbarr and his feelings about the mage, it remains there for the rest of the story. While the reader is patiently waiting to learn more about the Mages, their history, genetic makeup, anything about mages, we get more information about cargos, and metals, and insects and things we really don’t care about. One of the first things I wanted to know was why only one type of mage? That doesn’t make any sense either. Surely if there is one type of gift or magic, there are others. But as we are given absolutely no information, who knows?

Then there are the characterizations. Cosmo can’t decide if Kyruis is a young, innocent victim in need of a savior or a sexually experienced being with hidden resources and strengths, wounded faun or clever mouse, child or sex object. Cosmo swings back and forth between the two with a rapidity that will give the reader whiplash. The same divided characterization haunts Tilbarr as well, seasoned pirate or gullible sailor with a need for love? Honestly, the wavering characteristics make it hard to believe in any of the characters you meet while reading this story. That lack of believability has always meant a lack of connectivity for the reader as well and it shows here.

So while there are some nice points and creative aspects to The Astral Mage, in the end it is overwhelmed by too many extraneous details, weak characters, and a missing focal point. I would give this a pass, there are better m/m science fiction stories out there.

Cover design by Lee Tiffin doesn’t make any more sense than the book does.

ebook, 243 pages
Published March 16th 2013 by Silver Publishing
ISBN 161495903X (ISBN13: 9781614959038)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttps://spsilverpublishing.com/the-astral-mage-ebook-p-1414.html
seriesThe Captains Of The Wolf

Review: Masked Riders by Lucius Parhelion

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

When ex union cavalryman and now California rancher Jesse Putnam is summoned by his wealthy aunt and boss to come to San Francisco for a meeting. he uses the night before to visit a bawdy hotel where he could satiate his illegal desires for men. But nothing prepared Jesse to seeing his sexual companion of the previous night standing in his aunt’s office, apparently an employee of hers as well.

Wardley Bridger, now his colleague, is there to help Jesse investigate the peculiar goings on at the ranch in California where the profits are less than they should be and rumors are rife over bad management as well as potential illegalities. Previous investigators have come up empty handed so the men are going in undercover as ranch hands to see if they can ferret out the truth.

On s their journey south on a trail that stretches out from the dusty Pueblo of Angles into the brush-covered hills of Ranchero Los Robles, Jesse and Wardley find they have much in common, from a love of fine literature to beautiful horses and finally a illegal sexuality that they don’t have to hide from each other. When a ghost rider appears at the ranch, threatening their investigation, Wardley and Jesse find that the truth jeopardizes evverything, including their burgeoning love affair.

Lucius Parhelion is one of the first names that pop into my head when someone asks for a recommendation for m/m historical fiction about the American West. Parhelion’s stories are told with an authentic, dry tone that seems to come up from the very soil and arid climate of the land the characters ride over and exist on. The author’s stories are factual, full of information and dates that locate the story in a specific time and place. But these details always serve to enhance rather than obfuscate or weigh down the discourse. Here is a sample:

Jesse shut the ledger hard enough to stir the smoky air. Above them, the nine years of accumulated spider webs that gave the Cobweb Palace its name, swayed gently. The proprietor felt that spiders were lucky. The patron confronted by a spider might or might not agree.

“I assume that our leaving the steamer before San Pedro would have something to do with obtaining mounts.”

“Well, there are horses a-plenty at the Playa Negra, but given what Mrs. Gifford said to me about due speed, I can’t see her being happy with our taking the time to ride all the way down from north of Santa Barbara to Los Robles.” Bridger shook his head while smiling, a rather mild reaction to Ada.”

Parhelion easily inserts the name of The Cobweb Palace, an establishment that opened up in 1856 at the foot of Meigg’s Wharf , in a lovely blend of fact and fiction, a trademark of this author I have come to expect from all of Parhelion’s stories.

Masked Riders is composed of 11 chapters, each with an amusing and old sounding title, such as Chapter VIII — You May Lead a Man Towards Aiming, but You Cannot Make Him Hit. The opening paragraph is perfectly suited to title and content:

If there was one lesson Jesse had been grateful to learn during the late rebellion, it was the difficulty of actually hitting a man with a bullet. He’d never expected to feel that particular gratitude again. He’d been wrong.

There are many issues discussed within the story, plight of the Celestials as the Chinese were called as well as the freed slaves who came west after the war was over. Parhelion gives the reader a real feel for the state of western society and the many layers it was comprised of through descriptions that paint such a vivid portrait of the people and land that I could almost feel like I was walking the streets or riding along the trails. The author’s characters are as strong as the historical setting they find themselves in. From Jesse and Wardley to Aunt Ada, a tower of strength and intellect in a diminutive body, all are fully fleshed out and totally human.

At 90 pages, I always end up wishing for more of a drawn out resolution to issues the men find at the ranch, although the ending was perfect in its realism and tone. If you love westerns, this is for you. If you love beautifully done historical novels, this is for you. If you love a realistically portrayed growing affection that turns into something more, than this is for you. Masked Riders is a wonderful introduction to the works of Lucius Parhelion. Don’t pass it or the author’s other works up.

Cover illustration by BS Clay. Beautiful cover, luscious, and perfect for the trail to the ranch and a relationship.

Review: On The Lee Shore by Elin Gregory

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When his last ship is lost at sea and he is the only officer to survive, Lt Christopher “Kit” Penrose finds his reputation tarnished, leaving him unable to secure a new position on another ship. Things are looking grim when his godfather, Admiral Tregarne of the Navy Office suggests that Kit work as an aide to Sir George Wilberforce, traveling on the Hypatia on a mission for the Navy. Kit is desperate to get back to sea and accepts the job, even though it means he is little more than a lackey in the eyes of the other sailors.

At sea, the Hypatia is attacked by pirates and three men of the Hypatia are taken aboard the pirate ship, Africa, impressed into joining the pirates crew or suffer dire consequences. One of those men is Kit whose training as a sailing master is highly prized by pirates in need of his skills. The Captain of the Africa is the notorious pirate, La Griffe, known as Griffin to his crew. Forced to obey the Captain and live by the pirates rules, Kit soon realizes that not all of his assumptions about pirates and the pirate life are correct. These pirates seem honorable, leaving the ships and crews they attack alive and able to sail away once the pirates have taken the booty they want off the ship. Captain Griffin is a real enigma, intolerant of abuse, a graduate of Cambridge, he is honorable in a way Kit never expected. Griffin is also very handsome, and charming when the occasion arises, leaving Kit confused and if he were to admit it, attracted to the man in every way.

The longer Kit stays on board, the less sure he becomes about where his loyalties lie. Is it with the Admiralty and the Navy or with Griffin, the Africa and a crew that now welcomes him as one of their own. And his heart is just as confused as his head. Things come to a head when another pirate ship clashes with their own, and Kit must make a decision that will haunt him no matter which way he decides.

What a glorious book! I picked it up and immediately found myself at sea on a vessel so yar she sped through the waves like a porpoise, sails booming in the wind and the mast creaking as the ship rocked in the currents. Elin Gregory plunges us into a world where the British Navy ruled the seas, the East India Company is doing brisk trade and pirates are taking advantage of the situation by plundering every shipping lane of the era. And Gregory does so by rendering the time period and events taking place in vivid detail along with marvelous descriptions that bring it alive on every page. Elin Gregory has gathered her historical facts and blended them beautifully with her fiction to create a sumptious banquet for the mind and soul.

When she describes Kit on his way to Moorgate, you can understand why the sea would have its appeal to a Cornishman like Kit:

Kit had been aware of the clock chiming when he left Mother Carey’s. He had not caught the hour, but he knew it was late, not perhaps midnight but certainly eleven. The streets were busy. Night soil carts and delivery drays headed out against the tide of incomers bringing goods from the countryside to the city. Men pushed barrows, horses and oxen strained against their harnesses. Lanterns flickering above doorways and on corners and torches carried by linkboys accompanying chairs, coaches, and pedestrians, made great leaping shadows in which anything could lurk. Kit walked quickly and with care. It was important to stay alert. Too many of his acquaintance had been robbed after such a night out. He kept to the broadest roads and had climbed most of Gracechurch Street before he was approached.

“Call you a chair, sir?” The linkboy was a dirty scrap of a youth with bony wrists showing at the cuffs of his jacket. He bounded along at Kit’s side, torch bobbing.”Or I could light your way. Only a farthing, sir. I’ll see you right.”

Contemplating shoes soaked in horse piss or worse, Kit gave the boy a short nod. “I’m bound for close to Moorgate. If that is too far, best say now.”

“Ha’penny if you want me to take you past the Wall, sir.”

“Fair enough.” Kit agreed and placed the boy on the inside of the pavement. A half penny wasn’t cheap, but the light was welcome.

You can almost feel the grime and filth of the streets climbing up Kit’s boots. Kit’s plain outfit is in direct contrast to his best friend, Tristan, a diamond if ever there was one.

“Ah, there you are!” Tristan set his three-cornered hat on his glossy curls and tucked his hand into Kit’s elbow. “Good man, good man. Dear Lord, as you love me, Kit, smaller strides.”

“If the shoes hurt why are you wearing them?” Kit asked, moderating his pace. “They make you walk like an old duchess with corns.”

Tristan snorted. “Fashion, dear boy. If one wants to do well at work it’s best to look as though one has no financial worries. As long as they all think I’m being very good at what I do on a whim, they’ll keep promoting me to try to pique my interest.”

“Bloody silly reason for promotion,” Kit growled, and Tristan gave his arm an affectionate squeeze.

“Maybe you should try it?” he suggested. “You look like a Quaker. That’s not going to give them any faith in your fighting spirit, now is it?”

Kit glanced at Tristan’s tightly curled wig, his exquisitely fitted coat, the riot of embroidery on his waistcoat, those ridiculous shoes whose heels brought Tristan up to equal Kit’s height. Kit own attire, mostly shades of sensible hard-wearing brown, including his own naturally curly hair, did look penny-pinched in comparison.

Before you realize it, you are walking shoulder to shoulder with Kit, taking the clothes, mannerisms and news of the day as commonplace as Kit finds them. And it’s not just Gregory’s ability to make history come alive that pulls the reader into the story, it’s her characters and plot as well.

Every character you will meet in this book is as unique an individual as any I have met in real life. Whether they be scoundrel like Captain Wells or loved, somewhat addled pirate Denny, all will be remembered after the story is done and most of them quite fondly too. I love the complexities to each character. Each pirate and each Naval officer have their own merits as well as seedy elements to their character. Some are horrific, no matter which side of the law they are on. And the of life of a sailor can switch from an easy berth to one of hardship and abuse depending upon the captain and crew. Equally amazing is the ages that young men went to sea, as early as 8 or so. It is all here, a even handed portrait of life on the sea, made all the more remarkable because it is a backdrop or foundation for both a love story and tale of adventure and not the focus of the story itself.

On The Lee Shore is not your typical love story. Remember, during that age, it is not only dishonorable but a hanging offense to love other men. So it is not surprising that Kit pushes down his “unnatural” desires at the beginning, hiding them in furtive glances and nameless encounters. But the pirates ways and expansive viewpoint, along with a certain Captain, starts to free Kit from his conventional notions and the reader is along every step of the way. It is a realistic journey with nary a case of “instalove” in sight. Kit and Griffin engage in a slow dance around each other, complicated by their stations aboard ship, Kit’s identity as a Naval officer as well as Griffin’s as a pirate. There are other obstacles as well, but I will leave that joy of discovery to the reader.

Within this book, you will find fast paced action, breath taking adventure, piracy on the high seas, booming cannons and a future fraught with danger and pain as well as love. Trust me, once you pick this book up, you won’t want to put it down. I didn’t and once finished, wanted to start the journey all over again.

I had to look up the nautical term “lee shore”, and found that it meant a shore, towards which the wind is blowing, and to which there is the danger of being driven aground on shoals or reefs. A lee shore is to be avoided, and yet Kit feels himself to be on a lee shore throughout most of the story, uncertain, sometimes adrift in his emotions and thoughts. But Elin Gregory knows her craft and you can be sure she leaves her men sailing smoothly into fresh waters under clear skies, their future interesting as their times. I really wish I could be there for the rest of their journey, but I am delighted with the tale I got. You will be too.

Published By
Etopia Press
1643 Warwick Ave., #124
Warwick, RI 02889
http://www.etopia-press.net
On A Lee Shore
Copyright © 2012 by Elin Gregory
ISBN: 978-1-939194-44-2
Edited by Jennifer Fitzpatrick
Cover by Mina Carter is just outstanding and matches perfectly with the story within.

Review: Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Benji Green is still trying to cope with the loss of his father, Big Eddie Green. Big Eddie was not only Benji’s father, “the best Father in the whole wide world”, but Big Eddie was also his best friend, his confidant, the person who kept Benji centered, made him feel loved and safe. It’s been five years since his death by drowning when his truck overturned in a river but to his son it feels like yesterday. Benji tried leaving to go to college but it didn’t work out. Now back in Roseland, Oregon, Benji runs Big Eddie’s Gas and Convenience, just as his father had before dying when Benji was 16.

Benji lives with his mother and her two sisters in the house he grew up. He is surrounded by places and things that constantly remind him of Big Eddie and he often feels as though his life stopped when his father’s did. Benji’s nights have always been haunted by nightmares of the river in which his father drowned, mile marker 77 and images of blue feathers swirling around as the waters raged higher. Benji’s days are haunted too. Fleeting touches of a hand pressed to his neck and grasping his shoulder, a feeling as though someone is there beside him yet when he turns there is nothing. But lately, the nightmares have grown worse, more intense until Benji’s feels like he is drowning just like his father. Sometimes the images come to him during the day, leaving Benji uncertain as to what is real and what is not.

The whole of Roseland is beginning to feel as though it is waiting, waiting for something to happen. And when it does, when improbably a man falls from the sky, leaving an impression of wings on the ground, then everything changes for Benji and everyone around him. This is that story.

It has taken me several weeks before I thought I could make an attempt to write a somewhat rational, less impassioned review of this book. Trust me this is not the one that would have been written after I completed reading Into This River I Drown for the first time, or even the second time. I love books and rarely react to them in a dispassionate manner. I like some, love some, feel disappointed by others and on some occasions, feel so disconnected to the stories, that I feel nothing, a deadly reaction to be sure. Authors never set down to write a story where the reaction by a reader is “huh, I could have been doing my laundry” but I have come across some of those in my time as well. Into This River I Drown has certainly engendered a multitude of strong feelings in me, because rarely am I absolutely furious with some authors and their stories. And I will say right now that this book absolutely infuriated me, it had me bawling my eyes out as it pulled feelings about my father and my relationship to him, and had me nodding my head in acknowledgement if not agreement on some issues of faith and religion. I feel in some parts this is a milestone work for T.J. Klune and a book that undercut itself at the end. Does this sound like an emotional rollercoaster of a ride? It should because that is exactly what this book is about.

After having read all of Mr. Klune’s previous works, from BOATK to Burn, and including Tell Me It’s Real, I was not prepared for the tone and narrative that I found within Into This River I Drown (ITRID). All the characters of the BOATK universe have singular voices that identify them immediately. The same goes for the scattered, funny and somewhat frazzled outlook of Paul Auster and his friend, Helena Handbasket, from Tell Me It’s Real. And while Burn is my least favorite story this author has written, I could still tell that it was one of TJ Klune’s by the characters involved and their dialog. But in ITRID, TJ Klune takes his writing to another higher level.

I found his characters to be richer, with more depth and dimension than anything he has given us to date. Whether it is Benji, his aunt Nina who is so special in so many ways or his friend Abe, these people will speak to your heart as well as your mind. Now don’t get me wrong I love Bear and the Kid, they are outstanding. But the people of Roseland are something different indeed. You will find yourself involved in their lives, connected to the town in ways you could never imagine. There are only a few imperfections that I could see, one that jumps quickly to mind is the character Gabriel who seems far too contemporary rather than unworldly, Same goes for the Strange Men as they are called. But more than that I cannot say which is very frustrating for a reviewer who does not want to give away spoilers. This entire book is a spoiler, something I have never really run into before. Almost any detail I could refer to might be the one spoiler that reveals a significant plot point to the reader. And I won’t do that.

Into This River I Drown also brings an intense, emotionally laden group of topics at its subject matter. First and foremost is that of the father and son dynamics, something that has been the focus of many memorable books, poems and movies, whether you are talking about Field of Dreams or the New Testament. At times I felt as though my heart was being pulled out of my throat, some passages hurt so bad. Here is an example:

EDWARD BENJAMIN GREEN “BIG EDDIE”

BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER

MAY 27 1960—MAY 31 2007

Fifteen words. Fifteen words is all there is to describe the man who was my father. Fifteen words are all that is left of him. Fifteen words that do nothing. They do nothing to show what kind of man he was. They do nothing to show how when he was happy, his green eyes lit up like fireworks. They do nothing to show how heavy his arm felt when he’d drop it on my shoulder as we walked. They do nothing to show the lines that would form on his forehead when he concentrated. They do nothing to show the immensity of his heart. The vastness that was his soul. Those fifteen words say nothing.

The only time my mother and I ever really quarreled in our lives, with any heat behind it, was deciding what his marker would say. She wanted it to be simple, to the point, like the man himself. He wouldn’t want the superfluous, she told me. He didn’t need more.

I railed against her for this, anger consuming me like fire. How dare you! I shouted. How dare she keep it so short? How could she not make it go on and on and on until those who made such markers would have to harvest an entire mountain for there to be enough room to say what he was, what my father had stood for in his life, all that he had accomplished? How could anyone understand the measure of a man when those fifteen words said nothing about him?

Into this treatise on father and son relationships TJ Klune adds the issues of faith, family and religion. Through Benji and the townspeople of Roseland the author expounds on God, religion and faith, especially their effects on those who have lost their belief in all three. Even if you are a non-religious person like myself, you will still find yourself lost in thought as one element after another is presented for examination and discussion. I found this element to be as strong in feeling and discourse as the central focus of fathers and sons. For me, there were some minor missteps when the plot turns to the heavenly aspects of the story but otherwise its inclusion was just as well done as the rest of the story.

So why was I furious? One reason and one reaon only. Towards the end of the book, TJ Klune ties ITRID into his Burn series, making this almost a prequel of sorts. I was beyond flabbergasted when certain Burn elements were remarked upon by characters in this book, features such as the character Seven, a child who burns and sentences such as “The Split One has crossed into Metatron’s field.” Really? Why was it necessary to take this book and make it part of Burn? Other readers won’t find this objectionable but as I was less than enthralled with his world building and characters within that budding series, to find it pulled in at the last minute to this story, well I found it appalling, almost negating the importance of the father son relationship so the author could set the stage for actions to follow in the Burn series. Infuriating actually as I said before. Still do.

However jarring I found this aspect of the book to be, the rest of the story still contains so much beauty, heartache and spellbinding storytelling, that if I were you, I would overlook that element and take Into This River I Drown for the remarkable work of fiction it is. Here is Benji remembering the last time he saw his father:

He lifted his hand from my shoulder and ruffled my hair. I didn’t know it then, but that touch, those fingers in my hair, would be the last time I would feel my father alive. I would see him again, but he’d be cold under my hand, life long since departed.

Had I known then what I know now, I would have clung to him. I would have looked him in the eyes to see that spark of mischief, that undying intelligence that belied his gruff exterior. If I’d known the inevitable, I would have said everything I felt in my heart and soul. I would have told him thank you for being my father. I would have said that if I’m ever going to be a good man, it’s going to be because of the way he’d raised me. I would have said that building Little House together and fixing up that old Ford until it was so cherry were the best times of my life. I would have said that I didn’t think I’d be able to go on without him.

I would have told him I loved him.

But I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t know. I didn’t even say good night. Or good-bye.

How can that not leave you in tears? Writing like that is the reason I love books. Writing like that is the reason I will tell you to pick this one up and read it more than once. Into This River I Drown is a remarkable story, full of life’s greatest joys and greatest sorrows. Don’t pass this book by. Let it make you furious or sad or happy or any of the other emotions it will pull out of you. Because it will be worth it.

Cover Photo by Kyle Thompson, Cover Design by Paul Richmond. This emotionally charged cover is perfection. One of the best of the year that I have seen so far in marrying composition to story to great impact.

ebook, 400 pages
Published March 25th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1623804094 (ISBN13: 9781623804091)
url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3665

A Cluttered Sunday and the Week Ahead In Reviews

Somehow I’ve done it again. It creeps up on me with all the discretion of a whispering wind, but its effects can feel more like a nor’easter by the time I realize it’s occurred once more. It starts with one project, maybe overhauling one small section of a garden, then spreads to cleaning out the library, and then, like some giant amoeba, slides gelatinously over every aspect of my life, sinking me in projects, expanded plans and , oh yes, clutter. Clutter of the gardens, house, Kindle, and mind, making me plant my butt in my favorite chair, mouth dropped to the floor as I stare in horror at the chaos I have created.

I have ferns, hostas, primroses and toadlilys amassed by the backdoor, the library looks like the yarn fairy and the book gnome had a brawl, throwing their wares willy nilly around the room, cook books are spread open in the kitchen to various receipes needed to cook for Mothers Day (have to try them out first you know, another thing on my list to do), and Kirby has found the mole holes, gleefully rolling about in the muck. Dogs to wash, add to list. My Kindle is loaded with books to read and review. And I promised one author to beta his book immediately. So many promises and things waiting for my attention. Then the tsunami arrives. My father becomes seriously ill due to the effects of new medication. Things come to a complete standstill until he is home once more. Then the reality of Dad getting sick (this man never gets sick) hits my Mother, she gets ill, and things remain in status.

Now both parents are back at home and doing well. But the effects are still reverberating through my life. As I sit amongst the clutter of my life, I can only think, my parents were seriously ill and I am stunned. At their age and mine, this should not surprise me, but it does, hitting me with an emotional wallop I was in no way prepared for.

So I need to move forward and start to clear away the chaos that life, generously helped along by moi, has created. The plants will start to go in the ground on Wednesday when they say it will be warmer, the books I will tackle one at a time, the library will see its books reshelved and the yarn organized starting tomorrow (ever so slowly), I will apologize to Brandon once more about his novel and get to it, and slowly, ever so slowly order will be restored. Sigh. Even without my parents getting ill, I can see that things were getting a little out of control.

How does that happen again? Oh yeah, life. I know there are people out there this never happens to. Organized, compartmentalized gems of folks. I just don’t know them. I often wonder what their lives must be like, with uncluttered surfaces that gleam and spotless floors with nary a dog toy in sight. I do know that will never happen here. Welcome to my world, lowered expectations!

Now I had a thought at the beginning of this post……I just don’t know where I put it. It’s somewhere under the yarn or maybe out in the garden. It’s time to go look for it. In the meantime while I am gathering up my scattered thoughts, here is the week ahead in reviews:

Monday, April 22: Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune (yes really)

Tuesday, April 23: On A Lee Shore by Elin Gregory

Wed., April 24: Masked Riders by Lucius Parhelion

Thursday, April 25: Unearthing Cole by AM Arthur

Friday, April 26: Astral Mage by Hurri Cosmo

Saturday, April 27: Scattered Thoughts On World Building in Fiction

Review: A Beautiful Disaster by Willa Okati

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Sean is trying to start his life over after being abused and almost killed by an ex lover, but he wears his past for all to see in the scars that crisscross his body and the limbs that no longer work as they once did. Sean’s scars are internalized as well, revealing themselves in his inability to trust and move forward in his life.

Riorden is both a tattoo artist and nurse who also is familiar with scars and life’s unwelcome surprises. Rio is drawn to the pain filled man he sees waiting for the bus near the hospital, one glimpse and he is hooked although he can’t say why. An accidental meeting at a bar brings Sean and Rio together again, and while the sexual heat flares, trust remains elusive.

Sean too wants the gentle inked nurse but can he overcome his painful past and issues of trust to move forward with his life and find the love he has always dreamed about? Only time will tell if Rio can save the beautiful disaster that is Sean.

This is not a love story for the light or faint hearted but one that is dark, pain filled and shows only glimpses of hope towards the end. Willa Okati delivers two memorable men, carrying traumatic scars of their past. One is a veritable canvas of scars from the event that cost him everything, his self image, his trust, and his greatest joy, the ability to draw. The other man’s scars are more easily hidden but no less dramatic. He too almost lost his life but in a far different fashion, one that left his self image and future intact. But it is how each man has dealt with the trauma that both pulls them together as each recognizes something about the other, a similarity that exists under the surface. Willa Okati brings these outwardly disparate yet inwardly compatible men to life in these story of pain, hardship and renewal.

Rio helps cover scars for his former patients with tattoos that help them recover. An article this week at MSNBC told the same story of a woman who rejected breast reconstruction and had a gorgeous full chest tattoo inked in their place (see picture at breast-cancer-survivor.jpg). We get into his head and heart as Rio talks to and about his patients. And once we enter the tattoo shop and meet his best friend Jae, we better understand why he is so driven to pursue both careers at the same time. Sean’s mind is a tough one to connect with, dark, depressed, and in stasis, unable to move forward or back. All 136 pages chart his faltering progress to jumpstart his life, connect again with his art, and find his ability to love and trust once more.

For most of the book this is a bleak picture. But each time the story gets caught up in its depths, Okati offers the reader glimmers of light ahead. That glimpse of hope,plus the compelling characters of Sean and Rio, will serve to pull along those readers in search of a passionate love story. The rest of us will not hesitate to go where Willa Okati leads which is to an ending both realistic and heartening. One that leaves the reader optimistic for Sean and Rio’s future and the healing they have found with each other.

Cover Artist: Ginny Glass. I am not sold on this cover. There was so much within this story for a cover artist to draw from that I am at a loss to say what might have prompted the design on the cover. It doesn’t really speak to anything within the book, not even the tattoos described within that carry so much meaning. A complete misstep in design in my opinion.

Willa Okati and Loose id LLC post some very important links in the afterword about domestic abuse and organizations that deal with domestic violence. These are wonderful resources for those in need.

For more information about domestic abuse, please check out the following: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence http:// http://www.ncadv.org/ Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project http:// gmdvp.org/ about-us/ Resources for Victims of Domestic Violence (via The Advocate) http:// http://www.theadvocates-aplacetogo.org/ Additional-Resources.php

Review: Loving Hector by John Inman

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Dillard “Dill” Brown is not sure what to say about his life. Dill is tall, gay and writes m/m romance novels. He has published 3 books, none very successful. At the age of 30, he has a closet full of fast food uniforms due to the fact that his writing barely pays his rent, and a mother in denial that her son is gay. Then everything changes. He gets drunk, meets a man he swears he won’t forget but does in his stupor, finds a dog he will call Chester, and puts his feet firmly on the path to true love and happily ever after.

Hector Pena is also on that road with Dill, but he just didn’t realize it at first. There are a couple of misunderstandings to get over before they really start to connect but the biggest obstacle? That would be Hector’s exboyfriend, Valdemaro. Valdemaro is not ready to let Hector go, to the point of beating and physically restraining him. Only one thing is keeping Hector from calling the cops. And that would be the fact that Valdemaro is a cop. Dill will do whatever it takes to keep Hector safe, put Valdemaro in his place and make sure Dill, Hector, and Chester the dog reach their HEA, including gathering together some of the craziest, zaniest group of people to do it.

Loving Hector is the first book I have read by John Inman and it has me reaching for the rest of his titles immediately. Dill, Hector, and the crazy group of characters that enrich, support and drive them batty had me laughing for hours. John Inman rests the story in the somewhat capable hands of Dill Brown, 30 year old gay m/m romance novelist and collector of fast food jobs. It is told from Dill’s off kilter and very funny rambling POV. Now I am aware that this type of stream of consciousness, scattered narrative is not everyone’s cup of tea and that it can depend on exactly who and what type of character’s thoughts are constantly flowing over the page. But I happened to find Dill hysterical, his view of the world compassionate and openhearted, so I enjoyed spending time inside his very creative and observant mind (thank you, John Inman).

For an example, here is Dill eyeing his Gramps, a crazy old coot who just happens to love his gay grandson:

When Dill was finally able to step out onto the sidewalk, the two men eyed each other up and down like a couple of Sumo wrestlers getting ready to rumble.

The top of Gramps’s work pants were tucked up under his armpits so that his belt buckle was directly under his chin. Dill could see several inches of pale, shiny shinbone gleaming between the man’s pant legs and the top of his socks. One of the socks was white with little red and blue stripes around the top, and the other was white with little yellow and green stripes around the top. The second sock drooped down around the ankle because the elastic was shot. The first sock looked like it was three sizes too small and by the way it was strangling his grandpa’s leg, Dill figured it would probably create an embolism sometime in the next seven or eight minutes that would kill the old man dead. The shoes were brown-and-white saddle shoes, the sort you usually see in old pictures poking out from under a poodle skirt. The laces were missing. The trousers were brown and shiny, and the lumberjack shirt the man wore was a horrendous green and orange plaid and big enough to hold three grandfathers. It was without a doubt the ugliest plaid Dill had ever seen in his life. If it was a tartan emblem for a particular clan of Scottish Highlanders, then they must have been a clan of color-blind, troglodytic morons.

There was a fat pocket watch in one of the shirt pockets which dragged the left side of the shirt down lopsided from the way it was supposed to hang, making his grandfather look as if half of him was doubly affected by gravity, and the other half wasn’t affected by gravity at all. He wore a woman’s wristwatch on one arm and a man’s wristwatch on the other. Even with three clocks, Dill would have bet his life if you asked Grandpa what time it was, he wouldn’t know. To top it all off, the man’s fly was wide open. Dill kept expecting a moth to fly out. Better that than a hundred-and-fifty-year-old dick.

Wrap a feather boa around Gramps’s neck and slap a derby on his head and he would look like the poster boy for cognitive dysfunction. Dementia’s Hunk of the Month.

Ignoring the persistent throbbing of his poor hung-over head, Dill scooped his grandfather, or what was left of him, into his arms. “Hey, Gramps. It’s great to see you.”

That gives you a very good taste of the sort of thing you can expect from Loving Hector. Over the top descriptions that leave you with a very clear picture of who and what is going on with Dill at any given moment. I love the characters John Inman has created for this story. Yes, some come very close to stock characters or caricatures we have seen before, the horny grandpa, the loony mom, the overly patient dad, etc. But the author puts his own spin on them, endows them with plenty of heart and soul, bringing them to life on each page they inhabit. This goes for two of my personal favorites, Miss Lily the Vietnamese owner of Yum Yum Donuts and her German baker husband, Thorolf. I loved these two immensely, and not just because of their interaction with Gramps. Here is Dill’s description of Miss Lily’s hair:

She had hair enough for six Vietnamese immigrants, and she wore it piled high on top of her head in a celestial arrangement of blue-black curls and swirls and flips and dips and interwoven ribbons and fluttering metal butterflies and a chop stick or two, and what looked like a windshield wiper from a ’53 Buick sticking out the back. Dill figured the blueprint for that hairdo was so intricately complex that Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, working in tandem with fourteen Cray computers at their disposal, couldn’t have figured it out. Hell, I. M. Pei must have been her hairdresser. Maybe he just designed weirdass buildings on the side. This was his true masterpiece.

No, Miss Lily is a masterpiece, and so is Thorolf, and the rest of the gang. Inman manages to make this gang zany while still keeping them human, a lovely feat. But at the heart of this story is Dill and his love for Hector. Hector has his own story to tell and his recent past is not pretty.

And this is where we arrive at my one real qualm with these story. Hector is a victim of domestic violence, a very real and underreported crime in the gay community. His ex boyfriend is not only physically abusive but a police officer which is every victim’s worst nightmare, no matter their sexuality or gender. To see how real and combustive a threat this combination is, just pick up any current headline. I can think of two offhand in The Washington Post over the last several weeks and neither of them involved comedy or ended well for the victim. I really wish that Inman had chosen another avenue to demonstrate Valdemaro’s unsuitability as an ex boyfriend. He could have chewed tobacco, smacked mimes or hated dogs, anything but be someone who doled out beatings in the same manner he gave out parking tickets. It makes me uneasy to see such a real problem a part of a story with a comedic romantic bent. Had that element been missing, this rating would have been substantially higher, as it was it almost pushed this rating into 3 stars.

Still I loved Dill and his gang. How can you not love someone who looks at all the fast food uniforms in his closet and calls them The Closet of Humble Beginnings, not looking at them as a line up of failure but as a means to make money and still have the energy left over to write. I like that man, and his family (related and otherwise). I liked his lover too. So off I go to see what else I can find that Inman has written. Pick this one up, there is a scene where flying donuts come to the rescue….you won’t want to miss that or any of the other hijinks that ensue.

Cover art by Paul Richmond is perfect for the story and the couple within.

Review: The Fight Within (The Good Fight #2) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Bryce Morton just suffered a major loss in his life and in his grief he has withdrawn into his work almost completely. His friends (and boss) Jerry Lincoln and his partner Akecheta (John) Black Raven are worried about him. They finally convince him to come camping with them on the Sioux reservation where John’s family lives and where Jerry’s company has been volunteering their time teaching computer skills to the tribe members. It is on the reservation that Bryce meets Paytah Stillwater, the owner and operator of the reservation’s trading post.

Paytah Stillwater’s life has been one of abuse and torment that he has managed to conceal from all around him. He tried speaking up as a child but no one believed him. Now Paytah lives as though he is alone with his store as his island, separated by choice and his past history from the very tribe he should be counting on for support. When Paytah attends one of the computer classes taught by Jerry, Akecheta, and Bryce, Bryce tries to help Paytah but is rejected. It is only when Bryce comes to the aid of a young Sioux child that Paytah starts to change his mind about white men on the reservation.

Before long, Bryce and Paytah realize that they care for one another and want to work towards a long term relationship but many obstacles are standing in their way. Then the man who abused Paytah returns to torment him and take advantage of other young Sioux children and their choice becomes clear, to put a stop to the abuse and help Paytah finally heal, something that can only be done if they do it together.

The Fight Within continues to follow the lives of the people introduced in The Good Fight and the plight of Sioux Indians on their reservations. Bryce Morton was one of the two men (the other being John Black Raven) that Jerry Lincoln hired when expanding his business. As a secondary character, we were made aware of parts of his life, including the fact that he had fallen deeply in love with a man called Percy. When The Fight Within opens up, three years have passed and Bryce is engaged and getting ready to marry his Percy. But tragedy strikes on his wedding day, plunging Bryce into depression and grief. I had liked Bryce immediately and was happy to see that Grey was giving him main character status0. By imbuing Bryce with a background that included a fresh knowledge of loss, the author is setting the stage perfectly for a confrontation with a character who has lived a life of loss, abuse, and pain. That would be Paytah Stillwater, a Sioux who owns and operates the trading post on the reservation.

With Paytah Stillwater, Andrew Grey once more revisits the ongoing plight of Native Americans in the US today. Many of the reservations around the country, but mostly out west, are outposts of poverty, where the abuse of alcohol and drugs are prolific, and depression and suicide are common. Paytah Stillwater and the Sioux on his reservation help to put a face on the tragedy that is occurring daily in many Native American lives. Jerry, Bryce and John whose real name is Akecheta are trying to help the reservation make its own way by donating computers and their time to teach computers skills to those interested. It is a fine line here that Andrew Grey walks with the type of assistance that the men offer in the story because at times it comes close to that old “white man patronage” avenue that is borderline offensive. But Grey manages to skirt around that issue (mostly) by bringing it up first, that Bryce realizing that it needs to be organized and maintained not by him but by the tribe itself. Still at times,Bryce ended by being uncomfortably close to the white man savior seen in the movies and other books. This is really my only qualm with this story.

Paytah Stillwater is a character whose history is nothing but episodes of secret abuse and the resultant shattered self image. I thought this character was especially well done. In fact, the author handles the entire subject matter of child abuse and its effects on the person as they grow into adulthood with sensitivity, and knowledgable insight. It is clear that Andrew Grey has done his research on the issues that plague Native Americans on the reservations these days and his compassion for their plight shines through these stories he has written about it.

Andrew Grey writes a tight, even flowing story with fleshed out characters that are easy to connect with. The subject matter of both stories highlight one of this nation’s most under reported national disgraces. I thought the manner in which Grey worked the details of the tribe’s lack of commerce and level of poverty into the story was well done without being strident. That must be a hard thing to accomplish as the real situation on the reservations makes one want to rant and pound things. Again my only issue here is that I was a little uncomfortable with the fact that it was Bryce bringing all these ideas to start commercial ventures to assist the tribe instead of a tribal member themselves. I kept thinking, surely, someone there would have thought of the buffalo herd idea before Bryce. But I am not sure how else the author was to get the points across in his story either. It is an easy obstacle to come across, and a less easy one to negotiate. I applaud Andrew Grey’s efforts on trying at any rate.

I absolutely recommend this book and the one that starts the series. Read them in the order they were written and settle down to enmesh yourself in the world of the Sioux and life as it is lived on the reservation, with all its cultural pride in its heritage, natural glory of the land and deep deprivation that is so unnecessary in our society.

Cover art by Anne Cain is just gorgeous any way you look at it.

The Good Fight (The Good Fight #1)

The Fight Within (The Good Fight #2)

Review: Highland Vampire Vengeance by J. P. Bowie

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Scottish vampire brothers Aeden and Lyall MacKay live in a world where vampires are accepted as part of society, although they both prefer to be discreet because of the small Scottish town they live in. Then their small town of Aberglen, Scotland, is threatened by marauding winged creatures, police inspector Alistair MacFarlane asks the brothers for help protect the townspeople who are dying with every attack. Alistair has another reason to ask for help, he is in love with Aeden MacKay and has been since they met. But Aeden isn’t sure about taking Alastair as a lover, seeing only hurt in their future.

As disaster after disaster levels the worlds governments, even the vampires find themselves under attack. Soon the remaining vampires and humans join forces to defeat the most powerful enemy the world has ever know. If they are not successful, it will be the end of the world as they know it, all humans dead and the vampires enslaved to the Ancients. Even as the battle looms ahead, Aeden and Alastair must decide to take a chance on love before it is too late.

Highland Vampire Vengeance is a thrill ride of a vampire story from J. P. Bowie. There is much to enjoy about this story, starting with the Scottish vampire brothers themselves. There is Aeden the more serious and reserved of the brothers who is in love with Alistair MacFarlane, the human police inspector of their small town. While Alistair is doing everything he can to pursue his vampire, Aeden is doing everything he can to hold off the human’s advances. Since usually it is the vampire who is the pursuer I liked Bowie’s twist on the subject. Lyall is much more the party animal, with always a new lover in tow, never a serious relationship to his name. Of course, Lyall too finds his mate when he goes to the rescue of a man carried off by the winged creatures that have invaded the town. Bowie has given the brothers an interesting back history that I wish could have had its own story. When we meet them they are living in their ancestral castle in the town of Aberglen, Scotland when the hoards invade.

Bowie does a nice job with the action sequences, especially those when they are chasing after the creatures and when they hunt them down to their place of origin. The action is tight and the plot is developed nicely. But I did have some quibbles with the book. Some comes from the dialog in which a Scottish accent appears and then disappears with regularity. The brothers, although they are several hundred year old Scots, don’t appear to have a accent but Alastair does, or at least he does part of the time.

Here is an example. Aeden and Lyall are talking in their drawing room.

“Daydreaming, brother?” Aeden turned at the sound of the soft lilting voice behind him. “Nightdreaming, actually,” he replied, his smile still in place. “Now that you’re awake, would you care for a glass of Bordeaux?” “Thank you.” Lyall MacKay walked with a leisurely grace toward him, standing by his brother’s side as Aeden poured the wine from a decanter. Had there been a third person in the room there would have been no doubt in their mind that the two were brothers. Both were tall men, broad shouldered, dark haired and blue eyed. The only significant difference was that Aeden, being originally older by five years, had a more mature appearance than Lyall, who had retained his boyish features, despite the years that had passed. Lyall raised his glass briefly then drained it in one long swallow. “Very nice,” he said, licking his full lower lip. “I’ll have another.”

Speaking of which…” Lyall paused to sip his wine more slowly this time. “Did you watch the news last night?” “No, I try to avoid that lurid rubbish as much as I can. Why? Was there something of interest I should know about?” “Mmm… The local news reported that a young couple was found dead in a field by the farmer…”

Definitely not a conversation full of Scottish overtones. Then there is Alastair. This is how he sounds, some of the time:

“He’s having the residue analyzed and should have something for me tomorrow,” Alistair added. “Any ideas so far?” Aeden filled him in about the article he’d read. Alistair nodded. “We had a report of those attacks from Scotland Yard. Apparently, there have been sporadic similar incidents in London and Manchester. The police are trying to keep it low profile right now, not wanting to cause a panic, but from what I understand some reporter has an eyewitness account he’s dying to publish.

Fine, except that he will then apparently remembers he is Scottish and starts sounds like this:

“This is the worst case I’ve ever been faced with, Aeden. I just hope I’m up to solving it and making sure it doesna’ happen again.”

or this

“I canna’ deny that part of it is… Och, Aeden, of course I will be afraid.”

And then he is back sounding like a regular non specific British Isle constable again. There is just an odd lack of continuity as far as the dialog goes. As all the characters are Scottish, it would have been better to have gone in one direction or the other but not both, especially with the same character.

Another thing that stood out was some odd word usage in the story. At one point during a meeting it is said:

“I like the Inspector’s idea of alienating one or two then following them,” Dylan said.

Which to me is an odd use for the word alienating. Isolating certainly, separating them fine, but alienating? Not really. Another one that stood out for me was the use of lumbering as in:

“Do you know what you’re lumbering yourself with?”

I have always heard it used in a far different fashion, perhaps as in “you great lumbering git”. And in fact if you look it up in the dictionary, this is what you will find:

To move in a slow, heavy, awkward way : a truck filled his mirror and lumbered past | [as adj. ] ( lumbering) Bob was the big, lumbering, gentle sort | figurative a lumbering bureaucracy.

So I am not sure how this usage found its way into the story, all I know is that it stopped my reading when I smacked into that sentence. So between a elusive language format, one case of instant love, and odd words popping up here and there, my concentration on the story was as flighty as a vampire on the wind. There were also some problems with a group called the Druids, a race employed by the Ancients. The guidelines upon which this group operated on had their own moments of illogic where first they have been aligned with the Ancients for a long time, then act as though they have just been brought into the project. Sigh.

But underneath the issues I have with the story, is a fast paced plot, lively characters and a great dramatic ending that I loved. The issues I had with the story might be ones that bother you not at all. If so, you will find this a 4 star story but for me, it just comes shy of that rating. Still if vampires are your thing or you are a fan of J. P. Bowie, pick this one up. I mean really, that is one great title, Highland Vampire Vengeance, and one great cover. You have vampires, world wide destruction, doomsday machines and a villain called The Ancient. It almost cries out for its own SyFy movie of the week! Will someone let them know?

Cover art by Deana Jamroz. I love it, campy and dramatic, perfect for the title.

Review: The Good Fight by Andrew Grey

Rating: 4.75 stars

Jerry Lincoln moved back to Sioux Falls, SD to take care of his grandfather and stayed on after his death. It seemed the perfect place to live and work, especially since Jerry’s small IT consulting business is run out of his home. As Jerry’s business grew, his friend talked him into hiring additional help in the form of IT students from the local college. Of the two men Jerry hired, John Black Raven made Jerry’s thoughts turn to things other than computer code, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.

John Black Raven needs this job and for two very specific reasons, his nephew and niece currently caught up in the SD Child Services Agency and placed with a foster family. John has been trying to get them back since his sister died with little luck. Now that he has a good job, John is hoping to prevail in his fight to bring his nephew and niece home for good.

As John and Jerry get to know one another, they start to realize that the relationship being formed is one that will last the rest of their lives and John starts to accept that Jerry will stand by his side in his fight with Child Services. Jerry is shocked to find out that Native American children are seen as a source of income by SD Child Services , the agency caught up in politics, greed, and bigotry. It will take everything the men have got and more to fight the system and bring the children home.

I know I can always count on a well written story with characters of substance from Andrew Grey, but this book surpassed my expectations and then some. The serious subject matter at the heart of this story was one I was unaware of just as Jerry Lincoln is at the beginning of the book. I have to admit it sent me on a search for more information, and I was horrified to find out that the situation explored by Andrew Grey in this story was actually far worse in detail. It is a heartbreaking case and one that Andrew Grey brings to life realistically and poignantly in The Good Fight. I won’t go into additional details here but will say that you should look up the situation on your own. It will shock and appall you that things of this nature are still able to occur now with the government’s casual oversight and approval. When reading this book, I thought surely Grey is overstating the issue, and I should have known better. If anything he used Jerry (as the mouthpiece for the reader) to voice the amazement and horror we would feel over discovering such a misplacement of judgement and child abuse at the hands of government officials. Any channel that helps to make people aware of the plight of South Dakota’s Native Americans fight to reclaim their youth should be applauded. And The Good Fight brings this issue to the reader with heart, immediacy, and a well researched story. Kudos to Andrew Grey for every aspect of this remarkable story.

Now normally i would talk about characters first, but the subject matter just begged to be put first. The characters of Jerry Lincoln and John Black Raven are well crafted, full of the flaws and layers I have come to expect from this author. I liked Jerry, a person still caught up in his grief over the loss of his grandfather, the family member who understood and supported him throughout his life. Jerry is caught up in his IT world, leaving his house only at his friend’s invitation or to shop for personal needs, like food. Only the growth of his business forces Jerry to interact with others, this time his employees to a wonderful result. I loved not only Jerry, but his friends, Peter and Leonard, a couple who have taken Jerry into their hearts. Through their interactions with Jerry, we actually learn more about Jerry’s past, his grandfather and his current situation.

John Black Raven, a terrific character on his own, is also used to inform the reader about the plight of Native Americans, not only with regard to the deplorable situation with their children and Child Services, but with the bigotry and racism that is evident not only in South Dakota but elsewhere in the United States. That is a heavy weight to put on one character but John Black Raven, as written by Andrew Grey, is certainly up to the task.

Finally, there is Bryce Morgan, the other man Jerry employes. Bryce is a character easy to connect with, so I was thrilled to hear that the sequel to The Good Fight, moves Bryce up from a secondary character to a main one. It is a position he deserves.

If I have any issues with this book, it is that I wished for more resolution for the problems with SD Child Services than what occurs at the end of the book. I am just not sure I should lay that at Andrew Grey’s doorstep. While he did resolve the case of John’s niece and nephew, the problems of disappearing children, well over 700, have yet to be put to rights in almost every way. So that frustration lingered after the book was over and maybe that is as it should be. Like a burr too close to the skin, a little irritation can move people to action, even if only to sign a petition. So pick up The Good Fight, you get a wonderful, heartwarming story along with a shocking tale of modern injustice that needs to move into the media mainstream. And there is a sequel to be read next, The Fight Within. I can’t wait. But start here first and check back with me on the latter. Again kudos to Andrew Grey, for a remarkable story that is big enough to encompass a love affair while shedding light on the ongoing plight of Native Americans out west. It does justice to both.

Cover art by Anne Cain. While I loved that Native American man in the background, the character in front is not my idea of Jerry Lincoln, a misstep in an otherwise gorgeous cover.

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