A very good collection of poetry.  Deals with race and city life.

No surprises: two friends who know nothing about one another's fields spend a year learning and then appreciating their two fields, and the reader learns alongside. There's no drama,  just a slowly developing knowledge and discernment. Because it is a story about middle-aged white French men primarily, it can be hard to grasp the references. It was good, but I remained at a distance and never really felt any emotional attachment.

Library copy 

The final book in this trilogy is much like the first two. First of all, this is not a romance, so if that's what you're expecting, you'd be disappointed. It's more gay fiction (which is fine with me), with two men living and loving, raising a young boy (Chris' much younger brother Ted), and figuring out how to help him move on after years of abuse.

I read this because after books 1 and 2, I wanted to find out how Chris and Mickey put the old man in jail for what he's done, and move on with their lives, and how Chris' upcoming operation was going to go. His struggle with cancer, the colostomy bag, and finding out about a possible procedure to restore his rectum was what kept me most interested in this series.

The writing is just as dry and unimaginative as before, and I'm probably not going to pick up another book by this author. His writing style is not for me. It's superficial, for the most part, telling the characters story without evoking any real emotion, and also not letting the characters emote a whole lot. The characters feel detached from their own story, which then also makes the reader feel detached from the characters. While I didn't care that any intimate situations took place off page, this may deter others. I had no issue with the MC's relationship - they were an open, honest couple who loved each other, and that much came across. Very supportive of each other, and fully invested in the relationship, but the lack of actual emotions in the writing made me struggle with all three books.

I may be more stubborn than most in wanting to complete this trilogy, so I did. And now I'm done.


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **

Non è difficile soggiogare un popolo. Basta inebetirlo, dividerlo e farlo litigare. Basta buttargli quattro denari facendogli credere che si tratti d’un atto generoso e non s’accorga che invece si spaccia come “dono” una parte dei beni di cui è stato derubato. Dopodiché milioni di uomini inneggeranno al signore e si ritroveranno volontariamente sottomessi a un loro simile solo un po’ più scaltro e disumano.

Infine, si mettano quattro o cinque persone a sostegno del tiranno e il gioco è fatto.

Ma allo stesso modo non è difficile sconfiggere il tiranno. Non c’è nemmeno bisogno di combatterlo. Egli verrà meno da solo nel momento in cui il popolo non accetterà più di servirlo. Non occorrerà togliergli qualcosa, basterà non attribuirgli nulla.

Il semplice rifiuto alla sottomissione è di per sé un atto di liberazione.

"Costui che spadroneggia su di voi non ha che due occhi, due mani, un corpo e niente di più di quanto possiede l'ultimo abitante di tutte le vostre città. Ciò che ha in più è la libertà di mano che gli lasciate nel fare oppressione su di voi fino ad annientarvi. Da dove ha potuto prendere tanti occhi per spiarvi se non glieli avete prestati voi? Come può avere tante mani per prendervi se non è da voi che le ha ricevute? E i piedi coi quali calpesta le vostre città non sono forse i vostri? Come fa ad avere potere su di voi senza che voi stessi vi prestiate al gioco? E come oserebbe balzarvi addosso se non fosse già d'accordo con voi? Che male potrebbe farvi se non foste complici del brigante che vi deruba, dell'assassino che vi uccide, se insomma non foste traditori di voi stessi?..."

Questo scritto non è un appello alla rivolta, ma la semplice constatazione di come si può arrivare alla condizione di sudditanza. È un invito alla riflessione sulle due figure, quella del servo e quella del tiranno. Poche pagine per far capire che il rifiuto del primo sconfiggerebbe la prepotenza del secondo.

E dire che lo scrisse intorno alla metà del '500.

Well, Book 3 finally clicked with me. I am now used to the writing style this author has, and this book worked. This is not a romance novel, and I didn't expect one going in. The genre is more gay fiction than M/M romance, so keep that in mind. 

Chris and Mick are still together, living in Avondale, with Chris' little brother whom he adopted, and the book opens with Chris being released from the hospital (where book 2 ended) after his surgery to fix his, well, bottom. If you've read Bottoms Up or Bottoms Out, you'll remember that Chris had his rectum removed in the first and struggled with the consequences of it for most of the second. 

The story continues here seamlessly, as we find out more about Chris' road to recovery, Ted's continuing visits to the child psychologist and the efforts Chris sets in motion to bring those men to justice, as well as their daily life as a family, with their friends and work and all the things that happen.

The narrative is still on the dry side, and the dialogue still feels a little stilted, but as I said above, I've gotten to the point where I expected it, and no longer let it distract me from following these men's story. 

As far as the plot goes, it flowed easily and believably, and while the author still on occasion makes Jacksonville sound more awesome than it is, I could see that he must remember it fondly from his time living here. Specific locations are accurately described, though I must again slightly object to calling JTB "Turner Butler" Blvd. - I have never heard it referred to that way. 

Again, this is not a romance novel, and as such, any bedroom action takes place off page. It's mentioned, but only in the narrative and with suggestive dialogue, however there is no description of any sexy times in this book. While the men certainly engage in sexual contact, we do not get to participate by reading about it. Which didn't bother me at all, but might other readers.

What continues to bother me about this series is the lack of depth and lack of emotions in the writing which is sometimes difficult to take, especially when it came to such issues as child abuse, general unfairness and the very serious issue of Chris' surgery aftermath. I'm also still having a hard time believing (without proof of any kind) that a Catholic hospital such as St. Vincent would employ an openly gay man. This is just my perception, though, so don't put too much stock in that.

The ending also comes a little too abruptly, and I do hope that there will be another book coming at some point, since the story didn't feel finished. Perhaps I still expected to see a real HEA, romance reader that I am. I liked both Chris and Mickey quite a bit, and I liked that we got to see Mickey getting at least a good chunk of his family back. The road trip to Savannah was also nice, though I found the side plot with Paula Deen a bit hard to believe. 

** I received a free ARC from the publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **