Review: Action & Romance in a Vivid Urban Sci-fi World
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 7, 2013
I said it in a tweet and I will say it on my blog. Adrienne Wilder writes the BEST story-driven M/M romance I've had the pleasure (heh) of reading. Hands down."It was official; Chase Sarim’s week couldn’t get any worse."This book opened with Chase Sarim's awful day, couple of days, really...or more like the bad week that kept on getting worse. And from that point on, Chase and I were in it together. I was just hooked on him and his ordeal was totally mine to share. Chase was so real to me. He struggled with losing his job, his condo, his reputation (as he was accused of plagiarism). And then the best place he could find while in a bind was this ratty old apartment where one neighbor had yellow caution tape instead of a door and the other neighbor wore an aluminum hat, walked around with a cactus, and was named after a number, Seven.But as weird as his new neighbor was and as much as he tried to stay away from him, there was just something about Seven that pulled Chase toward him."Forget the rabbit hole, Chase had drunk the bottle of mystery potion, eaten the cookies, and smoked one with the caterpillar."Seven...he was a little bit broken from all that he'd suffered and he was always looking over his shoulder. He couldn't trust anyone and certainly couldn't love, because that's a liability. But he, too, felt this strange pull towards Chase."Seven leaned into the contact like a once-loved pet starved for attention."And there were all these weird things that started to happen - weird even for Seven...Spock ears guy with aluminum hats...that put them on a path toward more weird events. (Vague much? Sorry, I don't want to spoil anything.) Some very scary. Some very hot. Some heartbreaking and soul-wrenching.And some that left me with an everlasting fear of opening the milk container..."The plastic jug burped air and regurgitated a mass of white clumps with the last bit of milk into the drain."Seven (the book, not the dude) had some really well placed humorous moments and I loved how they helped ease some very tense moments. The plot had twists and turns that shocked the crap out of me. I do not kid when I say that my notes to Adrienne included "This is where I said HOLY EFFING CRAP!!!" And while I felt the horror of some of scarier parts of the story, they were balanced so well with the lighter things - humor, HOT sex, love, hope. And HOT sex - repetition for emphasis."...true strength wasn’t proven by the ability to destroy but the capacity to love."There was so much to this story. There were other characters that were fascinating - Nine, Thirteen, Twenty Three, Three and Four. They all stayed with me after I closed the book. And there was lots of food for thought (see quote above).Obviously, I loved it. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good story and wants to be kept on the edge of their seat. Who wants to be titillated, to experience love, heartbreak, hope, and come out of it entranced with all the characters that will stay with you long after you read the last word of the last chapter.