Review: A great sequal to "Talker"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 31, 2011
Amy Lane is a gifted writer, and in this tale, she closes some loose ends left in the previous novel, "Talker", and furthers the character of Tate. It's not a full-length novel, but is longer than a short-story and absolutely well-worth your time if you've read and enjoyed "Talker"."Talker" was a story of Brian's love for Tate ("Talker"). It was told from Brian's perspective. Brian's a bit of a subdued college student who was raised by his hippy aunt after his parents were killed. It's in college he meets Tate and instantly takes to his new friend. Tate is a heavily tattooed and punked out man who rambles incessantly about any topic whatsoever. The tattoos were designed by him to cover a heavily-scarred body as a result of a fire when he was an infant and his alcoholic parents got careless with whiskey and booze. He's a young man with a whole bunch of emotional problems, and Brian is his rock. After a disastrous date that left him withdrawn and engaging in self-destructive behavior, Brian finally gets him to realize that he loves him and they become true lovers.In "Talker's Redemption", the point of view is from Tate. Brian is a secondary character here and we get to look inside Tate's head. It's tragic what this man has endured. With a propensity to jerk and shake when overwhelmed with emotions, Tate finds himself unable to completely open up about the disastrous date he had in the last book. When the events of that come back to bite them and leave Brian in the hospital, Tate realizes he must confront that night for Brian's sake. And he needs to do it without Brian, without his rock and shield.It's an emotional and fascinating character portrayal that sears the character of Talker into your brain. He has easily become one of my favorite characters I've ever read. If you enjoyed "Talker" even the slightest bit, then you have to read this one. It's excellent!