Review: Charming and refreshing!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2014
Not to sound like a broken record (o.k., I guess I'll have to) I follow Thorny's blog and have periodically watched the evolution of this book and how the author felt about it as he worked on it.  That's kind of a privileged position to be in, and the author's generosity in sharing this with his fans was refreshing.  It's a debut novel, and I wanted to give it a fair reading.  I was more than pleasantly surprised; Thorny's voice is fresh, authentic and unique, his characters fully-fleshed out and very appealing.  His writing eschewed cliches, but was appropriately descriptive and evocative of the setting.  His main character, Allan, was so entertaining and just a "regular guy" who happened to be a model and actor and who has found himself in a frightening yet exhilarating situation.  His delight in wearing what some might call 'feminine' underwear was real and unapologetic--no shame here--in fact, it's quite appealing and to be celebrated.  This is what society needs, I think, authors who present their characters just as they are without any smirking on the one hand and shock and horror on the other from other characters.I won't rehash the plot--other reviewers have given wonderful depictions, but I want to say, finally, that this book comes from a thoughtful, intelligent mind and soul who cares about his characters and his readers and who has worked hard to create a really enjoyable and thought-provoking story--and there's a lot to enjoy and think about in this book; it's a love story not only of Duke and Al, but of Thorny for his philosophy and craft and it really shows in Splinters.