Review: A Most Complete and Convincing Book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 27, 2014
This is a gay love story. This is a sports story. This is a “how-to” (or “not to”, as the case may be) manual for parents who create the mold for their children that later becomes the shape of their character as an adult. This is a story with so very many messages about love, life and human nature. And thankfully, the author does not make a point about any of this by bashing us over the head, repeatedly rehashing the point ad infinitum; instead he acknowledges the intelligence of his readers to understand the message and move on to the next phase of the story.The writing is strong and masterful – the story moves along at a steady pace with no extraneous words or scenes to bog down the flow. The characters of Roger and Brian are skillfully drawn, providing a firm basis and reason for their emotions, actions and reactions throughout their life journeys. The highs of the story brought me great delight while the lows were so very hurtful, I literally had to stop reading at times to regain an emotional balance. By the time I finished this book, I was literally shaking with excitement – it was that convincing of a story and one that I will re-read many times in the future.This is my first book by Brad Vance and right now, I hesitate to read more of his work because it is difficult to imagine that he can surpass the excellence of "Given the Circumstances" – anything of lesser quality and intensity would be heartbreaking. So I will let some time pass to restore my equanimity but will definitely be reading more of his stories in the future.