Review: Heartwarming, satisfying, excellent book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2014
Reading an Andrew Grey story is always heartwarming, educational, and a true pleasure. Love Means… Patience is the story of two men who are trying to overcome PTSD and rejoin their formerly happy lives. Cody is a Marine hero who was dishonorably discharged when he and his gay lover were outed. To make matters worse, his Marine lover was killed in action. When he was booted out of the family he loved, his Marine Corps, he had no support system to help him with the effects of PTSD and he spent several years wandering, thinking he was on missions of war.Also dishonorably discharged under DADT, Marine veteran Brick has worked his own way through PTSD and the resulting alcoholism to living a quiet life on his farm in Michigan. When Cody breaks into Brick’s neighbor’s  home to steal food because he is starving, he is caught by the most loving people anyone could hope to find in their lives: Eli and Geoff. They turn to Brick to find a place where Cody can try to put his life back together.Much of the book is repetitive, but that is where the “patience” in the title comes from. Recovering from PTSD is not a quick fix. It can take years to learn to cope with the flashbacks and fear. Brick works to keep Cody grounded in the present and in doing so continues his own work to overcome PTSD. Gradually the two men find hope together.During his time of wandering on his “missions” in Michigan Cody may have witnessed a murder. The true horror of this for Cody is trying to sort reality from his PTSD induced fantasy. It takes a community to discover the truth and protect Cody from terrors that have nothing to do with his service or the aftereffects of PTSD.I learned a great deal in reading this book about the trauma of PTSD, the effects of DADT on heroic men, and even how a farm operates in the frigid winters of Michigan. Andrew Grey always does his research and prepares a story that is spell-binding as well as affirming. This is why he is an auto-buy for me and will continue to be so until he decides to stop writing. He will publish his 100th book in 2015 so luckily for all of his fans, he isn’t even slowing down in his writing. I can hardly wait to see what comes next from his imagination and story-telling skills.