The Cross Of Sins: Dare Empire eMedia Productions
The last hetero bastion has been breached! The gay action heroes have arrived, guns blazing, chests rippling, and yes, they get the guy in the end! Welcome, Fathom's Five. Story by Cameron Jewell.Love a good Matthew Reilly action adventure read but would prefer a gay hero for once? Well, the high-octane airport novel has finally got together with our favourite genre: gay."I love storytellers like Matthew Reilly and Dan Brown," says Sydney-based author Geoffrey Knight, "and I love a good page-turner." But for Knight there was always a piece of action missing - the man-on-man kind."I was so tired of heterosexual heroes with one eye on the treasure and the other eye on a busty blonde female scientist. I desperately wanted the object of lust to be another hunky hero, so I decided to write the kind of books that I wanted to read," he says."Straight or gay, I think most guys like action plots. But for me, as a gay man, other stories lack any sort of physical attraction or sexual dynamic between the characters that interests me."The result of Knight's endeavours is an action series called Fathom's Five, described as part Bond with lashings of The Da Vinci Code.The Cross of Sins, the first book of the Fathom's Five series has received so much interest that Knight has already completed the second instalment and is busy at work on a third. His inspiration comes from a childhood of James Bond films and "reading far too many comics and action-adventure novels.""I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark as a kid and it changed my life," he says. "When I started writing Fathom's Five, I also wanted to marry together my love of action with my love of travel. I think the world's an amazing place. There are so many incredible things to see and do, which provides endless plot devices."The Cross of Sins tells the tale of an ancient statue, which is considered blasphemous by a clandestine religious sect who plan to find it and destroy it at any cost. The clues to finding the statue are scattered across Europe. Enter Fathom's Five, a group of thrill-seeking gay men with the expertise to uncover the secrets and reveal one of religion's greatest mysteries.The soon-to-be famous five include Luca da Roma, an Italian model and expert in art, both ancient and modern; Dr Eden Santiago, Brazilian biologist, physician and genetic engineer; Shane Houston, a Texas cowboy and an expert in cartography; Will Hunter, a San Diego college student and football star, majoring in ancient history; and Jake Stone, an adventurer-for-hire from New York and the newest member of Professor Fathom's team of hot gay adventure seekers.If this scenario rings any bells maybe it's because it sounds an awful lot like VIP, the action series starring Pamela Anderson and her four foxy bodyguards. Or maybe it's Fox Force Five of Pulp Fiction fame? Or a gayer Charlie's Angels? Whatever the references, Fathom's Five is still a tent-full of camp fun, packed with action and sex, and while easy to file under "paperback trash", it's very entertaining and surpisingly well-written for the genre.Aside from the sex and camp, Knight feels it has a deeper significance. "It makes a statement about being gay and proud of it, and belonging to a strong, caring community," he says."As a gay man I think we've all got rights to stand up for and equality to fight for, and storytelling is a powerful thing. As a writer, if you've got something important to say, you don't necessarily need to make it dull or preachy. You can still have fun, keep it sexy, roll it up in a fast-paced plot and let what you want to say unravel through your characters and your story. Yes, Fathom's Five is something to read on a plane, but it's relevant as well as entertaining."At the end of the day, I simply wanted to create gay characters that gay men could cheer for, relate to and escape with in the thick of a page-turning adventure."Expect the Fathom's gang in Australia, too. Says Knight, "Australian guys are so damn hot, how could I not bring the boys Down Under for a little sex and adventure?" --DNA Magazine, May 2008--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.