Bastards and Pretty Boys by K.Z. Snow
It’s not much the story that made an interesting reading of Bastards and Pretty Boys for me, but the characters. First of all, there is a countercurrent development of them, the pretty boy is the bastard and the stronger man in the relationship, and the hunky man is the one needing protection.
Charles has just bought a cottage on the lake and he wants to spend a week alone and relaxing. I think Charles has his life a bit too full: a divorce and an ex-wife that wants still to lead his life, even if with good intentions (it happens when your ex-wife is a cop) and a relationship that it’s not going in the direction Charles hoped. Truth be told, Charles is not exactly a perfect man who is suffering from the mistakes of other people, I didn’t always like his attitude: for example with his lover’s son, a kid who is suffering for the divorce of his parents, and also for the new relationship of his father with Charles, something he doesn’t understand since no one cared to explain the situation to him. Charles is not sympathetic, I even felt like he was annoyed.
Both Charles than Kenneth have not an easy relationship with themselves. Charles is still not at ease with being gay, and he almost resents the fact to be too pretty, like it’s a “gay” birthmark; he thinks that Carolyn, his ex-wife, even if she has accepted the reason of their divorce, still doesn’t like for him to be “too” gay, but I think he is reflecting his own perception of the situation: it’s Charles himself that doesn’t want to be labelled “gay” and for this reason he is all right with a relationship with Kenneth, since Kenneth doesn’t seem gay… Being with him, Charles can’t pretend that he is not so gay.
Same reason why he is attracted by Booker, his neighbour: Booker doesn’t seem gay, at first Charles thinks he is straight, but despite this, he is nevertheless attracted by him. When he discovers that Booker is gay, it’s even better: not only Booker doesn’t look gay, he is mainly a bottom in bed, so that Charles is even more reassured in his masculinity. Booker seems really the perfect man, and even his past experience in prison (for marijuana detention) is not something too bothering to Charles’ eyes.
Truth be told, I would have been satisfied with the story like that, the crime subplot regarding Booker and his stalker felt a bit estranged, like something the author needed to add to wrap up the story. It was not bad, even if the unexpected connection between Booker and Charles was a bit too pulled, but in the end it was not what remained of the book in my mind. Probably what was more particular, and interesting, was the atmosphere of the book, there was a stilling sensation, something I associated with the lake and the place; the setting was not an hustle and bustle holiday location, it was more like sleeper little town. Actually the whole neighbouring thing with Charles spying Booker and Booker suddenly appearing, was even a little creepy; in the end the story is more simple than what the growing expectations made you believe, but that was exactly what made the story interesting and original.
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Amazon Kindle: Bastards And Pretty Boys
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