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Perfect Trust & Perfect Hope by S. Hardy Brondos |
Review by Meg
Difficult to put down, this book has many interesting aspects as a thriller. Unlike most books in the genre, the protagonists are forced to resolve the problem with the aid of the supernatural, a twist seen occasionally these days by such experienced writers as Faye Kellerman. Indeed, many ancestral archetypes from cultures including Lakota, Haitian, West African and Swedish, are called upon to assist the two heroes in their quest to end an evil influence on a Southern offshore island.
The two main characters are Daniel and Jason, both undercover operatives working for an agency on the order of the CIA. Previously they have worked alone, but now have been brought together by the organization to end a drug ring which uses dark magic to control it's victims. Over the course of the investigation, they fall in love which adds sexual tension to the plot. For thrillers, mysteries, and sci-fi, the trick is to add the sex without sacrificing suspense and story line. This is difficult to do, because the reader can lose the thread of the action and sometimes become impatient with the sex scenes if they interrupt too often, no matter how titillating. Or, the reader skips the plot sections looking for more sex and misses out on the story completely. This writer found a nice balance, even sacrificing one sex scene, Daniel's first penetration of Jason, to keep the story going.
Probably the reasons the balance is maintained are, first, because the characters are new to one another and the reader is curious to see how they will each react to their newly discovered feelings and to their adjustment to homosexuality. Although from very different backgrounds, neither Daniel nor Jason know that they are gay before the book begins. This begs credibility, but can be attributed to their strong family heterosexual inclinations and their military training and expectations. Just how they will adjust to the world as gay men is not part of the book and may become an issue in later sequels. (HIV/AIDS is not an issue because the action takes place in 1980).
Second, the story line and sex scenes merge as Daniel and Jason intimate explorations are interrupted by the action keeping the reader's interest in both.
There are lots of interesting characters in this book that might have been more developed. Daniel with his Creole background and Jason with his Lakota/Swedish history make nice contrasts to one another. But some of the minor characters, like the Voodoo priestess, Celie, and the two elderly next door neighbors are also intriguing. (I love it when Celie puts the two Ken dolls in the box and places them on the car as a way to acknowledge the new relationship between the two men, even before they do). The Government bureaucrats are stereotypes and the bad guys and girl and are fairly one dimensional, and, of course, are soooo bad that they deserve their comupences at the end.
Comic book like in its emphasis on action over character development, the book is a fun, racy read with nice sexy parts interspersed between the bloodshed. I can see this as an action/adventure, Rambo-like film, or as a comic book series. It has a rugged, choppy style that suits those two media and the visual situations are very clear.
The sequel to Perfect Trust is another adventure with the two black ops who found each other in the first book and who have nearly a psychic understanding. This time they are separated when Jason is given an assignment that mysteriously leaves Daniel behind at their home in Washington. Daniel soon has troubles of his own and suddenly their problems are linked. The story travels between Daniel's home and cultural roots in New Orleans to Jason's stomping grounds in rural Minnesota and his partly Native American family.
As much as this is a mystery concerned with a terrorist/serial killer, it is also the development of the relationship and the interdependence of these two expert special forces soldiers who are also lovers. The story combines both action and romance very smoothly. Characters introduced in the first book, Jason's and Daniel's parents, are revealed and the mothers especially turn out to be two very strong, capable women. Nora, the military commander who directs the two ops, is another strong female character and the they sometimes struggle with her as she uses them to accomplish company strategies.
This was as good as the first book, but different in some ways. I think the action is smoother--and their is less explicit sex which I missed but understood too as the relationship moves even more beyond the initial physical attraction.
Find out more about this writer at Wayward Books.