Books, Reviews
Cheri Rosenberg, one of our most prolific book and film reviewers, takes on two distinctly different books in this issue...
Lori L. Lake's Gun Shy and on Page 9 an anthology, The Milk of Human Kindness
Mark Roeder, the best-selling writer of the Gay Youth
Chronicles, reviews E. Layne Kelly's Runaway:
A Survivor (and who better to conduct such a review of runaway
youth than Mark Roeder. Visit his website
for a list of his books—especially Keeper
of Secrets. Gun Shy by Lori L. Lake Paperback 396 pages $18.95 Renaissance Alliance Publishing ISBN: 1930928432 Review by Cheri Rosenberg St. Paul police officer, Desiree “Dez” Reilly, is a veteran cop extraordinaire in Lori L. Lake’s police action/drama, Gun Shy. This reticent Amazon beauty with long black hair, smooth ivory skin, electric blue eyes, and a muscular build is an adept daredevil at police work, but she is extremely cautious (gun shy) when it comes to matters of the heart. While Dez is on the job, she rescues and meets a “whirling bundle of energy,” Jaylynn “Jay” Savage, a sharp pre-law student. Jaylynn could not be more different from Dez in stature, appearance, and personality. Jay is a talkative, vivacious, shorthaired, curvaceous blonde, who wears her heart on her sleeve. Dez is in complete control of her emotions…most of the time. Jaylynn falls in love with the tall, mysterious cop, her “hero,” at first sight. Carefully guarding her emotions, Dez is very wary of who she trusts. Estranged from her mother, her father gone, her mentor avoiding her since he found out she was gay, and feeling like a loser at love, she keeps her distance from others to protect herself from further pain and sorrow. She has also been living with a thick black cloud over her head because of a shooting that left her partner and close friend, Ryan Michaelson, a married father of two young children, dead. Dez deals with his death the only way she knows how—by shutting down her emotions and refusing psychological treatment. The department can make her see a shrink, but they can’t make her accept help. After assisting an officer apprehend the men who broke into her house, and meeting the woman of her dreams, Jaylynn decides to apply for the Police Academy rather than go to law school as planned. She feels she can always go back to it after she sees what police work is all about. The rookie excels at the academy and lands a rotation with the veteran cop, who actually requests to be Jaylynn’s Field Training Officer. The two women ride together as teacher/student and work extremely well together. They form a friendship in the process, but much to Dez’s chagrin, Jaylynn wants more than a working relationship. Jay feels that she has finally found her soul mate even though Dez can be a moody, tough nut to crack. Meanwhile, Dez, scared to death of commitment, pushes the rookie away. Everyone who knows the two, from Luella Williams, Dez’s landlady, cook, uniform washer, and surrogate mother, to Jaylynn’s best friend and housemate, Sara, can tell there is electricity in the air when the two are together. Gun Shy is an exciting look at police work through the eyes of police officers who happen to be lesbians. Lori L. Lake has set a fine precedent with her endearing, witty, action packed story that has plenty of police activity, longing, and romance. It brings to mind one of my favorite TV shows, Cagney and Lacey, a classic 1980’s hit about two straight female cops. Gun Shy would be a great model for a contemporary version—two female officers, Reilly and Savage, who not only fight crime, but also have the hots for each other. Before reading Gun Shy, Ricochet in Time was my favorite book by Lori L. Lake. Her heroines are real, believable, and interesting. What I like most about Lake’s writing is that I identify with the characters, even though I lead a different lifestyle. She uses phrases and expressions that I use in daily life. Curling up in bed with a Lake novel is like pulling an all-nighter…laughing, sharing, and gabbing with an old friend. Lake has a way of making the reader fall in love with her characters. The reader longs for Dez and Jay to become lovers. I also like how Lake uses the contrary features of her characters to emphasize a point. For example, the dichotomy of Dez: she has white skin and black hair; she is a lion on the outside, and a lamb on the inside; she often comes across as cold hearted on the outside, but she’s a warm toasty marshmallow on the inside. Dez is the epitome of the tough cop when she informs Jaylynn that cops don’t cry. Jaylynn teaches her that sometimes cops need to cry in order to heal, and that it’s okay. Luella is another great character who is funny, sassy, and provides Dez with more than an affordable place to live—she looks out for her, and treats her like a daughter. She can also whip up a complete hot meal in twenty minutes. Luella is Lake’s idea of a “fantasy woman—my own personal chef.” If I had a landlady, I’d want her to be just like Luella. Dez reciprocates by doing yard work and repairs around the house, but more ironically, by allowing the older woman to boss her around when usually Dez only takes orders from senior officers. Dez keeps her heart under lock and key, but not with Luella. You can’t help but love the reserved cop, especially when you’re privy to her vulnerable side. I’m straight and I fell in love with Dez so I can certainly understand why Jaylynn feels the way she does. Will Dez unlock her heart for Jay? You’ll have to read this book to find out. To say that I enjoyed Gun Shy is an understatement; I loved it. Lori Lake has repeatedly proven herself to be a noteworthy writer. I feel she will soon find herself in the mainstream market. Currently, she is working on a third book in the Gun series, Have Gun We’ll Travel, plus a series of non-gay themed mystery novels. Under the Gun is the sequel to Gun Shy, and I recommend not missing either one. With an unlimited supply of ideas for novels floating around in her head, Lake’s fans will have plenty to read for years to come. |
 Review of
Runaway: A SurvivorBy E. Layne Kelly Paperback 382 pages $14.99 IndieArtz,inc. (April 13, 2004) ISBN: 0975325205 The idea of a teenaged boy selling his body on the streets to survive isn’t a pretty one, but it holds a certain fascination none-the-less. Johnny lives in a world that most of us, thank God, don’t inhabit, but it’s a world that is a part of our own. At times it seems as alien as something out of Star Trek, and yet it’s a world that isn’t fictional at all. It’s all too real and Runaway brings that point home in no uncertain terms. E. Layne Kelly has provided all of us with a unique opportunity to walk a mile in another’s shoes. The sights, sounds, emotions, and even the scents of Johnny’s life are put before us. Reading Runaway, I found myself sharing Johnny’s experience—the hunger, the pain, the fear, and the uncertainty of life without a place to call home. It’s disturbing to think that anyone must live a life so harsh, much less a young boy. What’s more frightening still is that any of us could have been Johnny. As I read about him, I often found myself thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I.” Runaway makes one thankful for what one has, whatever that might be. Nothing seems quite so bad as what Johnny experiences. Throughout it all, Johnny doesn’t lose hope. He concentrates on what he does have, rather than what he doesn’t. Most of us would give up if we found ourselves in his situation, but he struggles on, snatching at the threads of a normal life that are dangled before him. I found it especially touching when Johnny began to study pre-calculus in the public library, and picked up where he’d left off reading David Copperfield at school. Few boys would have nostalgic, yearning thoughts about homework, and yet for Johnny that faint connection to the life he once led is a glimmer of hope that someday his life will be better. Johnny is surrounded by those intent on preying on him, and yet there are others who show the kind, giving nature of the human soul. Boys like Johnny are a test for the rest of us. When happening upon such a lost soul do we take advantage, stretch out a helping hand, or simply pretend we do not see? Many of us become numb to the suffering around us because it’s simply too painful to let ourselves feel it. Johnny is a reminder that we cannot allow ourselves to do so. At the beginning of her book, E. Layne Kelly quotes Albert Einstein, “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Those words couldn’t be truer, and Runaway makes us feel them. Runaway gave me a better appreciation for my own life. I think we all get lost in our own troubles, but taking a glance at those of another puts it all in perspective. After reading about Johnny’s life, I realized I have no room for complaint. My problems are mere ghosts compared to his. I can guarantee that each reader will gain a new perspective from reading Runaway. For this reason alone it’s a must for every bookshelf. Runaway is an exciting read, a page-turner that leaves one wondering what will happen next, and hoping all will work out for Johnny in the end. Walking through the pages, one wants to go out, find Johnny, and give him the better life he dreams about. It makes one yearn to give all homeless kids like him a home. It’s a reminder that our work will never be done until there are no more Johnny’s out there, and everyone has come in from the cold. Runaway has a spiritual side that I wasn’t expecting. Spiritual matters are only touched up lightly at the beginning and end, but they give the story an uplifting feel that helps to counter the true to life horrors of being a runaway teen. Runaway is a novel that all, gay and straight, can benefit from reading. I found the story informative and entertaining. I felt a tug at my heart when I’d read the last page. I didn’t want to part from Johnny. When a book leaves me feeling that way, I know it’s touched me. The author has included some frightening statistics at the end of the book, and some useful resource information. Everyone should carry the phone numbers provided with them, in case one happens upon a Johnny of their own. |