Title: Check Point
Author: Kit Zheng
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: Contemporary M/M
Length: A Sip
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Evren Ertegun has not been having a good time over the last couple of days. First, his lover of six years dumps him after a public humiliation and now, even his bid to escape from it all to places unknown is not working out as planned since his numerous piercings that were done at the urging of his ex-boyfriend have set off the metal detectors at the airport. He is taken to a sterile private room by Security Officer Regan who it appears is honour bound to perform additional screening on his body from top to toe, maybe even an intensive cavity search, to find out what he might be hiding. Evren’s embarrassment is complete when Officer Regan informs him that he recognized him and witnessed the fiasco of his being dumped by the ex.
The author, Kit Zheng does a pretty good portrayal of Evren who is good-looking, has dimples in all the right places, is obviously down about the breakup but he has a great deal of personal charisma that he uses to his advantage. When Evren realizes that the day might not be a total write-off as he and Officer Regan seem to have a few things in common he really turns up the charm. On the other hand, in my opinion Officer Regan’s character stood out and stole the show; he wielded his professional authority sternly and with a great deal of clout as he made his intentions clear without the need for a whole lot of verbal communication. The sex, when it does happen, is so … umm … impressive that the gloves don’t come off but Officer Regan sure does as he enjoys the piercings to the fullest extent possible!
The writing in Check Point is fresh and scintillating and Kit Zheng demonstrates great imagination in this short story by injecting a full range of human emotions from humiliation to humour to ultimately a form of sexual healing for Evren. There are surprises that made me laugh out loud in several places but you need to experience them for yourself and I won’t spoil the fun even though I’m sorely tempted. Obviously there is not much room for character and plot development given the format, but the author uses skill and creativity to craft a story that has all the elements which made Check Point an enjoyable and fun read. I highly recommend that you buy this book.
