BOYS OF THE ZODIAC: CANCER: PENNY CANDLES

Title: Boys of the Zodiac: Cancer: Penny Candles
Author: Vivien Dean
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: Gay / Futuristic / Interracial
Length: Novel, 223 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A guest review by StaceyR
 

Summary Review
A futuristic novel with a gentle pace and the tightly-bound plot of a cozy mystery.

BLURB
Two men separated by chance must build their futures, without letting the past destroy them…

In the year 2184, the U.S. is divided. Half the country has moved on with the rest of the world, while in middle America, the survivors of the terrorist biological attack that split the country struggle just to stay alive. Though a century has passed, few people brave going behind the borders meant to contain the danger. Even the privatized military is reluctant to do so.

But that doesn’t stop recently discharged Sullivan Eberle. Only one thing drives him anymore—the need to find Raphael Hamada. He doesn’t know why; he only knows he must. If that means a lifetime behind the borders, then so be it.
Rafe Hamada ran away from the real world when he was still a kid. The last thing he wants is to be found, especially by a soldier who can’t even tell him why it was so important to locate him in the first place. He’d like nothing more than for Sullivan to leave, but turning his back on a man alone and friendless is against everything Rafe stands for…

REVIEW
Sullivan walks away from his military life inside the sterile borders of a new America, and into the abandoned wastelands the government left behind to find a stranger he’s never met, guided only by a handwritten name on a piece of paper and whispered intuitions from his war-damaged mind. He’s shunned and feared by the citizens he meets along the desolate roads, no one daring to approach a man wearing the uniform of a Strike soldier–until he’s found sleeping in a ditch by two old men. When he reveals the name of the man he’s searching for, they take him to a diner in a small town, bringing him face-to-face with the young, handsome namesake he’s been seeking.

Raphael Hamada doesn’t know what to think of the tattered Strike soldier standing in his diner. He knows he should fear him. Has Strike found him and his mother? Sullivan represents an agency Rafe has been hiding from for over ten years. Despite his initial fear, he’s instantly drawn to Sullivan’s vulnerable state. He can’t deny the stark honesty and confusion he sees in the soldier’s eyes, or his strange politeness, strong build and chiseled features—everything he’s always dreamed of having in a lover. Since Sullivan has nowhere to go, Rafe takes him home.

They discover neither has the answers to the others initial questions, but hopefully time will help them figure something out—so Rafe works his diner, Sullivan finds odd jobs and they begin to explore their mutual attraction. Sullivan joins Rafe during his nightly ritual at the local church of lighting penny candles and praying for the living and the dead. Sullivan finds an inner peace he hadn’t known he’d been seeking. He may not know what has bought him to Rafe, but he’s determined to find his place in this town, and in Rafe’s life.

Sullivan manages to win over some fun secondary characters, but most of the locals, as well as Rafe’s mother, don’t share Rafe’s faith in the ex-Strike soldier. The military has never ventured into the outlands, lands that had been contaminated by bio-warfare and anyone deemed unclean left behind to fend for themselves. The people fear Sullivan has been sent by officials or will draw military attention they don’t want. How can they trust a man who spent most his life as a soldier, bred and trained to fight and kill without question or mercy? When locals lash out, Rafe is quick to defend Sullivan, a man who’s quickly filling the void in his life. When words spreads that more Strike soldiers are in the area and Sullivan finally discovers Rafe’s connection to Strike, he vows to give his life to protect the man he loves.

I have to admit the slow pacing and stingy delivery of details involving the new world surrounding this small community and the government’s connection made this a tough read for me, resulting in my stingy rating. The beginning of the book raises a whirl of questions and very few answers work their way to the surface in the first half of the story while the characters seem content to say “we’ll talk about that later”, and simply get on with their day-to-day. All the hints of a deep plot kept me turning pages, anticipating climactic events that would explain what the heck was going on; why was Sullivan sent to find Rafe, is Rafe really in danger from Strike, who wrote his name on that piece of paper, what is Rafe really hiding from, why won’t they just talk about it!?  Climactic is not a word I’d use to describe this book.  The intimate scenes between Rafe and Sullivan were beautifully drawn, tying into their emotions, their chemistry with one another instantaneous, but with so much unknown hanging over their heads, for me, the romance thread felt like a distraction while I waited for clues about both their pasts to surface and shed some light on their future. I felt completely in the dark about the whole direction of the story until page 151 when some key facts about the new government and Strike’s role in it is finally revealed.

Sullivan’s character really encompassed my personal hang up with this book. He admits to being a ruthless, cutthroat soldier during his twelve years in Strike, and yet for the entire book he is the epitome of gentle, soft-spoken politeness with no trace of aggression. He suffered a head injury, wiping out part of his memory, and he shies away from remembering a violent past he wants to put behind him, giving the reader very little insight to the hardened warrior he says he was conditioned to become. Head trauma can certainly alter ones personality, but I still found it hard to believe a man who’d been bred and trained for violence could awake completely devoid of those characteristics. Perhaps I harbor too much bloodlust  😉

I will say, by the end of the story Ms. Dean has built a tightly drawn futuristic world. In a sense, I felt like this story was really only beginning when it reached the end, and what happened next would likely have held my interest better than the whole waiting-for-clues to get the reader to that point.  But that’s just my thoughts—I’m a fan of Vivian Dean and look forward to her next book. Those who enjoy the slow unravel of a mystery amid a warm and touching romance will likely enjoy this one.