4.5 out of 5 stars
E-book. 34 pages. Published March 11th 2017 by JMS Books LLC (first published February 24th 2010)
Blurb:
How do you know if you’re one of the damned?
As a child, Don wanted to become a priest. Now a grown man mostly at ease with being gay, he’s left the Catholic Church and has chosen instead to help people through his work as a parole officer.
His strong faith is shaken when his latest assignment turns out to be Michael, a young man Don hasn’t seen since he took Michael to church as a child – and saw his parish priest cast Michael out of the church as a demon.
Meeting him as an adult re-ignites the obsession Don had with the boy he couldn’t save. But can Michael be saved at all? Or is the strangely compelling demon with a taste for risky sex as damned as he believes himself to be?
Likes:
- Thought provoking.
- Religion presented in both a positive and negative light.
- Interesting premise.
- BDSM not being treated like a bad thing.
Dislikes:
- Wanted more depth to the characters.
- Don wasn’t exactly likeable.
- More questions than answers.
I enjoy short stories, despite knowing that I will most likely be left wanting more. But a good short story can leave me thinking about it for days afterwards. This is that kind of story.
I was curious about the premise of the book, and that it clearly had a heavy dose of religion at its core. I’ve read books by J.L. Merrow before, and trusted that the story wouldn’t feel preachy or sanctimonious. In fact, the story does a good job of showing a range of religious people, from the broadminded to those with a much narrower view of what is right and good.
The premise itself is interesting and unique. Is Michael really a demon? And if he is, does that mean he’s evil by nature? Or can there be good in him? They’re questions both Don and Michael struggle with. And in a way, it’s also left up to the reader to answer themselves.
This story had many more questions than answers, both for the characters and the reader. That makes it thought provoking, which I liked. But is also a little frustrating. Because many of the questions are ones that people have been struggling with for millennia. Which means there are no definite answers.
I do wish Don had been a little more likeable. He was flawed, confused, and searching for answers. The perfect example of a human muddling through life, which I think was the point. And he was, overall, a good man. I especially liked that he did research on BDSM instead of assuming it was horrible. Still, I didn’t really relate to him as a main character.
In fact, I think there could have been a little more depth to both men. I know it’s a short story and there’s limited page space, but both Michael and Don were almost caricatures. Both only really showing one side of humanity. Not to mention that Michael’s questions about his birth were brought up once and then ignored completely.
I’m glad I read this story. It’s a nice change of pace from the standard kind of romance novels I’ve been reading lately. And, at the end, I think it’s a good length. A brief glimpse into the struggles humans have when thinking about things bigger than themselves.
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