Reviewed by Elizabetta
TITLE: Haven
AUTHOR: Lee Benoit
PUBLISHER: Torquere Press
LENGTH: 62 pages
BLURB:
Haven Tucker tore up his coal country roots so he could live his life as a gay man. Then he shut down his Leatherman lifestyle so he could pursue a medical career. Now the former Vietnam Army medic is working as an ER nurse in Boston where he’s about to meet his future.
Tadeo is an Argentine dancer on the wrong side of his country’s Dirty War who’s stranded Stateside with a brand-new baby. Official channels won’t help him keep his son with him and stay safe. Enter the singularly attractive Haven and his unique brand of problem-solving. The pair tries to keep their mutual attraction in check as evil forces mass on all sides to tear Tadeo and his son apart — and away from Haven.
Can Haven’s past ride to the rescue before Tadeo’s present destroys their future?
This novella originally appeared in Torquere’s Bedside Manner anthology.
REVIEW:
What a ride this is! A fast-paced mid-70‘s drama with a political edge, some erotic spice and a sweet romance sandwiched in. It’s north meets south when an American ex-Vietnam vet, now hospital ER nurse, falls for an Argentinian dancer on tour in the U.S
Well, that was enough to entice me to this short, short story. And how these two get together is a huge part of the story. (It’s why this review may seem a bit cryptic, I just don’t want to give the essence of it away.) It’s a unique set-up, a lot happens in the space of just sixty pages and it’s delivered with ease– I love the brisk, sharp prose.
When Haven Tucker first sees Tadeo Neyen performing onstage with his dance troupe he can’t forget the sexy dancer, can’t get the beautiful man out of his head.
“The male principal spins alone now, my mouth goes dry as the man’s dark red tights flash basket-ass-basket-ass in eye-watering, cock-hardening, heart-pounding repetition until I have to squirm just a little to readjust things down below.”
And Tadeo, as gifted as he is, is living his own private hell which is about to get even worse. Back home in Argentina, he’s on the wrong side of the powerful military Junta that’s taken over his country.
“We were still students, enraged by the Junta’s incursions and foolishly certain of our own immortality. We were invincible revolutionaries, like Che.”
The powers-that-be there don’t hold with Tadeo’s politics nor with him being gay, and they could very easily make him ‘disappeared’ upon his return. Things come to a head when tragedy hits Tadeo the night after Haven sees him perform on stage.
It’s such an unlikely confluence. These two men from completely different cultures, both of them refugees in their own way, meet and are linked by necessity. Tadeo is in trouble and Haven comes to the rescue, gives him a haven in the storm.
It’s lovely to get both men’s perspectives; their alternating POVs are set up nicely with descriptive chapter headings.
The author had me fully on board for the first half… the set-up, the meet-up… Haven’s sexy, charged voice, the urgency of Tadeo’s dilemma. Things got a little shakier in the second half as the plot amps up. Tadeo is in a strange culture and in an unimaginable situation, yet he’s so very quickly and easily adaptable. Some of Tadeo’s actions, given his personal tragedy, feel… questionable. And the resources that Haven can instantly call upon to help out– because he’s much more than just an ER nurse, he has quite a backstory– all stretch believability. Then, a night out, mid-plot, to a leather club is odd also considering Tadeo’s dire predicament.
But somehow it’s all in keeping with the craziness of the time and the circumstances (remember, these are the heady, crazy-sex days just before the HIV/AIDS outbreak), and the author is smooth in the rendering of it. So, I go along for the ride. After all, Tadeo has only known upheaval back home, he has learned to think quickly on his feet (figuratively and literally). And Haven, sexy wild-child of the sixties, likes to walk on the wild side– obviously, considering how much he risks– and he’s got it hard for Tadeo.
I am immediately drawn into caring about these two men despite the speed with which their story unfolds… Or maybe because of it? It does hang together well. I keep fingers crossed for two new lovers facing adversity and fighting evil.
Haven has certainly made me curious about other work from this new-to-me author. In particular, there is a short follow-up story about Haven and Tadeo, Code Switching, which is currently out-of-print. For a copy and other updates, the author can be contacted at leebenoit@charter.net
RATING: 
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