Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: White Lies
AUTHOR: Jack Byrne
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 75 pages
BLURB:
Brent Winton is doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. Since the death of their parents years ago, Brent is helping his younger brother Zach through law school in sunny Queensland, Australia. The boys share a cheap flat, and Brent works two jobs to support them, but Zach thinks the second job is merely bar tending. In reality Brent has turned to gay prostitution to ensure that Zach has all the best textbooks and the up-to-date laptop he needs so he can focus on his studies. When hot Russian refugee Dimitri moves in next door, Brent finds him mesmerizing, but fears that if he gets involved, Dimitri will expose Brent’s white lies. But Dimitri has a dark secret of his own, and the question becomes how either of them can learn to trust the other without blowing their cover.
REVIEW:
Wow….this was nothing like I expected. I love rent boy stories but this was just strange. I really didn’t get any of it. Why couldn’t Zach work? There are tons of law students who work and go to school, why couldn’t Zach? I didn’t understand Brent’s need to martyr himself. Dimitri’s BIG secret at the end was kind of anticlimactic. The story plays out like Dimitri’s some big Russian hit man with his scary death stare, and his stealthy quiet presence but the way this went was completely different. I really just did not get it. It was very apparent this story just wasn’t for me.
Brent and Zach are brothers who’ve been on their own for quite some time. Brent has vowed to support himself and Zach while Zach is in school earning his law degree. To get the money necessary to pay for Zach’s college and books Brent prostitutes himself at a local gay bar that he bartends at. What Brent doesn’t anticipate is falling hard for the new tenant in their apartment complex.
Dimitri just moved to Brisbane from Sochi, Russia. Upon moving to his new apartment he strikes up a friendship with Zach. Zach tells Dimitri all about his brother Brent and how perfect he thinks they would be together. Lo and behold they embark on a tentative relationship but there are still a lot of secrets they both are keeping secrets from each other.
I really didn’t get the connection between Dimitri and Brent. It almost seemed like to Dimitri it was instalove but it was really just too strange to be believable. I also did not get Brent’s crazy temper tantrums. It was very contrived to add drama where it wasn’t needed.
There wasn’t much that worked for me here which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to this story….
RATING: 
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