Reviewed by Susan
TITLE: Tackling The Tight End
SERIES: The Long Pass Chronicles #3
AUTHOR: Tara Lain
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 216 pages
BLURB:
Everyone wants the best for SCU student and tight end Raven Nez—and they know exactly what that is. Enter the NFL draft, become a big football hero, promote his tribe’s casino, and make a lot of money to help people on the reservation. Just one problem. Raven’s gay and he really wants to work with gay kids. Plus he figures a gay Native tight end will get flattened in the NFL. Then the casino board hires a talented student filmmaker to create ads for the tribal business and asks Raven to work with him. But the filmmaker is Dennis Hascomb, a guy with so much to hide and a life so ugly it’s beyond Raven’s understanding. Still he’s drawn to Dennis’s pain and incredible ability to survive. Captivated by Raven’s stories of the two-spirited and by the amazing joy of finally having a friend, Dennis knows he has to break free from everything he’s ever been taught was good—but that’s a struggle that could kill him and Raven too. Is there a chance for “the great red hope” and the “whitest guy on earth”? A future for the serpent and the raven?
REVIEW:
This is the third book in The Long Pass Chronicles series, and is the darkest by far. I found the first quarter of this story to be an uncomfortable read. What wasn’t said was just as powerful as what was. Dennis’ life is framed in a way that brings out the hopelessness he feels. I was drawn in and felt that hopelessness as a tangible thing.
As it opens we meet Dennis, and his life is not a good one at all. His life is one of fear and desperation. He has been put in an impossible situation by the people who are supposed to be protecting and nurturing him. They dictate his actions and try to control every aspect of his life – all for their benefit, none of his. What Dennis does have is incredible talent for filmmaking. It is his outlet and the salvation of his sanity. And it brings Raven into his life.
Raven is also in an impossible situation not of his own making. He is a talented football player – he just doesn’t believe that he is as good as everyone else does. And football is not his first love. But his family and his Tribe are counting on him and his talent to bring good fortune to the Reservation’s casino. He is in a fictitious relationship with his best friend to keep his family from trying to dictate his life even more than they already do. When he is asked to participate in a documentary about the casino, he meets Dennis.
When Dennis meets Raven and when Raven meets Dennis nothing is ever the same again. Both characters are identifiable and relatable, they work well separately and together. I enjoyed Walt as Raven’s best friend and confidant. The parents. What to say about the parents in this story. Definitely not your best examples of good parenting.
This can be read as a standalone, there is nothing in the content that would be confusing. I think it was a good addition to the series.
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