Welcome to Love Bytes to our new reviewer Stephen 🙂
Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: In the Name of the Father
SERIES: Father #1
AUTHOR: Morticia Knight
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Knight Ever After Publishing
LENGTH: 6 Hrs 9 Min
RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2020
BLURB:
Seth was a good Christian son raised in a very conservative church.
He learned early on that the world is evil and filled with sinners—but the most horrible thing you can be is gay. When his shame is discovered, he’s shipped off to a special camp that fixes deviants like him. Years have passed since then, yet he still runs from himself every day.
Malcolm was a good daddy for almost 10 years before his boy died.
No longer daring to be too close with another man again, he’s avoided clubs and old friends that remind him of a life filled with a joy he can no longer have. Unable to find a purpose in his lonely existence, he spends night after night in a dive bar at the edge of town. However, witnessing a scared young man being harassed by two bullies jolts him out of his misery.
No one messes with someone vulnerable and helpless on his watch…
REVIEW:
I’ve loved audio-books since the early 60s when I first listened with my neighbors grandparents to a 16 RPM book for the blind on a cold rainy day at their cabin in Petosky Michigan. Since that time, I’ve discovered that certain genres tend to work better in audio format while others work better in print. Early on, I listened to several M/M audio-books that were centered on sex scenes and found them to be a bit silly or clinical sounding, and not really “my cuppa tea.”
However, after re-listening to the incredibly hot encounter in the first chapter of Aaron by J.P. Barnaby, I decided that it was time to try another sampling of sexier audio-books. I asked for a copy of this title for review. “Daddy” play has always felt a bit silly to me but I decided that it might be time to try listening again.
What I got from this book was completely unexpected. Yes, there are some hot sex scenes, and yes, there is some dialogue that (to my ear) sounded a bit silly, but there was also a tale of the rescue of a shattered runaway boy, and a somewhat older man who’d once been a daddy, but who’d kind of given up on those aspects of his life following the cancer death of his beloved “boy” 10 years earlier. I was immediately smitten with the lad, and also felt for the older man, both, expertly voiced by narrator Nick J. Russo.
Seth, the young runaway here, had a religious monster as a father, and only vague memories of his mother who succumbed to cancer when he was still young. Twice subjected to “Conversion therapy” and with zero self esteem, his “fawn on a freeway” vulnerability is so clear to Malcolm that he has to at least befriend the kid while resolving to keep it short term and to “not get involved.” Malcolm’s resolutions stand about as much chance of success as the kid’s chances of survival without him. I was in tears several times while listening, but they were tears of compassion, and overall, this book left me with the warm fuzzies.
There some scenes (like a bathroom scene where Malcolm washes Seth’s hair) that I found incredibly erotic, particularly in that they are the kinds of low-key, everyday, eroticism that comes from affection, and wanting a bit more, while trying to “behave” that I completely identified with. Seth’s need to “surrender control” and to satisfy Malcolm based on his innocent, almost virginal, concepts of love had an appeal that I’ve not seen in other print or audio m/m titles. There are also discussions between the two main characters that could easily be an outline for a BDSM 101 course, which while not sexy per se, help bridge the gap between “kink” and more vanilla M/M fiction. The book does feature several more conventional “sex scenes” as well and the audio-book is nothing I’d let my straight housemate overhear, no matter how open minded he is.
For me, this book was the most pleasant surprise in my 2021 reading/listening so far. If you want to listen to a hot book where the heat comes from affection between people who are actually coming to love each other, you could do far worse than to check out this book. Those worried about “triggers” should know that most of the past abusive behavior is described pretty vaguely and should not be problematic.
Nick J. Russo does an amazing job here as narrator. The pacing and the voices of both Malcom, Seth, and the 3rd person narrator are all distinctive enough to avoid confusion. The “authoritative” voice of Malcolm and the eager, puppy-doggish voice of Seth add a level of charm to the audio version of this. So much so, that I’d probably feel something was missing in the print version.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Audible