Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Homefront
AUTHOR: Jaxon Altieri
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 19.5k Novella
RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2021
BLURB:
Sergeant Daniel Malone is back in the States after being medically discharged for severe PTSD. In his hands, he holds a letter given to him by a fallen friend. The letter, the last note from Eric, the soldier’s brother, is of his coming out and needing his brother’s support.
Daniel insists on returning it to Eric and telling him that his brother supported and loved him, but Eric blames Daniel for his brother’s death. Daniel gives the worn letter to Eric in the hope it brings him peace but can’t stay away as the words of the message and seeing Eric for the first time have stirred feelings in Daniel’s heart that he’d never felt before.
Even though Eric seems to want nothing to do with him, fate and the letter written to a brother could be what brings them together or drives them apart.
REVIEW:
Daniel felt empty, but he had a letter to deliver from his comrade in arms, Shawn. His reason for living was to ensure Shawn’s brother, Eric, understood that he was accepted and loved, no matter his orientation. For Daniel, Eric was a man he got to know via the man’s letters to Shawn – would reality be as good?
Homefront is a short yet highly emotional story, told in the third person from the viewpoints of Daniel and Eric. As the blurb says, Daniel has PTSD, and Eric blames him for Shawn’s death. The accusation confirms Daniel’s guilt over the situation. Nevertheless, there is a spark that both feel, albeit they believe, it is inappropriate.
The emotion from the story hits from the first page, and I’ll freely admit that for much of it, I was in tears. Daniel and Eric experience a myriad of emotional extremes that, in places, defy logic. But that was always destined to be the case when mixing anger, guilt, attraction, PTSD, and overwhelming feelings of loss. In the mix of all this, the voice of reason comes from the traditional female best friend.
For such an expressive story, some may wonder why I have given it a four instead of five. As already mentioned, it is a novella, and therefore will most likely be read in one sitting. There is some repetition, and while some aspects are necessary, I felt that others weren’t. A few elements come over as instant. At the same time, the backstory suggests that the foundations for a relationship were already there. I feel more could have been made of this, allowing the war between head, heart, and reaction to seem less like a quick game of tennis. In the mix, I would have liked to see the inclusion of different encounters, demonstrating the Daniel and Eric of the future.
As the story stands, both men are broken, and while expressively good, the reader will need to be in the mood for a weepy. I appreciated what was packed into a short space but would like to read an extended version of this that would offer warm fuzzies between wiping my eyes.
RATING:
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