Reviewed by Stephen K.

TITLE: Purpose

AUTHOR: Andrew Q. Gordon

NARRATOR: Darcy Stark

PUBLISHER: Andrew Q. Gordon

LENGTH: 9 hrs and 17 mins

RELEASE DATE: May 25^th 2020

BLURB:

Forty years ago the Spirit of Vengeance—a Purpose—took William Morgan as its host, demanding he avenge the innocent by killing the guilty. Since then, Will has retreated behind Gar, a façade he uses to avoid dealing with what he’s become. Cold, impassive, and devoid of emotion, Gar goes about his life alone—until his tidy, orderly world is upended when he meets Ryan, a broken young man cast out by his family. Spurred to action for reasons he can’t understand, Gar saves Ryan from death and finds himself confronted by his humanity.

Spending time with Ryan helps Will claw out from under Gar’s shadow. He recognizes Ryan is the key to his reclaiming his humanity and facing his past. As Will struggles to control the Purpose, Ryan challenges him to rethink everything he knew about himself and the spirit that possesses him. In the process, he pushes Will to do something he hasn’t done in decades: care.

REVIEW:

First… I’ve got a bone to pick with the author. “Who names their kid Gar?” My mom! Of course it was a middle name, and I hated it, but I got it as it was my “uncle’s” middle name as well. I was told it was commonly a middle name in Scottish families. Hell, it’s even a valid word in SCRABBLE.

Now on to the review… This tale is a fresh take on the whole tall, dark, and dangerous meets young, dumb, and waifish, story-line. William Morgan, has taken to thinking of himself as Gar. A nearly indestructible avenging angel of sorts, Gar rescues Ryan, a young, homeless man. William believes himself possessed by a vengeance demon. While it’s made him forever young, and nearly indestructible, it means that Gar’s had to cut himself off from Will’s friends and family. He fears that he puts any who get close to him in danger, Plus there’s whole never aging thing… Faced with leaving Ryan on the streets, he takes him in instead, and as they grow closer, the young man reconnects Will with his more human self.

There is plenty of premise building here as the two delve into this whole vengeance spirit thing. As the two men Ryan (24) and Will (67 but looks 20) also bridge the decades of difference in their experiences and come to love each other.

This story is well told, riveting,  and fast paced. Both guys are charming in their own special ways. I quickly felt the chemistry between them, and enjoyed spending time in their company. There’s also enough gritty action for this to satisfy those with a taste for ever popular “police partner tropes.”  But be warned, Will is more vigilante than lawman.

Being so much older than than Ryan, Will’s dated vocabulary contains many phrases that have come into disuse. Ryan poking fun at Will’s dated vocab is a bit of a running joke. It really works well here.

AN added bonus… The story is set in urban Washington D.C.  Many of the locales mentioned were familiar to me from my many pilgrimages to the D.C. Gay Film Festivals over the years. I even had one of those oh so satisfying, geo-glitch spotting moments, when the author got one of the details wrong about the D.C. Metro trains.

With all the gunfire in this tale, you just know someone’s gonna get hurt or worse. Oddly, the way that that is handled here is pretty satisfying as well. There’s even a bit of ambiguity here that actually makes for a better ending than what I expected.

Though the bedroom gymnastics aren’t as graphic as in many M/M romances, this pair’s fondness for shared showers ensures enough steamy action to make a more prudish “fella” blush.

Darcy Stark does a commendable job with the narration. The prose is clear, well paced and delivered in professional manner and the voice acting is good. Will and Ryan are both well realized, even giving some added depth to both characters. There’s not much dialogue from the remaining bit players. What is there is all presented in a clear and satisfactory manner, and Will’s ability to appear as someone else is aptly demonstrated in the various voices he assumes.

Although it’s slightly outside my normal wheelhouse, I thoroughly enjoyed this.  I can easily see myself listening to this again. …Whenever I’m in the mood for a gritty tale of M/M romance with a neo-noir feel.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

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