Reviewed by Valerie

 

TITLE:  Long Way Home

AUTHOR:  Nicky James

NARRATOR:  Nick J. Russo

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  11 hours, 22 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  November 11, 2021

BLURB:

It was love at first sight.

They were soul mates.

It was forever.

But they were only 16.

Too innocent. Too naïve.

Too ignorant about the world around them.

Besides, nothing lasts forever.

With their fairy-tale future torn to shreds, both boys need to learn to find their own way in an unforgiving world.

Gavin Buchanan is thrown into a life he didn’t want, molded to do a job he always feared. He must learn to get by, but with only his brothers in arms to lean on and secrets so deep they eat at his core every day, he struggles. How long until life in the Marine Corps turns this gentle, tenderhearted man into someone no one recognizes?

Owen Wallace is adrift and going through the motions. Every time he tries to stand tall and put the past behind him, life kicks him down. There is only so much a person can take before they turn bitter and jaded. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Their souls are bound to each other.

Nothing will keep them apart.

It will take time, but they just need to find their way home.

Trigger warning for PTSD.

 

REVIEW:

Long Way Home is the hardest – and thus one of the most rewarding – novels I’ve ever listened to. My heart was in my throat repeatedly for the heartbreak between Owen and Gavin over a period of many years; for the tragedies of war Gavin suffered and the repercussions in his day-to-day life; and for losses elsewhere, including the loss of innocence of the boys they once were. I was warned, numerous times: this is a tour de force of angst. I should’ve bought stock in Kleenex. So, I share this warning – you’ll need a big ol’ pile of tissues on hand to make it through reading or listening to this Nicky James masterpiece. Add Nick J. Russo’s emotionally charged narration to the gut-wrenching despair and you have an extraordinary audio book.

This second (and third and fourth) chance story spans sixteen years, from the age of sixteen to thirty-two. There are long separations and tearful, sex-filled reunions. They are pulled apart time and time again but always end up back together, and I assure you, there’s a very happy ending.

Gavin and Owen meet in high school, fall madly in love, and declare themselves soulmates. It’s no secret that I love the slow build of attraction before the long awaited first kiss. When it’s between young adults experiencing the intensity and tenderness of first-time love, I’m a goner. These heightened emotions become palpable. There are joined pinkies, legs pressed together, hearts fluttering, and a room full of surging hormones. There’s nothing like it. It goes on for two pages. Gah!

“Your first love will always stay imprinted on your soul. They are the person who taught your heart to breathe. Sometimes, a first love can set a standard that no one else will ever live up to. But that’s just how it is. You’ll never forget the first person who brought your heart to life.”

The end of high school marks the end of the warm fuzzies, though. Darkness befalls them and they’re never the same again. There are no more stolen kisses under the bleachers, just unrelenting pain as they become unrecognizable men. One goes off to college while the other enlists in the Marine Corps. Gavin loses everything – his friends, his family, his right to live authentically as a gay man, and Owen, his reason for living. All of his dreams are shattered and he dies inside. Betraying his sexuality disgusts him. Owen becomes a changed person, too. He sees the world with a different perspective, his innocence long gone. He’s alone, cynical, and hateful. Full of rage at times.

Two supporting characters of note are salt-of-the-earth Niko and irrepressible Lorenzo, Gavin and Owen’s steadfast best friends, respectively, who pull them through the darkest times.

The extent of Nicky’s research into military life is astounding – the sheer exhaustion of boot camp (I’d last approximately 43 minutes), the horrors of war, the camaraderie and reliance on your brothers, the brushes with death, the isolation, the mental strain, and the need to reconcile your morality with the necessity of taking the lives of your enemies. This isn’t a glorified story of war, as many romances are, with special ops teams portrayed as adventurers on rescue missions. This is raw, gritty, and atrocious. Everything feels so authentic; I was surprised to learn Nicky wasn’t once in the military herself. Knowing that real life eighteen and nineteen-year-old men and women go off to war and face such brutality is sickening.

This is also the story of mental illness, one of Nicky’s specialties. It’s no wonder Gavin suffers the ravages of PTSD. Gavin is blessed to have Owen by his side providing undying support through the worst of his illness – the flashbacks, nightmares, and depression. It’s clearly evident that Nicky did her homework on this topic, too.

Ms. Ace of Angst has again partnered with a man who has mad skills at the microphone. Nick J. Russo is one of my favorite voice actors for several reasons, one being that he controls his energy appropriately, which is vital with such an emotional piece of work. He modulates his pace and intonation, slowing it down and speaking softer during grave dialogue or tender moments, and ramping it up for the life and death, adrenaline pumping combat or fiery sex scenes. Some narrators are always turned up to a ten, which is exhausting; that’s not the case here.

Another reason is his ability to deliver a wide array of emotions accurately. Nicky has infused her men with misery, fear, anger, self-loathing, affection, undying love, courage, and distress, among other emotions, and Nick conveys them all flawlessly. I could feel the desperation and anguish through his cracking voices and experience the grief through his teary delivery. Ugly crying is a thing, y’all (mine, not his).

Finally, Nick differentiates the characters’ voices successfully. It is always clear who’s speaking, even among the secondary characters. Niko’s New York accent is on point, as is the southern accent of the drill sergeant, and Lorenzo’s burly, amiable tone. His female voices are realistic, also.

The risk of using a prolific narrator is that his characters can begin to sound the same from one book to the next. Not so with Nick. It is highly distracting when you’re reminded of past characters while trying to concentrate on the present. I’ve listened to Nick many times; in fact, he narrated my all-time favorite audio book – also very angsty – which I’ve listened to a handful of times. Not once did I detect any similarity between those main characters and Gavin and Owen. That pleased me to no end.

I’ve read and listened to Long Way Home and both the book and the recording are brilliant. While you will feel completely immersed in the action and emotions either way, the audio book heightens the experience and is so pleasurable. Nicky and Nick are both immensely talented artists: Nicky crafts stories and characters beautifully – her pages are the canvas for her words – and Nick brings them to life. I just wonder if he made it through the recording without any tissues. I’m lucky my tablet didn’t short out from my deluge of tears falling onto it.

Long Way Home is … everything. If you love an angsty book, don’t hesitate to indulge.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

Audible