Reviewed by Valerie 

TITLE:  Runaway Skies

SERIES:  Runaway Bay #2

AUTHOR:  Simon Doyle

PUBLISHER:  SD Press

LENGTH:  304 pages  

RELEASE DATE:  January 24, 2023

BLURB:   

19-year-old French student Kaiser “Kai” Kateb has too many secrets to keep. And to his deeply religious parents, the fact that he’s gay isn’t even the worst of it—He’s the only one who knows what happened to his sister the night she disappeared six years ago.

So when Kai travels to Ireland for university, his goal is to leave all those secrets behind.

Caleb Burke has had a change of heart. Literally. But that doesn’t stop him from wanting to escape the overbearing care of his attentive mother. With a need to push the boundaries of life, he has his eyes set firmly on the skies.

One is afraid of living. The other has stared death in the face. And as Kai’s secrets come to light, they’ll need each other more than ever.

But can they overcome their fears together? Or is the truth too difficult to bear?

REVIEW:   

Runaway Skies, Simon Doyle’s excellent sophomore novel, stars two young men on the cusp of independence. One is trying to break free from his overprotective mother and pushy father, and the other is working to escape from his dangerously homophobic parents. This book is like its predecessor, the wonderful Runaway Train, with heroes who are opposites in almost every way except for their fights to shed their demons and face a future stronger together.

Both men had to deal with challenging situations during their teenage years that affected their perspectives on life and altered their future paths. Caleb was born with a heart defect but was fortunate enough, at the age of sixteen, to receive a donated heart to keep him alive . Now, four years after transplant, Caleb still has the lingering worry that his body will reject his new heart and he’ll run out of time again. As would be expected, Caleb’s outlook on life changed drastically. Despite getting a second chance at life, he continues to face his mortality and struggles to find something to live for. He finds that in his flying lessons and now, Kai.

Kai is a Parisian of Algerian descent. His mother is deeply religious and his father still holds to the traditional values of his homeland. Six years ago, when he was thirteen, his sister, Fatima, disappeared and is presumed dead. Only Kai knows the truth but the burden of carrying the secret alone has become unbearable. There’s no one he can turn to for help easing his silent pain. He keeps to himself, terribly alone and becoming increasingly depressed. He’s also scared of being a closeted gay man in a family entrenched in religion and a culture where it’s a sin and abomination to be homosexual. If he were to reveal his sexuality, he would be disowned or worse.

Kai jumps at the opportunity to get away from his parents by going to college in Dublin and ends up renting a room from Caleb’s family. He feels free; he has a new life, but he can’t outrun his depression. A decision his sister made one night long ago irrevocably broke him. Although he and Caleb are nothing alike, they grow close and provide the way forward for both of them through a life together. Caleb shows Kai the meaning of unconditional love.

I found the heart transplant storyline compelling. Doyle gives us a first hand look at the grueling ordeal of waiting for a heart while one’s physical and emotional health rapidly deteriorate, as well as the emotional toll that persists years after receiving a heart. Not only do we see Caleb’s experience, but that of Jayne, a young teen girl he befriends at the hospital where he volunteers his time to help current patients cope. I know nothing about this subject but it feels authentic through Doyle’s eyes.

Doyle shows us how Caleb’s experience affects the lives of his loved ones. Caleb becomes the golden child to the detriment of his younger brother, Charlie. His mother becomes the quintessential helicopter mom, smothering Caleb daily. His dad is suffocating as well.

Runaway Skies is another well crafted novel with its poignancy and message of hope. Caleb and Kai are both wholly sympathetic characters who will quickly win you over. You might not escape this reading without shedding a few tears. There are some very sad parts that tore my heart to pieces, as well as a harrowing, frightening scene. This can be read as a standalone but you should also take the opportunity to enjoy Runaway Train, Doyle’s first foray into fiction. This current book ties into Runaway Train near the end with a much anticipated appearance of Denis and Oliver. I loved seeing these guys again; their book was outstanding so it was enjoyable witnessing their lives beyond the end of their book. I highly recommend both books and eagerly await Doyle’s next installment.

RATING:

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