Title: Into the Lion’s Den
Author: John Patrick
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 10/08/2024
Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 94800
Genre: Contemporary, coming out, missionaries, religion, religious extremism, civil discord, women’s rights, road trip
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Description
In the near future, political and cultural divisions have pushed America to the brink of civil war over States’ rights.
Daniel Ridley is a newly ordained missionary, raised in the heart of the separatist South and in ignorance of the broader world. He is sent to Boston as a missionary for the Christian Nationalist Evangelicals to preach the Word of God and to advocate for a government based on religious scripture. He’s not sure why God chose to burden him with same-sex attraction, but he’s confident his faith will give him the strength to resist that temptation. But he’s not prepared for the hostility he faces up North, and his secret mission—to find an elusive killer and bring him to justice—only complicates his task.
Jaxtyn Keller is a young gay man and perpetual college student who leads a Buddhist worship group at his university in Boston. He believes everything in the universe is connected, and everything happens for a reason. Unlike most of the citizens in his terrorism-plagued city, he’s convinced the only way to hold the country together is for both sides to truly see each other.
The two men meet by chance, and each sees in the other an opportunity to achieve his goal.
As the national crisis accelerates, however, Daniel’s cherished beliefs collide with the harsh reality of separatist violence, and he is soon torn between duty to his church and his growing feelings for Jaxtyn. When their lives are threatened, the two men must find a way to overcome their differences and accept their love for each other, while they fight to both save themselves and prevent a civil war.
Into the Lion’s Den
John Patrick © 2024
All Rights Reserved
The hotel room had become uncomfortably cold by the time they returned, and Daniel turned on the heat even before removing his jacket. He took their missionary clothes out of the bag and neatly folded them, then tucked them into an empty bureau drawer. Marcus placed the two burner phones on the table.
Daniel stared at them, thinking of all the reasons they were prohibited. He knew the internet was filled with lies about the world, and with images and articles meant to obscure the truth and confuse the unwary, leading them away from God. Mostly, Pastor Logan had told them, it was a waste of time—a bottomless pit of distraction that either soothed and lulled or excited and enraged. Either way, the important work of doing God’s will in the world was neglected.
The sirens of emergency vehicles continued to rise and fall in the distance. Daniel turned on his own phone and launched the Good News site, but there was still nothing being reported about what might be happening in Boston.
“Maybe we should try the television first,” he said.
Marcus was already reading through the new phone’s instructions. “Dan,” he said. “Seriously? We have these now, and for all we know Pastor Logan booked us a room with no working television.”
Daniel picked up the remote from the top of the bureau. “Still,” he said, “the television seems more…excusable…for an emergency.” He pressed the power button, but he could already tell from Marcus’s expression he’d be using a phone anyway. The thrill of the forbidden was a powerful temptation for Marcus, and Daniel vowed to pray about it with him that evening.
The screen brightened. It had a ghostly purple glow around the edges and a faint image of a logo Daniel didn’t recognize burned into the upper right corner. “Connect source,” read the screen’s message.
“Oh,” said Marcus. “It’s only a monitor.” He turned to Daniel. “We’d need a phone to watch anything on it anyway.”
Daniel tried to think of some reason to delay, to turn back from this path of disobedience, but Marcus was already committed. “I’m doing it,” he said as he pushed the phone’s power button. “Hand me a piece of paper and a pen, will you? I want to write down what my number is.”
There was a thin pad of paper in the top drawer of the bedside table, along with a tiny pencil, much like the kind one could find at a bowling alley or a miniature golf course. As he handed the items to Marcus, Daniel realized he’d been drawn into the crime and was now actively participating in it.
Marcus smiled. “I’ll write down your number too,” he said.
Daniel didn’t say anything. There was no putting the apple back on the tree.
Marcus worked with the phones for a few minutes then handed one to Daniel. “Here you go, Dan. I’ve put my number into your contacts and yours into mine.” Daniel picked up the phone and studied it. The lower half of the screen was a standard phone keyboard, the upper half an empty canvas, just waiting to tempt them away from the path of truth.
“The green circle is messages,” Marcus said. Daniel’s phone vibrated and binged as a message from Marcus arrived. Hi, it read. “Reply so we know both phones work.”
Dinosaurs, Daniel typed, which startled a laugh out of Marcus when it arrived.
“There you go. You’re getting into the swing of things now. The lightning bolt is the telephone, and the blue circle is the OpenSky portal.” He lowered his voice and whispered as if they were in an old horror movie. “That’s where the uncensored internet is.” This was just a daring adventure for him.
Daniel knew it was going to be difficult. “Marcus,” he said, “promise me you understand this is only for emergencies, that we’re only using it now to find out what’s happening with the bomb.”
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Author John Patrick is a Lambda Literary Award finalist living in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, where he is supported in his writing by his husband and their terrier, who is convinced he could do battle with the bears that come through the woods on occasion (the terrier, that is, not the husband). An introvert, John can often be found doing introverted things like reading or writing, cooking, and thinking deep, contemplative thoughts (his husband might call this napping). He loves to spend time in nature—“forest bathing” is the Japanese term for it—feeling connected with the universe. But he also loathes heat and humidity, bugs of any sort, and unsteady footing in the form of rocks, mud, tree roots, snow, or ice. So his love of nature is tempered—he’s complicated that way.
John and his husband enjoy traveling and have visited over a dozen countries, meeting new people, exploring new cultures, and—most importantly—discovering new foods.
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