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Bleeding Hearts by Josh Aterovis; Renaissance Alliance Publishing, PMB 238, 8691 9th Avenue, Port Arthur, TX 77642; 232 pages; $16.99.
Like Alex Sanchez's better-known novel Rainbow Boys, Bleeding Hearts is a entertaining and thought-provoking account of growing up gay in a homophobic society; written in a style that appeals to both adolescents and adults. But Bleeding Hearts is more than just a coming out story. It is also an exciting mystery, centering around a hate crime similar in scope and brutality to the murder of Matthew Shepard. Seth Connelly is an openly gay student who moves into Killian's home town with his gay dad and befriends the still-uncertain Killian. Seth's honesty earns him the wrath of the local bigots, and before long he is brutally murdered. Seth's death leads Killian to come out of the closet himself and to confront those who hate him for it, including his own dad, a District Attorney. With the help of Kane's gay dad, his straight but not narrow kid brother, and Killian's own boy friend, Killian sets out to uncover the mystery of Seth Connelly's death. What he uncovers is not pretty. I wish I had books like Bleeding Hearts when I was a teen. Killian is the kind of gayboy I would have been (that is, of course, if Killian was Cuban-American and lived in Miami). In Josh Aterovis's world, gay kids discover themselves, find a new and supportive family, solve mysteries and even fall in love. Happily, Aterovis is now working on volumes 2 and 3 of his Killian Kendall series. Killian Kendall himself is already a winner: of the GWG Best Character Award. Warlock: A Novel of Possession by Perry Brass; Belhue Press; 219 pages; $12.95.
Perry Brass (for the few of you who don't know) is a prolific author
who puts out books on a yearly basis through his partner's Belhue Press. By
keeping his books "in the family" Brass enjoys a freedom of expression that
would not be allowed by a major publisher. Brass's vast body of work
includes erotic poetry (Sex-Charge) and prose (the "Smoky George" stories), a
science fiction trilogy (Mirage), a "science/politico" novel (Harvest), an
"erotic novel of time travel (Angel Lust) and How To Survive Your Own Gay
Life: An Adult Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships.
In Warlock: A Novel of Possession, Perry Brass continues his knack for combining the erotic, the exotic, and the political. Allen Barrow, a mousy bank clerk with a small dick, meets wealthy, powerful Destry Powars at the tubs, and his life is changed forever. What is it about the unsavory Powars that has such a hold on Barrow? What are the secrets behind Powars and his mysterious business associates? Through Powars, Barrow enters the secret world of the rich and powerful; a world where things are not what they appear. Perry Brass's books are hard to pigeonhole, and Warlock is no exception. Those who expect just a tale of the supernatural will find more and less than they bargain for. As riveting reading material, Warlock is inferior to Harvest, Angel Lust or the Mirage novels. The characters are unlikeable and the plot is discomforting. Still, Brass is incapable of writing a bad book, and if nothing else, Warlock will make the reader think, which is more than what most books do. On the Sunny Side of the Street: An Alzheimer's Journey by Christine Fournier; Beaver's Pond Press; 219 pages; $18.95.
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Josh Aterovis ("black sheep" in Latin), is a young "starving artist and
author from the Eastern Shore of Maryland." Aterovis' home is the setting
for Bleeding Hearts, his first published novel. It introduces Killian
Kendall, a 16-year old boy who's coming to terms with his emerging sexuality.