As a historical novel, this was brilliant. Beautifully written, full of vivid descriptions and minute period details that made it feel so authentic, just like I’d been transported there. Gorgeous.

However, as a historical romance, it left much to be desired. On the one hand, that probably added even more authenticity to the book as a whole, but on the other, I think I’d have enjoyed it just as much — if not more — if Nick and Ian’s romance hadn’t been a part of this story at all.

I never managed to warm up to Ian ( )

21/03/2018
I've decided to change my rating from 4.5 stars to 5 stars! In the last two weeks I've been trudging through a bunch of traditionally published, professionally edited MM novels. Box 1663 not only is a self-published debut, but there was no professional editing, just a bit o proofreading done by a friend. I do not have words to explain how flawless Box 1663 was from a story-line, writing and editing perspective. FLAWLESS! If more authors wrote like Alex Sorel, traditional publishing would be out of business.

13/03/2018

Free exchange for an honest review under the DBML Program

I had to sit a bit on this review as I really wanted to do right by the author and the book, as both have thoroughly impressed me.

But first a rant
The title, the cover, and the blurb are the book’s weakest points. This self-published debut of Alex Sorel is a gold nugget stuck in coal, and is better than many M/M romance novels published traditionally. It deserves much more love than it received since its publication (Feb 2017). I strongly believe the cover needs to be changed. I don’t want to be rude to the designer of the cover and I appreciate the effort, but exciting covers attract readers, and that one is the least exciting cover possible.

The title
The security protocol around Project Manhattan dictated that any mail going to Los Alamos was addressed to P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe. This address was also used on birth certificates for babies born during those years in Los Alamos. The title is not exciting either. The book is constructed around the relationship of the two main characters and the creation of the nuclear bomb. Life in “P.O. Box 1663” is described indeed, but the book was not written with the main purpose in mind to show the life in Los Alamos, but to show how two men came together in a world of political uncertainty and found love in a place meant to create the most destructive weapons on Earth. The author could have chosen any of the chapter titles and they would have worked better than Box 1663. My favorite for a book title was “When They Sound the Last All Clear” (chapter 15).

Now the review since I got that out of my chest.

This is a historical romance novel set during WW2, in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Los Alamos was the birthplace of the atomic bomb built during the Manhattan Project by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. We see the world through Nick Daly’s eyes, a lieutenant returning to US from fighting in the Algerian trenches, who was appointed to join the so called “Project Y” (code name for Project Manhattan) in Los Alamos as an army photographer. He is ordered to escort to Los Alamos a scientist called Dr. Ian Pennington, a shy, bookish and British to the core gentleman.
The book is set between 1944 and 1945, with an HEA epilogue reaching 1947.

Meet our couple: Lt. Nick Daly...



...and Dr. Ian Pennington - as I imagined they looked like.


The romance between the two was slow but endearing, and after I’ve got to know the characters better, I thought it fitted their personalities perfectly. I found Dr. Ian Pennington the sweetest, most bashful top, and him and Lt. Dally were quite the charming couple.
Their love starts from this:

“He stripped to his u-shirt and skivvies and folded his clothes, then climbed into bed, slipping his holster under the couch. Mr. Modesty was staring at him. Nick scowled. "Something wrong?" Pennington took off his glasses and polished them with the edge of his bathrobe. Bright pink flooded his face. "No, of course not." He drank his milk in a long swallow, then took off his bathrobe and slippers and climbed into bed, clicking off his overhead lamp. "Good night."

To this:

“I guess we should decide who gets to do what.” Nick tipped Ian’s face up with a finger. “Do you want me to fuck you, or do you want to fuck me?”
A bright red blush, visible even in the dim light, suffused Ian’s face. “I want to…fuck you. Please.”

The “sexy talk” was so gentlemanly it was adorable:

“Nick stepped away and slowly tugged on one end of Ian’s tie until it slithered free. “God, you’re a dreadful tease. I never knew.”
“See what you’ve been missing?”

The writing style blew me away. Flawless, smooth, fluid, witty, funny and representative of the time.

“Ian was deposited into the care of Ellis Woodbridge, a small young man with large blue eyes in an angelic face and an extraordinarily foul vocabulary casually interspersed between rapid-fire American patter that Ian had only heard in films. [...] “Jesus H. Christ, come on, willya? Fuck’s sake, sonsabitches, whaddaya waiting for?” Ellis brought his head back inside the car window and beamed at Ian. “Fuckin’ traffic, huh?”

“People had all sorts of ways of blowing off steam up here. Some drank too much, some screwed like rabbits, others took refuge in the dozens of social clubs and activities, and a few, like Dick Feynman, did crazy things like cutting holes in the security fence and creeping in and out at all hours, just to prove it could be done. In the grand scheme of things, dressing a little eccentrically was no big deal.”

I would have loved more of Dickie Feynman. He was a historical figure that appeared episodically in the book. He seemed like the funniest chap. So I searched his picture. Look at that face, doesn’t he look like someone who enjoyed cutting holes in the security fence just to prove it could be done?




Overall, I loved it. Please give this book some love as it really deserves it.
4.5/5 stars. ( )