This is a hard book for me to evaluate and rate.

I liked the basic story and the message of having to deal with your past before you can move on. The characters of Galen and Wira were real to me, even though the story is set in the 1870s. There is a lot of back story, which is neatly woven into the telling of what happens once Galen is let out of prison.

But - I found it very hard to deal with the 'horror' elements of it. I think it was more the detailed descriptions that got to me than the idea of what happened and how it impacted the characters. This was definitely darker than what I usually read, and a lot darker than I'm comfortable with.



Note: This book was picked for me in the m/m romance monthly pick-it-for-me challenge. I doubt I would have bought it based on the blurb, though I am familiar with some of the other authors' work. ( )

http://zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com/410508.html ( )

A most entertaining original read!

I'll start with the beginning, which would be the cover. Now covers are, for the most part, a source of turn-off on most gay novels for me, but certainly not this one~
It's amazing and scary at the same time, a perfect match for this story. Not to mention the children we see on it probably have me scarred. That image followed me all the way through the book, really spooky.

The story itself is rather unconventional, but I think this is where it gets it's appeal. Romance, Paranormal and Horror each have a part in it. That's not to forget Wira, who's a little more than a transexual. He's a very complex character. Everytime I thought I knew how he would react to certain situations, he always surprised me. It was very interesting.
There were a few amusing moments, most notably when dear Wira tries and fails to pronounce "fucking" properly.

My favorite character was definitely Galen, possessiveness and all. You have to give it to the guy who has no problem whatsoever killing people and even made it his living. Furthermore, I think the love he has for Wira is very evident. You can feel how much they really need each other and that they are lost without the other. It's really sweet that Galen is also the one who liberated Wira when they were younger from the abusing hand of a psychopath child molester, and that much later, they are together still.

Running away didn't end everything though and revenge brings with it something much darker. Unfinished business as one would say, and it haunts them, quite literally. Until they make it right.

I'd give a warning for blood and gore as I'd say this is not for the faint of heart. Still, it was refreshing reading something out of the ordinary for a change. ( )

Well never say never. I always said that I would never read an horror and here I'm, just finished one, and I have to say a very good one, and being very happy to have read it (even if happy is not a word that fit with this genre ;-) )

Late nineteen century in Manhattan, Galen is just out of prison. He has spent three years in Ludlow, a boy from Five Points, with no hope for a bright future. Son of a woman who is whoring herself to live, he has neither a place to stay if it weren't for Wira. Wira is his lover. A boy born with a genital imperfection, Wira was raised by his mother like a girl, but when his mother died and he went to the youth home in Bowery, they decided he was a boy. But his mother promised him he will be a woman, and Wira wants to be a woman. Above all for his lover, for Galen.

During Galen's absence, Wira has gained money 'blowing kisses', but he has never allowed to nobody to fully 'have' him. That part of him is only for Galen, and now that Galen is again at home, he doesn't want that Wira goes on to do the 'life'. But past trauma, of both Galen and Wira, and the reason why they met, doesn't allow to Wira to forget and go on. He has always believed that alcohol was the reason for his nightmare, but now he is sober, but still he sees the 'boys', little ghosts who always look at him with accusing eyes. Even more now that Galen is out of prison. But why can't Galen forget the past? Why has he always to speak of Him?

Gadarene is a very intense book. It's strong, and it's not flowers and kisses, but it's also a beautiful love story. Both Galen than Wira are very deep characters. It's beautiful to read of their relationship, how they depend on each other, how difficult is their life, but still how easy and warm is their love. And even if this book has some paranormal elements, for me it's a wonderful historical evocation, of the tough life of that part of the world not born in safe and warm houses, of a man who is not fully man, but still has found love and deserved that love.

The historical details are wonderful, the use of the different slangs, the melting pot of people which was the poor district of a long forgotten Manhattan, all conveys to make an appealing reading.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974419524/?tag=elimyrevandra-20