FANTASTIC, STUNNING, BRAVO

I don't know whether Gregory Ashe has gotten a new editor or he's just upped his game. One of my criticism's with his other books is that he tends to waffle - saying in a few paragraphs what can be said in a handful of sentences. It's quite a trend with many American authors - word count is king, and it's like measuring dicks at this stage in the game, But no matter the waffle I've stuck with Gregory Ashe because when he's good he's amazing.
The writing in Yet A Stranger was STUNNING. The plot was tight, the prose beautiful, the psychology of the connection between Theo and Augie was realistic and painstakingly painted for us with no fluff or filler. The relationship between these two is inevitable and yet the listener is on a knifes edge hoping they'll get their acts together, despite the consistent holes they keep finding themselves in during their illegal investigation of a murder. Each man is trying to grow independently from the other and yet when they're together the chemistry is undeniable. Both characters are deeply flawed and make stupid decisions, but the lengths Augie and Theo will go to for one another is at once heartbreaking and life affirming.
The narration was perfect. As soon as I finished this audiobook I wanted to listen again - which is a rare thing!

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Enjoyable Story

Enjoyable story that is well written with likeable characters and good world building. The narration is very good as well.

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Auggie and Theo are back!

So Auggie didn’t land those lucrative endorsement deals for his social media presence on Instagram. Outing himself definitely hurt his potential advertisers and doesn’t that speak poorly of the state of the world? So he’s back at Wroxall College in Missouri – about as far from SoCal as he can get. Sophomore year’s going to be quieter – right?

Yeah, probably not.

Theo was Auggie’s professor and even though their, uh, romantic relationship (what of it there was) began after they departed the professional relationship, Theo’s in hot water in the department - not just because of his relationship with Auggie - but also because of his drunken behavior at a Christmas party last year. Now, he’s a grad student - so they can’t fire him. But they can demote him. This year he’s been relegated to teaching assistant for an old professor who has a propensity for chasing young and clearly uninterested women. Double standard, anyone?

Anyway, Auggie’s in the class – studying Romeo and Juliet – and you just know there’s going to be trouble.

Orlando, Auggie’s roommate from first year (and who was formerly obsessed with Auggie) is back with a problem. His brother Cal has gone missing. He believes Auggie and Theo can solve the disappearance. Now, it felt like a bit of a stretch, but Gregory Ashe had to make it plausible the two would be dragged down into another murder investigation. And it worked. At first, they’re just looking for a missing person but, unfortunately, when they find him, he’s dead. Auggie and Theo are offered a pile of money by the family to solve the crime. They feel badly agreeing to take it, but both men need money. Theo for the cost of caring for his daughter who was so tragically injured in the car crash that killed his husband, and Auggie because, frankly college is expensive. Oh, and having POS for a car doesn’t help either.

And while they’re trying to figure out who murdered Cal, there are romantic entanglements to sort. Now, as much as I want the two men together, this is a Gregory Ashe series, so I know I’m going to have to wait. Theo is getting more involved with his husband’s former police officer partner. Cart is very deep in the closet and that’s getting on Theo’s nerves. He doesn’t want to be anyone’s dirty secret. And Auggie’s met an upperclassman at the fraternity. Dylan seems like a great guy, but I never quite warmed to him. I also want to mention that Auggie’s experiences in the dorm are bringing back memories (good and bad) of my own time living on campus – I think I need to call my therapist.

Anyway, the men also have family entanglements. Theo’s brother Luke died of an overdose for which Theo blames himself. Auggie’s brother Chewie is an addict and his brother Fer is barely holding the family together. And Auggie keeps spending Fur’s money and I cringed. Fer is being put in an impossible situation – carrying everyone. I was waiting for him to break.

Now, back to the murder mystery. All the usual suspects show up. The dirty cop, the Ozark Volunteers (the white supremacist group), as well as some other characters who might or might not have been involved. And Cal was basically leading a double life with his family being in ignorance – or so I believed. I predicted some of the dénouement, but not all of it. Ashe kept me guessing until the end.

Like the previous book, there is plenty of violence. Disturbing violence. Made my stomach clench violence. And I’m no faint of heart, but this book got to me. Will that stop me from reading the next one when it comes out? Uh, oh hell no. And again, I loved how Romeo and Juliet was interwoven in the story. I can’t wait to see which tragedy Ashe picks for the next story.

Finally I’ll mention J.F. Harding. I really enjoy his narration style, and I’m always happy to pick up one of his books. Here’s hoping there’s more to come from this writing/narrator duo.

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Another stunning page turner from Gregory Ashe

I’m disappointed that I have to wait for book three in this stunning series to be released. Having already listened to books one and two I feel I now know Theo and Auggie and am sad to be leaving these two intriguing young men behind for a while.

Gregory Ashe’s character building is quite unique. He couples up flawed men from very different backgrounds and makes us love them. I’ve been with Hazard and Somerset throughout two series - back-to-back - and was sceptical because I adore H &S and did not believe it possible that he could have me invested in another two characters so much, so quickly, but of course, this is Gregory Ashe - and he did.

As is GA’s style, his men get involved in absolutely bonkers scenarios which he convinces me are plausible without too much effort - I mean, no one could sustain so many injuries etc, so many times and stay alive - could they? But in Gregory Ashe’s world they do, and he certainly had me biting my fingernails.

After success in book one, and on the strength of that success, our two amateur sleuths, Auggie and Theo are asked to investigate the death of a young man whose body is found under suspicious circumstances of what appears to be a drug related crime.

One of the things Gregory Ashe does so well is the sheer emotion he writes which charges full pelt through his writing like electricity. Notwithstanding the bonkers (but plausible), plot lines, there’s so much going on. Auggie and Theo are each involved in toxic relationships in Yet A Stranger - especially Auggie who is still quite a sweet and innocent boy. Theo, too, is hurting badly after the terrible events which upended his life a few years previously. Obviously our two boys are meant for each other but the stars are not quite yet fully aligned - it’s not the right place nor yet the right time. But, they always gravitate towards each other, especially when there’s trouble… and there’s so much trouble! Still it’s obvious by the chemistry between these two that those stars will line up eventually.

So the crime is solved in a very convincing manner and our two young men are getting there in their relationship, but as I said, still not quite. But this is Gregory Ashe and he likes to turn the thumb screws and the romances between his characters are always very slow burn but honestly so worth the wait if lyrical writing and clever plotting is your thing.

JF Harding does an absolutely fabulous job in bringing Gregory Ashe’s words to three dimensional life. Auggie is how I imagine the sweet and innocent, nineteen year old boy would sound, and the world weary, Theo, ten years older, and not a little pissed off with life, is just perfect - his ennui with life is obvious and the only real spark he shows is when he’s around Auggie, coming to life when he thinks Auggie is in danger. The best moments for me were when these two gorgeous characters had their ‘moments’ - where I could see that they will eventually connect fully. Gregory Ashe and JF Harding are a great team and this audio book is highly recommended. However, potential listener, you would need to be prepared to listen to book one as Auggie and Theo’s relationship is a slow burn romance over (I believe) four books in this series.

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