Author: Andrew Grey
Narrator:: John Solo
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Run Time: 6 Hours and 42 Minutes
At a Glance: In spite of some issues I had with the narrator’s vocal performance, Backward is worth a listen.
Reviewed By: Maryann
Blurb: Club owner Harry Klinger has had his eye on Tristan Martin for months, but never had the nerve to approach him. He’s watched as Tristan dated Eddie and then reluctantly sat on the sidelines during the emotional breakup when Tristan discovered Eddie was dealing drugs. Now that Tristan seems to be healing, Harry hopes to get his chance.
When Eddie sends his men into Harry’s club to harass Tristan, Harry steps in to help. Tristan is reluctant at first since he admittedly has terrible taste in men, but Harry seems genuine, and Tristan can’t help but think Harry’s sexy as well and begins to hope for happiness for both of them.
Unfortunately, Eddie isn’t behaving rationally, sampling too much of his own product. With his determination to take Tristan back, it’ll take more than Harry’s help to keep Tristan safe as Eddie ratchets up his attempts to get what he wants.
Review: Harry Klinger is part owner of Bronco’s and takes care of the finances for the club. He and Bull run a clean club, no drugs or dealers allowed. Harry was in a relationship until it went sour, then he was into hook-ups, but even that’s no longer an interest for him. Now Harry is alone and has no life outside of his work at the club. But Harry’s had his eye on one particular guy for months, and that guy is Tristan.
Tristan Martin is in trouble, he was dating Eddie Menendez, a drug dealer, but finally left him. Eddie had been arrested, though missing evidence and an expensive lawyer got him off, and now, Tristan’s ex is going to any lengths to get him back. Including sending a dealer named Carlos to the club to make trouble for Tristan. After a confrontation that gets Carlos and his partners kicked out, Tristan feels bad about what happened, so he confesses that he knew Carlos through Eddie. Tristan decides to leave, but is stopped and told he didn’t do anything wrong. As the night goes on, Harry gets a text from Bull that Carlos and a couple of his fellow thugs are back in the club again. As Bull and the security team go into action, Tristan is heading for the door, and Carlos is heading for Tristan, and Harry heads for Tristan to protect him from the melee. Bull and the security team get things secured, and Harry calls the police. When Bull approaches Harry and Tristan, he tells them that Eddie had sent Carlos after Tristan, and because of the danger to Tristan, he shouldn’t go back to his apartment. So the guys come up with options, and Harry offers a room at his home for Tristan to stay in.
But, that’s not the end of the trouble Andrew Grey throws into this story. After a somewhat restless night, Harry takes Tristan home to change clothes for work and drops him off at the Green Door Café, where Tristan’s first customer happens to be Eddie, and he’s there to make trouble. When Tristan gets away from Eddie, he calls Harry, at which point Harry and Bull show up at the café, and things start to brew between Harry and Tristan. Harry doesn’t want Tristan to be alone, he wants to keep Tristan safe, so they start spending time together, and they learn about each other’s lives. Tristan is still unsure about himself and doesn’t believe anyone wants him. But things go from bad to worse when Tristan is kidnapped, and Harry feels the guilt and blame since he had promised to keep Tristan safe.
John Solo has such a good reading voice. He does a good job with the different vocalizations and emotions, but I did feel Tristan was portrayed a bit too nasally. And while Harry had a gravelly voice most of the time, sometimes Solo’s voice would pitch a little high. Having said that, though, Backward was still worth listening to, as these issues didn’t take anything away from the story Andrew Grey created.
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