Title: Estranged
Series: Gay Noir: Book Two
Author: Wolf Augustus
Publisher: Rocket Man Press
Length: 61 Pages
Category: Noir Mystery
At a Glance: I liked the story but wish it had more of the depth I appreciated in The Deluded.
Reviewed By: Ben
Blurb: 1950´s L.A.
Sixteen year old Henry Blomqvist is the son of an aspiring actress and step son of a millionaire businessman. He is an embarrasement to his parents, a useless layabout who is constantly getting arrested for cruising the parks. But his vices pale in comparison with the dark secrets in his parents´ lives.
The kidnapping of Henry´s stepfather triggers a series of events which expose the skeletons in his parents´ closets and which finally give Henry the chance to step up to the mark and show what he´s really made of.
Inspired by the pulp fiction novels of the 1940’s and 50’s, the Gay Noir series emulates the dark, thrilling, sensational and taboo breaking stories of the post war era and gives them a gay twist.
Review: Estranged by Olivier Bosman, aka Wolf Augustus, is part of the Gay Noir series but isn’t sequential to The Deluded nor does it have any of the same main characters or even take place on the same continent. It was also a super short story—took me about twenty minutes to read—made shorter than it appears at first glance because of the extensive back matter, so take that into consideration when purchasing.
Like The Deluded, Estranged is themed after the pulp fiction novels of the 50s and is suitably lurid and twisted. For all the wild drama, there are some pretty serious issues explored around being queer in that time period, and the story is full of unsettling moments that may hit too close to home for some.
Henry Blomqvist is a sixteen-year-old painted as a worthless member of society. The story begins with him getting caught by a police officer while trolling the park for a male hook-up. His mother is ashamed of him and his step father is downright violent and hostile, but as the story unfolds, it quickly become obvious that Henry has more morals that either of his parents (put together).
My favorite part of this story was the dialog. For me, this read almost like a screenplay, which was fitting because it took place in Hollywood, and the theatrical-style dialog very much reinforced that theme. Henry’s mother is an actress who treats every moment as if it is an audition. Henry seems hopelessly caught in a plot of murder and deception.
While the blurb claims Henry steps up and makes something of himself toward the end, I’m going to disagree, but you can be the judge of that for yourself. Admittedly, because the story was so short, the character development for any of the cast was hard to judge. Just be wary that this is noir, so happy endings are often illusive dreams or fairytales.
All in all, I liked the story but wish it had more of the depth I appreciated in The Deluded. I probably won’t read any additional short stories in this serial, but if another novel comes out, I’ll snatch it up.
You can buy Estranged here:
[zilla_button url=”http://smarturl.it/estranged” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon [/zilla_button]