Title: Queer Fires
Series: Flint and Tinder: Book Two
Author: Gregory Ashe
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 217 Pages
Category: Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: Queer Fires isn’t a mystery as much as it is mysterious. This is a place where the impossible is made possible, the unlikely becomes likely, and the unusual asks its readers to suspend belief and enjoy the thrill of betrayal and danger.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Emmett might not have a job. He might not be going to school. He might not have any friends. Heck, he might not even be all that happy. But he’s clean; that’s the important thing. And all that spare time? It means he can really focus on screwing up his friendship (and absolutely nothing more than friendship) with Jim, who just happens to be the most important person in his life.
When their friend Chloe shows up at their apartment, being chased by men with guns, Emmett and Jim find themselves dragged into a conflict they don’t understand. A year ago, they saved Chloe’s life from a band of supernatural killers. Now, it seems someone is after her again. It’s up to Emmett and Jim to stop them, which might be easier if they could figure out why everyone wants her.
It won’t be that easy, of course. When Chloe’s on-and-off-again girlfriend gets taken hostage, Emmett and Jim will have to race to save her. But an invisible war is raging all around them, and they’ve just stepped into the crossfire.
Review: Emmett Bradley is the epitome of the saying “Hurt people hurt people.” He wears his scars on the inside and out-. He’s a do unto others before they can do unto you kind of guy, and tests, taunts . . . and tempts his former teacher, Jim Spencer, every chance he gets. Although Emmett likes to pretend there is no there there—he still loves Vie Eliot, after all—he loves Jim, maybe more than Vie, certainly differently, and perhaps even resents the pain and jealousy that comes with loving Jim more than just a little. If only because it means Emmett has to say things he isn’t comfortable saying.
Maybe, in Emmett’s case, it’s confession that’s the better part of valor.
If you haven’t read Ember Boys or Gregory Ashe’s Hollow Folk series, and are even a little bit tempted by Queer Fires, don’t attempt to start here. Backstory is crucial to understanding how Emmett and Jim got to this place, why they’re being chased, and what they have yet to face. Their individual supernatural powers are significant to each of them, and how both Emmett and Jim fit into Vie’s journey is a matter of some importance. Being caught between a rock and a hard place and facing down formidable foes isn’t the life they choose. It’s simply the life that pursues them. It wouldn’t be a Gregory Ashe book, after all, if someone weren’t trying to deep-six his characters.
Emmett and Jim are quintessential Ashe narrators: imperfect, rough around the edges, undone, but maybe a little hopeful too. Queer Fires isn’t a mystery as much as it is mysterious. This is a place where the impossible is made possible, the unlikely becomes likely, and the unusual asks its readers to suspend belief and enjoy the thrill of betrayal and danger.
You can buy Queer Fires here: