Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Living on the down low in their small Bible Belt town is just a fact of life for Hank and Beaver, two lovers who’ve been together for twenty-five years. They’ve always kept to themselves, careful not to make waves, particularly since their town is home to an infamous anti-gay preacher and his rabid congregation, who go out of their way to make sure that not one queer stone is unturned, including the only gay bar within a hundred miles.

When small town bigotry forces them out of the closet they’ve shared for a quarter century, they find their love, their friends, and their very lives in jeopardy. Everything spirals out of control until at last, backs to the wall, Hank and Beaver choose to fight back. From the betrayal of friends to outright violence, they’re not sure if they’ll survive the war with their hides ~ and their love ~ intact.

Sometimes, a bar is more than just a building. Sometimes, it’s a belief.

BOOK REVIEW:
Outland is one of those books that succeed on so many levels that it defies categorization. I hope it is the start of a trend because there are so many elements in it that resonate with me. The first and best of those elements is Hank and Beaver, older protagonists in a stable long-term relationship, bodies no longer perfect, still interested in sex even when that isn't perfect, living a quiet life but willing to defend themselves and their friends, matter-of-fact about mentoring younger gay men but still in love with each other.

Hank and Beaver live in a small town, retired from their sawmill jobs, and are basically on the down low about their relationship, not hiding it but not flaunting it. Partly that's because that's the way they are, and partly that's because they live in a town famous for its rabid anti-gay preacher and church. Pastor Bellows likes nothing more than to get on TV and rant about the homos going to hell. He's known for things like picketing gay funerals and hassling patrons of gay bars by publishing their license-plate numbers in his church newspaper under the headline 'Sinners'. This is not a man whose sermon topic is "Judge not lest ye be judged." Not surprisingly, both gay bars in town have closed, one mysteriously burned and the other because its owners were run out of town.

After the second bar closes, the handwriting is on the wall. Hank cooks up the idea of opening their own bar in the abandoned stable on their property. After painting it eggplant (of course!) and pulling up a porta-potty, they open 'Outland'. It quickly becomes a popular place to be, and it also quickly attracts the attention of the evil preacher and the homophobic police.

Hank and Beaver and an eccentric cast of friends, including drag queens and other remarkable characters, try to hold back the tide of hate, but it seems that everyone is against them. And there's more going on than even Hank and Beaver know.

This is the kind of rousing romantic suspense novel that I hope is in the future of m/m fiction. Kiernan Kelly has a deft touch with characterization and a way with words. Her sense of humor and ability to draw us inside the characters, emotional but not angsty, is heart-warming. My only caveat is that occasionally the plot line seems to get a little muddy, to move off course with elements that aren't carried through, but Kelly deftly brings it back on focus.

Outland is a must-read.

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