Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Rudy Haas dreams of becoming an "old goat," a sailor who's completed twenty-five races from Port Huron to Mackinac. But when his crew throws him off the team for being gay, Rudy has to find another boat and crew to have any chance of making his dream come true. Blind luck leads him to the men of Devlin's Due and a test run where Rudy's toughest battle isn't winning his place on the team ~ it's fighting his attraction to team captain Ike Ujarka.

BOOK REVIEW:
This is an entertaining and intriguing shorter novella with a real flair for atmosphere and sexual tension. While not wholly successful, the story does shine in the details and characters leaving you wanting more, especially with the hanging ending. The solid writing and descriptive prose bring the energy and excitement of sailing alive from repetitious drills to stormy rescues. Although there are several problems with the story, I enjoyed reading the book and hope there are more in the future.

The premise of the story revolves around the main character Rudy as he struggles with the repercussions of being kicked off his previous racing team for the unforgivable sin of being gay and finds an unexpected harbor in a rough and tumble crew known for their excellence. It’s a rather basic premise but works well with the fun and interesting cast that makes up the crew of Devlin’s Due. Unfortunately beyond that basic premise, there isn’t much to the story although there are several action scenes added in to give more weight to the story, but even these scenes felt disconnected and their purpose questionable. That’s not to say such scenes as the rescue and subsequent bar fight were not entertaining, but they seemed very much filler scenes to flesh out and lengthen the story than essential to the premise or characters.

There are quite a few men in the book from Rudy’s first crush Justin to the five men making up the crew and each are interesting, perhaps more so than Rudy himself. The good-hearted, friendly personalities wrapped in strength, power, and ability make for a group of striking and riveting men that fairly beg for stories of their own. However, each crew member moved in and out of scenes too fast and was virtually indistinguishable from one another for much of the story. Just as each began to have a solid presence, the short story ended and left me wanting more. Although Ike is arguably an important character as the attraction between he and Rudy is a central part of the story, his personality is very much left a mystery other than his interest in Rudy and capability and passion for sailing. Additionally, Ike’s vague responsibilities and relationship to the boat owner were only hinted at and never resolved. This left a wide hole in the potential relationship between Rudy and Ike, creating uncertainty if these two should even be together.

The character of Rudy was problematic as well as he simply wasn’t very strong of a character. He admits early on that he’s never encountered much discrimination before and although his financial situation causes him slight hardship, even this is easily glossed over. He seems to work hard and drift along but he rarely takes much initiative and displays a considerable amount of insecurity. An example is Rudy’s continued worry about his position on the boat and even making plans for his exit. This comes after he overhears the crew speaking positively about him on numerous occasions ~ even to the point the crew all vote for him to stay ~ yet his insecurity persists. Another example is Rudy’s approval seeking from the crew over whether he makes Ike happy. Considering he’s known these men less than a few days and Ike even less than that, Rudy still weakly seeks reassurance where none is conceivable. These are just two examples where the lack of a strong, decisive personality was at odds with the story.

Altogether, this reads as an introduction to characters and a story line rather than a fully developed book. The ending feels cut off with considerably more to address from all involved and I can’t help but ask for more from the author. The solid writing and clear research of sailing created a great backdrop to the story and has an authentic feel of the weather and passion for sailing. Fans of Munder’s will want to read this story for the eccentric and scene-stealing crew, which is enough to recommend the book, flaws and all. I just hope there are more installments to come instead of leaving these characters dangling.

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