Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Stodgy British archivist Henry Percival-Smythe slaves away in the dusty basement of Ealing College in 1934, the only bright spot in his life his obsession with a strange Australian mammal, the thylacine. It has been hunted to the edge of extinction, and Henry would love nothing more than to help the rare creature survive.

Then a human whirlwind spins through his door. Jack "Dingo" Chambers is also on the hunt for the so-called "Tasmanian Tiger," although his reasons are far more altruistic. Banding together, Dingo and the newly nicknamed Dash travel halfway around the globe in their quest to save the thylacine from becoming a footnote in the pages of biological history.

While they search high and low, traverse the wilds, and fight the deadliest of all creatures-man-Dash and Dingo will face danger and discover another fierce passion within themselves: a desire for each other.

BOOK REVIEW:
Dash and Dingo: In Search of the Tasmanian Tiger is an interesting, well-researched historical novel set in the 1930s in England and Australia, but primarily in Tasmania. Henry Percival-Smythe, bespectacled and boring disappointment to his family, is obsessed with the reputedly extinct thylacine, colloquially called the Tasmanian tiger. When Jack Chambers (call me 'Dingo') drops in to recruit him for a trip to seek the thylacine, to try to preserve it from extinction, Henry does something completely out of character ~ he decides to go.

Dingo immediately takes charge of the expedition, hooking them a ride on an airplane by serving as co-pilot and nicknaming Henry 'Dash' because of his hyphenated name. Henry is simultaneously terrified and entranced by Dingo, not in the least because he finds him sexually attractive. However, in 1934, being queer simply wasn't done, so he carefully hides that part of himself, unaware that Dingo is doing the same.

The two travel to Australia, where Dingo's family welcomes Dash enthusiastically, to prepare to travel to Tasmania. However, the government, in the form of the evil Clarence Hodges, is working to block them at every turn. Their trip into the rain forest of Tasmania turns out to be an amazing and dangerous adventure. If this were a movie, it would be a gay Indiana Jones searching for the lost thylacine. Entwined with the adventure is a tentative, growing to unexpectedly vigorous, romance between Dingo and Dash.

This book is very straightforward about the depredations of the encroaching colonists on the indigenous peoples of Tasmania, as well as on the flora and fauna. Written some seventy years after the events depicted, the authors depict a paradise lost, an indigenous people decimated by thoughtless (or worse, opportunistic) settlers.

This longer novel, over 300 pages in its paperback format, is an appealing reading experience, especially if you are a fan of historical fiction. Dingo and Dash are engaging characters, deftly presented. This book is a bit of a departure from previous books for the two authors, Catt Ford and Sean Kennedy. They have done a beautiful job of seamlessly joining their writing styles. The book is entertaining, sexy, adventurous and colorful. You won't go wrong choosing this story.

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