I can't even really say for sure what I just listened to. Part Gothic tale, part love story complete with awkward triangle that seems to pop up out of nowhere, characters I sometimes had a hard time keeping track of who was who, voodoo(?), religious cults(?)... Sorry, this was just a hot mess of a story for me. To be honest, if I hadn't been listening to this as an audiobook, if I'd actually been reading the book, I probably wouldn't have finished it. I do feel like I've missed something here, given all the 5 star reviews, and I appreciate what Valancourt is doing by publishing these lost books of gay fiction, but this one just did not work for me.

Free Audible download from Valancourt Books in exchange for an honest review. ( )

A spectacular book. I picked it up years ago, but the beginning was too intense for me. I've since read some of his others and I went back to check it out again. It's off-the-charts great. Vivid characters, surprising contradictions, stellar writing. I rate it a 12 on a scale of 10. ( )