Genre: Romance, Dark, Thriller
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Maryann
Get It On Amazon
About The Book
Fresh out of school, Dr. Crane takes on a new patient who both intrigues and unnerves him. Charming, manipulative, and amoral, Max has exactly the sort of mind Crane finds himself drawn to with fictional characters. As Max weaves himself into Crane’s life, Crane realizes that while fiction might be safe, Max certainly is not. When the professional line between them thins, who gets to define where one man ends and the other begins?
Warnings: abuse, mind games, drugs, alcohol, lying, cheating, crime, dubcon, violence
The Review
Dr. Dennis Crane has been married to Mary for fifteen years. As a nurse, she works hard on the night shift at the hospital. Crane earned all his qualifications as therapist, and now has a job at the psychology clinic. He feels like the new guy, as he’s only been there for five weeks with just a few clients.
One of his clients is Max. A young man who claims he has taedium vitae – that he’s tired of life.
Crane is bored with Max, and concentrates on counting Max’s tics. Max can go from charming to aggressive in a heartbeat. But what catches Cranes attention is Eddie. Max believes he has an imaginary friend – Eddie is nice, shy, friendly very different from Max. Crane is curious about how Eddie effects Max’s reality.
Then things start to cross the line with Max. Crane is worried he will lose everything: his home life, career, and himself – to changes that he may never recover from. How much will Crane be able to take, or is he at his limit? Will Max destroy him?
The audio for “Max” is brilliantly narrated by Nick Russo. He does superb voices for Dennis Crane and the other characters in the story, bringing out the frustration, anger, humiliation and other feelings, especially in Dr. Crane. But what he does with Max is incredible. He gives Max a boyish, charming, sing-song voice, and every time Max speaks, you can almost see his evil smirk. I’ve listened to other books narrated by Russo, but with Max, he really gets into character and makes you believe it.
Deckard spins a dark thriller set in the world of psychology and dark mind trips. This novel is not for everyone, covering depravity, evil, manipulation, drugs, erotica, sexuality, addictions and co-dependency. I was torn – did I like or hate Max? Poor Dennis Crane is left wondering – Is everything that’s happening in his mind, or is it real and what he truly desires?
I usually discuss the secondary characters here, but with this story there’s no need. This story is all about Max and Crane, and no one can overshadow them.
I highly recommend this nerve-wracking read… if you dare.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.
