Man in the Box (Uncut) - Part 1: The Perfect Man by Fergie BoyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is currently free on Smashwords, so I would recommend you make the most of that now! This is gay porn not m/m romance, so you've been warned!
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
The hero is a Scot who wins Wimbledon and promptly announces he is gay. It was written long before Andy Murray accomplished the feat, but I wouldn't mind betting he provided inspiration for the tennis and physical side of things even if not the sexual!
None of the characters are real. From what I can gather, there aren't even specific parallels, more amalgams and bits of players to create Lewis McNair's own distinct Universe.
Even though it's not meant to be instructive or even a polemic fighting for justice, anyone wondering why so few high profile gay sports people come out, only need to read this book to understand. The scenario may have been done before, but the teasing way the narrator addresses the reader, while jumping back and forth in time gives the book (and the series) a distinct edge.
There is enough sex and fantasizing about sex to glibly dismiss this as gay porn, but intertwined through this and the other books in the series is a touching tale about a number of characters. Sure, the star is Lewis and his search for the perfect man, but along the way we get to know all the people his life brushes up against in all their strengths and weaknesses.
Usually I don't like head hopping, but in this case, I was quite happy to briefly jump into minor characters' heads.
There is a lovely understanding of people's needs and wants. Their fears and fantasies. The perfect may not really be perfect but even in their imperfection, each has their own qualities.
The only negative niggle I had was the number of very explicit fantasies the characters have. Maybe that's the point though. Closeted gay men or men who have limited sexual options do spend a lot of their time thinking about sex. In detail. In great detail!
Apart from a few homophonic typos, the writing quality is fluid and easy to read so don't let them put you off. I gather from correspondence that we've had that the author intends to re-edit and re-publish the series later in the year.
Fergie Boy is the pseudonym of a writer who also publishes under the names Jack Brighton and Tom Farrell. Each incarnation writes books in a slightly different tone. The Fergie Boy stories which originaly appeared on a website Gay Boy Books are highly erotic but not specifically BDSM in nature. Tom Farrell's books fall into two categories: 'Flaming Hot Gay Erotica' and 'Flaming Hot Gay BDSM'. Both collections are softer than Jack Brighton's normal work - the 'Erotica' collection much more so. But it is still Jack Brighton - his ideas and his style.
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