What a terrific book!

I am a creature of poorly designed habits when it comes to my reading. I'll have any number of books at any given time and will slowly make my way through them. Sometimes I read some of one, then a bit of another, then back and forth, unless one really grabs my attention and won't let go.

My tastes vary, as my recent readings can attest. I've bounced between a Clive Cussler novel, John Laurence's The Cat from Hue (a non-fiction account of his years in Vietnam as a journalist), Mark Acito's How I Paid for College and various other works.

In the "waiting to be read" stack were two books by someone I actually know, the charming Mr. Rob Byrnes. Despite my actually knowing and having shared drinks with Rob, his books were simply waiting their turn in the rotation. Now, if I had any brains, I would have read them a long time ago. Wouldn't you, if you knew the author? That would have been the smart thing to do, in case the subject came up in conversation.

Anyhow, I cracked open The Night We Met a couple of evenings ago. I already felt that Rob wrote well, just from reading his blog entries, but now I really know it! More important than his ability to string together well-constructed sentences and paragraphs is his ability to spin a really good story.

The Night We Met is a fun, page-turner of a tale. It's a rare book that I really don't want to put down. I do most of my book reading (as opposed to magazines and newspapers) before going to sleep. So I usually read a chapter or two each night, and it takes me weeks to get through a book.

Rob's The Night We Met took me three nights. Last night, I just couldn't stop. I stayed up until 4:15am to finish it. I really could have used a better night's sleep, but I just had to read the rest of it! To any younger readers of my blog who think staying up until 4:15 is no big deal, just give that a few years until you don't have to go out to bars anymore to get laid and have settled, hopefully, into domestic bliss. (That or just don't want to be up so late, as it takes a toll.) In this house, we're generally not awake at that hour! :)

I must admit that I approach many gay-themed novels with what I might call light-hearted trepidation. Light-hearted for my expectation of something fun to which I can relate. Trepidation because most such books are second-rate works. Not so in this case, and I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner.

I don't recall if I've ever recommended a book here before this one, but, if not, let this be the first. The Night We Met has fun, fear and romance, and it's a good solid yarn. Go buy it!

In a world where avid readers need to swim through seas of dreck (whether gay-themed or mainstream) to find the literary pearls, follow my lead and enjoy this book. It's worth every penny! Good work should be rewarded, as there's so little of it, so I repeat, buy it!