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reviews_and_ramblings
The Eskimo Slugger by Brad BoneyGay Contemporary General Fiction
Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 29, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1632162261
ISBN-13: 978-1632162267
Amazon: The Eskimo Slugger
Amazon Kindle: The Eskimo Slugger
It’s the summer of 1983, and Trent Days is Major League Baseball’s rookie sensation. Born in Alaska to an Inupiat mother, the press have dubbed him the Eskimo Slugger, but a midseason collision at home plate temporarily halts his meteoric rise to the top.
Sent back to Austin to recuperate, Trent visits his favorite record store, Inner Sanctum, where he meets amiable law student Brendan Baxter. A skip in the vinyl of New Order’s “Blue Monday” drives Trent back to Brendan, and their romance takes them into uncharted territory.
As Trent’s feelings move from casual to serious, he’s faced with an impossible dilemma. Does he abandon any hope of a future with Brendan and return to the shadows and secrets of professional sports? Or does he embrace the possibility of real love and leave baseball behind him forever? As he struggles with his decision, Trent embarks on a journey of self-discovery—to figure out who he really is and what matters most.
Great character development. Plot was well thought out, very different. Overall writing style was strong.
This beautiful story of two hearts, two souls, two spirits, two beings, who we find were essentially fated to meet was thoroughly engaging and I don't just say that because I am a huge baseball fan and there were so many references to baseball greats and even the dreaded "Curse of the Bambino" that I would have fallen in love with the story for that alone. However, the author's brilliant and delightful ability to weave a story about baseball, fate, family, love, friendship, responsibility (personal and social), and homophobia, around romance and self-acceptance, blending in history as well makes for a supremely satisfying book... Up until that surprise at the end. Even though that was still in keeping with a well thought out plot and characters. However, I do feel as if the author should have shifted and altered things just a bit. I'm all for the surprise, twist endings, but letting the book end as it did with such an open-end, with a bisexual character after the twist that had just occurred is harsh and disappointing if there is no sequel to follow.
