Freeman by Clare London

[reviews_and_ramblings]

At first Freeman comes out like one of those characters from an old noir movie, a man tired of life with nothing or noone of important in his life, who tries to drown his sorrow in a glass of spirit. And so at first Freeman comes out also older and disenchanted; when he meets Kit, it's like an old lion with a young kitty, Freeman is all low growls that never turn in real danger, and Kit is like a burst of energy, like a bouncing ball that Freeman has no more the energy to follow. And so at first I didn't like Freeman, since Kit was obviously in danger and Freeman seemed to care but really he didn't do nothing to real help him: Kit entered and exited Freeman's house, and when he was there he was safe, but when he went out, we knew that he was in danger. We even witnessed to a very sad scene, through Freeman's eyes, and we had to turn the shoulders to that scene since Freeman turned them. It was not exactly what I would like to see from an "hero", but Freeman is not an usual hero.

In a way, Freeman did the right thing, since Kit is a runaway kid, and he is running away from being an adult. He has to mistake and he has to find the force to do the right thing, by himself, since only in that way he will grew. Kit is always ready to accuse Freeman to treat him like a kid, but probably Freeman is the only one who doesn't do that. You tell to a kid what to do, and instead you give to an adult all the elements to decide what to do; Freeman is doing so with Kit, he is making him take his choices. Only that, unfortunately, before taking them, he will have to go through a very bad period in his life.

Due to this, this novel has a very dark mood in it, a mood that will always remain, even when the things will turn good for Kit. I often associate the mood of the book to the weather, and even if it's not clearly said, I always felt, reading the book, as if it was a dark night, without moon, or a covered day, with the sun that never really managed to come out from the clouds. Actually the only sunny moments are those when Kit is in the room, since he seems to have an interior light that never goes out, even when he is kept under the thumb of an evil man. Maybe this difference in behavior, Kit so open and exposed, and Freeman instead so dark and mourning, gives that first impression of a greater age difference between them, when instead there are less than 10 years. There is another things that linked them but has a different evolution: of both Freeman than Kit we don't know the real name for a big part of the book (Kit is from kid), and in the end, we will know Kit real name, but not that of Freeman: we will know all of his past, even maybe the reason why he is called Freeman, but we will not know if Freeman is a real surname, if it is a nickname... till the end the dark behavior of Freeman will be confirmed as well as it will be the one more sunny of Kit.

There is quite an originality in the way the author deals with the development of Freeman; usually the normal development of a mourning hero is to find the "light" in the arms of his beloved. Here instead, Freeman doesn't radically change, he more or less, remains the same mysterious man, since the mourning him was not a consequence of a some bad experience in his past: from what we know, he was always like that and he always faced the life with a silent and deadly approach, he takes home the job and moves to another one, always in silence, always without giving too much explanations or asking too much questions. Maybe the difference this time it will be that he will take away with him a bit of sun to light his cloudy day.

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Comments

[mikeyidaho.livejournal.com]

oh wow :-D
I love livejournal where one can get response from the author themselves :-)
Yes, Freeman felt very special (m/m fiction wise), exactly what would a more-experienced reader wish for - an interesting story and great character even without the 'gay factor' :-D (highly appreciate not messing with the POV - first person for the main character only seems to be working somehow the best - Adrien English or Victor Bayne).
Like you said, it's working like any good thriller fiction with 'straight' hero would, that's what Erastes/Beecroft/Rowan are doing in historical fiction, Josh Lanyon and Jordan Castillo Price (Psy-Cop series) in mystery/detective stories and that's why they're the best authors out there...(& a few other writers for contemporary).

Loved your shorty 'In The Closet' too :-D very funny (another point of originality as m/m ladies tend to be rather pathetic than amusing).
Looking forward very much for your next books!
xxx