This story was really sweet and also dealt with a serious social justice issue as well. One not even connected to gay culture. This story is also dealing with custody issues within the Native American community. There was a really nice blend of the romantic elements of the story and the social commentary. I really enjoyed Jerry and John’s romance as both were lovely guys looking for something more in their lives.Jerry Lincoln moved back to Sioux Falls to help his grandfather at the end of his life. The move came at the perfect time in his life, he needed to leave San Francisco anyway to get away from some issues. Staying in Sioux Falls after his grandfather’s death though was never the initial plan. Yet his company has been doing well and as he owns an IT consulting business he can work anywhere. Now he’s got more work than he can handle and it’s time to think about hiring himself some help.John Black Raven is proud of the job he’s done putting himself through college and getting his AA. He’s taught himself a lot of what he knows about computers. While he’s never had a job in an IT field yet, he’s confident in his skills. The chance to work with Jerry is incredible and his attraction to the man more than a bit distracting. The temptation isn’t one he’s sure he can make a move on though as his focus in life has to be on gaining custody of his sister’s children who were placed in foster care after her death. I really enjoyed these two together. Both men were mellow and not without their own issues, but they complimented each other well. Their strengths were offset and allowed them to be each other’s support system when they needed it. I really enjoyed how nonjudgmental Jerry was and his willingness to just throw himself into helping John right the wrong done his family in the run around the state is giving John in getting his niece and nephew into his custody. The biggest reason this story looses a star for me is the shift in tone about half way through the story. The first half is all about the IT business and what is going on in Jerry’s life, where he comes from, what he’s looking for out of life. After he gets over his hesitation to go for the chance with John though everything switches to John’s problems. While we don’t see a lot of the Indian culture in John’s background his focus is on preserving that for his niece and nephew. Suddenly everything is about the oppression being forced on the Native American populace by a corrupt government office seeking to benefit from the financial gain removing Indian children from their homes gives them. While I appreciated the social justice aspects of this story, I just wish everything had been a little bit better integrated. The switch was drastic without any balance between the two. I would have liked to see more of the IT bleed into the custody battle and the custody battle into the office. The secondary characters in this story were lovely and rich as well though. I enjoyed John and Bryce’s friendly relationship in the office and Jerry’s friendships with the other openly gay couple in town. It was a bit more than coincidental though that every character we like in this story other than the women are all gay. I would have enjoyed at least one straight man standing up for what is right. Mr. Grey does do a good job though of presenting his social justice agenda in a non preaching manner. He presents things in a clear picture without making the reader feel like they are being talked down to, preached at, or condemned. He’s brought the reader’s attention to an issue that is morally repugnant and made it clear how wrong the idea is. I appreciated that this wasn’t just an issue of gay rights but a human rights issue. Altogether this story is lovingly told with very sweet likeable characters. I enjoyed both the MC’s and their relationship as well as the host of secondary characters and the children. It’s a light easy read that still manages to present the issues it deals with in a clear concise light without needing to beat the reader over the head with them. I enjoyed the book very much and will look to read more in the future. The book's description pushed it right to the top of my reading list, but sadly like the other Grey book I read, "A Shared Range", I found it nearly unreadable. The basic story-line was sound but the execution utterly failed. Fans of Grey describe his books as relaxing, while to me they just seem boring. I do, however, appreciate that Grey is trying to shed some light on a very sad issue and he does appear to have done his research.Grey's style of writing calls for all intriguing and potentially dramatic material to be glossed over so that he can devote pages to describing utterly mundane tasks that have no baring on the story and do nothing to illuminate any of the characters. He has a remarkable ability to completely drain all drama from a scene, leaving in his wake a lifeless string of words. All of his character are cardboard cutouts lacking motivation, history, desires or emotions blankly marching through the threadbare plot. The dialogue is unnatural and all of the character's have the same voice. To make matters worse, the prose is stilted, utilizing a vocabulary and sentence structure more suited to fifth graders than adult readers.
What do You think about The Good Fight (2012)?
as is usual with his books brilliant a really good fight
—carolyn
