David R. Slayton

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Guthrie was a good place to be from, but it wasn’t a great place to live, not when you were like Adam, in all the ways Adam was like Adam.

Adam Binder hasn’t spoken to his brother in years, not since Bobby had him committed to a psych ward for hearing voices. When a murderous spirit possesses Bobby’s wife and disrupts the perfect life he’s built away from Oklahoma, he’s forced to ask for his little brother’s help. Adam is happy to escape the show more trailer park and get the chance to say I told you so, but he arrives in Denver to find the local magicians dead.

It isn’t long before Adam is the spirit’s next target. To survive the confrontation, he’ll have to risk bargaining with powers he’d rather avoid, including his first love, the elf who broke his heart.

The Binder brothers don’t realize that they’re unwitting pawns in a game played by immortals. Death herself wants the spirit’s head, and she’s willing to destroy their family to reap it.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Kinda like Harry Dresden and October Daye had a gay son.

Brothers Adam and Robert (Bobby growing up) have a troubled, lower-class upbringing in common. They're as different as chalk and cheese, with Robert running as far and as fast from his background as he can; Adam, well...he wasn't given the luxury of that choice. Robert even had him slung into the psych ward because he was "hearing voices."

It never occurred to Robert they were real.

As this story opens, the brothers are reconnecting (not very willingly) because Robert's had to confront the "hearing voices" he so thoroughly denied was reality, was not hallucination.

"People aren't less just because they don't live the way you do."
"I didn't say that," Robert said.
"You think it," Adam said. "You think we're all trash because we don't have nice cars and ugly houses. Life isn't just about money."

I squirmed for Bobby-that-was; I was just as accused as he was. I'd want my weirdo little brother who "hears things" to get fixed, to be normal, just like Robert does...just like Bobby did. In spite of the fact Robert needs Adam's "weirdness" to cope with his own wife's, um, unusual (murderous, possessed) behavior with that weirdness. Adam should be able to help, right? Well, yeah, there's a lot under the bridge between them, they're ultimately branches from the same unhappy, unloving mother and runaway father, so Adam will help:

He thought back on all the clear signs that Annie loved Bobby... If Adam had that, he wouldn't make the guy his second priority. He'd—well, he didn't really know what he'd do with a guy in the long term. He'd be like the dog who finally caught the car.

It's worth noting that Adam isn't worried about being gay, hiding being gay, or denying he is who he is. Big bonus points. No, he doesn't know what he'd do with a guy, long term; but not because he's a guy but because Adam's never been able to do more than scratch out day-to-day survival. Poverty has no sexual preferences. He's been locked up and treated for schizophrenia (those voices now acknowledged as real by Robert) for long enough that the idea of a forever (or more than a night) with a guy he loves is far out of his reach.

But once upon a time, before the hospital, there was a certain someone; an elf, one who lives in Denver among his kind, so there's a good personal reason to help Robert in spite of Bobby's long-ago betrayal....

It's a joy to go here with a QUILTBAG sibling, one struggling with anger, one whose "voices" are real but give him only the most limited abilities that he now has to level up to help Robert. And maybe their vanished bastard-wizard father can finally be found. But about that love long gone...well, now he's gone and hooked himself to this cop who was about to be offed, and now they're...it's getting...the situation is...

...complicated. Like the story itself. But all in a good way, honest. Vic the cop and Adam the low-power witch anf Robert the rotten brother with real, honest motives, are all learning as they go, are discovering they're in a very different situation than the one they saw themselves as being in.

And that's why it's a series. show less

4.5 stars.
This was a deep-dive, character-driven story set in a well-realized world of magic laid masterfully over contemporary reality in true urban fantasy style.

The main character, Adam, is a young man from Oklahoma who travels to Denver, Colorado at the behest of his estranged brother, Bobby. Slayton does a wonderful job creating a tension-filled relationship between the brothers, full of memories of love overlaid with guilt and betrayal. Adam and Bobby/Robert were both well developed, show more nuanced, and easy to connect with. I particularly liked the way the brothers each made realizations and assumptions about the other as they viewed shared experiences through very different filters. Secondary characters were equally well-written, each with unique personalities and functional roles.

The world building was convincing and compelling. While anchored in real places (easily recognizable if you know the area), the way Slater portrayed the twisted, fun house mirror aspect of the spirit world was masterfully done. There were hints of a deep, rich history that I hope gets thoroughly explored in later books. The magic system was familiar, yet carried its own flavor, making it at once comfortable and intriguing for longtime readers of the genre. I loved that Adam was not a badass, he survives by trying to avoid conflict and stay off the radar of bigger, badder magical beings that could swat him like a bug.

The one hiccup I had was that the book could have used a little more editing. All books have some typos and such, but this had more than I could easily ignore. Still, the story and characters carried me through to a satisfying ending. I'll definitely be continuing this series. show less

I knew nothing about this book when I began reading it. Sometimes, I like to do that so I don't have preconceived ideas about an author or their work. I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed this debut fantasy by David R. Slayton.

Adam has magic in him. He is able to see the "spirit world" and heard voices when he was younger. As a result, he was put in a psychiatric inpatient school by his brother and his mother after the disappearance of his father. When the novel begins, Adam is living with show more his Aunt Sue and her cat, Spider in Guthrie, OK. He's estranged from the rest of his family and doesn't want anything to do with them in the future.

Everything changes when Adam's older brother, Bobby texts him because he needs help. It turns out that Bobby's wife has become ill and Bobby thinks the illness is of a magical nature. After years of silence, the only person who can help Bobby and Annie is Adam.

"All things lead to Denver," is the hint that Adam receives and he heads out to help his brother. Once there, Adam discovers a creature far beyond his capability has taken hold of his sister-in-law and the true battle begins.

The world that Slayton has chosen for his novel is very interesting. Magic works in patterns, the spirits of the watchtower are real entities, and there are a wide variety of other magical beings. The Elves are intriguing: haughty, vegan, extremely powerful, and protective of others. There are Leprechauns guarding one of the watchtowers: tricksters, bargain makers and they like to get what they're after. There are a lot of creatures and beings in this novel that are intriguing and it seems we may see more of them later as this series continues.

"Magic is life" in this story. There's not a lot of explanation regarding magic and where it comes from. As the series unfolds, there may be more opportunities for the author to reveal some of the structure of the magical system. It's clear that Adam Binder has a role to play in the magical world and this book is setting up many more potential stories.

Adam has a complicated life on the "real" side of the world. He's connected by accident to a police officer he meets at his brother's hospital. He had a very emotional relationship with an Elf in the past that he discovers may have been much more than he knew at the time. His mother and his brother are distant from Adam with reasons of their own. No spoilers here but ... this family has been through a lot and will continue down the same path for a while to come.

For those of you interested in reading books with queer content then this one is a treat. The fact that Adam is gay isn't the entire plot of the novel. This is one of those wonderful books in which the characters just are what they are and that's not the plot. Bravo!

The novel is well-paced and has some quirky dialogue that I enjoyed. I always give extra points for any author who can work in a reference to the movie, "Se7en" as well! "What's in the box??" show less

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: From bestselling author David R. Slayton, Redneck Revenant is an exciting new chapter in the Adam Binder series.

Adam Binder’s life has never been better. Sure, he has no money, no car, no home to call his own, and he’s worried about creating a future with his boyfriend Vic, but he’s closer to his family than ever before. He’s also Page to the Elven Court of Swords, and that appointment is not without its perks—like the invisible sword show more strapped to his back.

But on Halloween night, Adam’s life takes a disturbing turn. Annie, his brother’s long-lost wife, turns up on her husband’s doorstep alive and well, with no memory of her death. But is it really Annie, or a Trojan horse from some new magical enemy?

To uncover the truth, Adam will need help from those he loves most—as well as a couple of friends at Rogue Community College. As he navigates a perilous maze of magical politics and battles terrifying creatures from beyond the known realms, Adam will discover a secret darker and more unsettling than anything he could have imagined.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Oh sure. Why not go into the straight people's traumadrama?

I'm glad to say I wrapped up my reading experience with some sustained Vic-and-Adam time, at least, seeing the way I've been cheated of it for most of the series. I'll give Adam and Vic my biggest props for, when they have page time to do it, really digging in to their love as a source of sustenance, frustration, irritation, and happiness...just like the real thing. It's also heartwarming that they're still, well, underclass guys not magically somehow without financial worries or suddenly imbued with a frictionless path forward. The way they handle being in therapy...! Big ups!

So what's this crap with Bobby's Annie coming back from the dead for another bite of the apple? It's not a twist I saw coming; so good for that; but it's not a relationship I care about, so I'm out.

This is obviously the start of the Rogue College books that I won't be reading. It's clear that most people do not share my sense of "this ain't what I want" so go! go! go! Author Slayton. Succeed and bring joy.

Not to me, sad to say. show less