The Heartbreaker

Not the kind of book I'd normally read, but Susan Howatch is an excellent author. This is the third in her St Benet's trilogy, and features a male prostitute called Gavin.

It's suspenseful, sleazy (though never TOO overtly explicit), horrific in places, yet somehow gripping and exciting despite my general dislike of the genre. A low-key Christian theme runs through part of the book.

Gay prostitute finds God.

If only it were that simple, and thank God Howatch leaves most of the complications of a faith journey in this book. yes he does find God, kind of, but he also finds life, and in some pretty surprising places.

This is part three in a trilogy set around a Christian healing centre.

Gavin tells himself that's he's happy with his life as a high-class leisure worker (prostitute) but when he meets City lawyer Carta his life starts to change.

It's a story about Christian redemption and for that reason I didn't entirely get on with it.

*Spoilers*

The first and second parts of the book have some exciting moments, as Gavin realises that his situation is a trap that puts him physically at risk, not just from the sex, and he lays his plans to escape. The main plot (for me) reached its climax at the end of part two when Gavin finds out the extent of the danger he is in and makes a risky escape. There were some very tense moments which were all resolved at show more the end of this section.

Part three was entirely centred around Gavin's emotional and spiritual redemption following his escape. As I don't share the author's views on human psychology or spirituality, this fell rather flat for me. Personally, I would have cut the book by a third. show less

I am a big fan of this Anglican Church-psychodrama series, but this one kind of gives me the ick.
I don't like how she writes her gay characters.

This was the third in a series, a fact I hadn't known. Even so, I didn't like the characters at all!

Sequel to "High Flyer"