I've been following Colleen Coover's art for some time now, and am always interested when artists expand upon their creativity into new arenas. I will admit that had I not been familiar with Coover's work, I would probably not have read this story. Being a fairly stereotypical heterosexual geek type, romance stories in general and homosexual stories with some graphic sex specifically aren't exactly on my radar.
That said, for her first prose work, Coover has established a very promising future for herself in fiction writing. The story was compelling and intriguing, and the characters were well developed (not easy to do in only a few pages) and likable. While one major element is the sex scene, despite my apparent trepidation on my part going in to the story knowing this scene existed, Coover handled it brilliantly. At no point did I succumb to my "straight-ness" and feel the need to stop reading. Making a pathetic straight dude like myself enjoy something that is supposed to offend me has to be considered as a notch in Coover's belt.
Coover led up to the sex with a wonderfully descriptive bar scene that introduces in a very easy manner the primary characters. She lays out in almost no time a very rich environment featuring characters that one is almost sad to see not continue in the story. It isn't easy to craft a story for just a few pages where you find yourself wanting more of the world presented simply because all of the characters are so likeable or compelling.
The bar scene gives way to a sexual encounter between our hero, Dean, and someone he spots across the dance floor at the bar. This encounter is woven into the story very well, and is treated almost as a red herring to the plot. I leave it to you to read the story and hopefully key in on what I mean.
Coover is a phenomenal artist and her graphic work runs the gamut of themes, and I expect her to experiment in just as wide a range with her prose. This is a very nice first effort that has few (if any, really) flaws and I believe indicative of the talent that Coover has only just begun to tap.
As I have with her artwork, I will certainly continue to read whatever she shares with the public, and I cannot wait for the next ride. (Pun not intended.)
JRD
(reviewed 15 days after purchase)