Title: Because of the Brave
Author: Laura Baumbach, Josh Lanyon, Z.A. Maxfield
Publisher: http://aspenmountainpress.com
Genre: Contemporary M/M,
Length: novel (162 pages)
Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5
Because of the Brave is an anthology of three contemporary stories written by Laura Baumbach (Designated Target), Z.A. Maxfield (Jumping Off Places), and Josh Lanyon (Until We Meet Once More).
This collection honors the men who served in the military and labored with the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The main characters are all Army Rangers who had fought for their country under often very difficult and dangerous conditions. Each story was quite different and while only Until We Meet Once More by Josh Lanyon had any direct enemy contact and firepower they were all unique in showing the bravery of these soldiers.
THE BLURB
In Laura Baumbach’s Designated Target a soldier returns to his commander’s hometown to tell his brother the truth about what happened in the field. Josh Lanyon’s Until We Meet Once More pits a Naval Academy graduate against the Taliban and his own repressed past. Finally in Z.A. Maxfield’s Jumping Off Places a soldier returns home to be with his dying mother and finds more than he bargained for in the place he’d hoped to never see again.
Designated Target by Laura Baumbach
Carson was volunteering in a soup kitchen over the holidays and he really didn’t feel that he had much for which to be thankful. His only remaining relative, his brother Jim, an Army Ranger, had been killed recently while on a mission and no one in the military would even tell him how Jim had died. All he had now were his dog tags and memories. To add insult to injury, a guy he had dated casually a couple of times had hit him and damaged his eye because Carson didn’t want to continue seeing him. His mood was certainly not festive but the man who walked into the soup kitchen was a sight for sore eyes, and Carson’s eye was definitely sore.
China, at 6 ft. plus of hard muscle was an alpha male from his head to his toes, and he reeked of “armed forces.” When he walked in Carson thought he had died and gone to heaven because it was rare that such a man paid any attemtion to someone like him, a 5 ft. 9 in. geek. The man kept staring at Carson’s eyes; eventually China struck up a conversation with him and it was apparent that there was a sexual connection between them, however Carson left for home alone. But outside the building his nemesis, Steve, the man who had given him the black eye, was waiting to continue the beating but his luck ran out when Carson and then his new friend who had been following him to return his gloves, gave Steve something he wouldn’t soon forget. Carson and China walked to his home after a brief visit at the cemetary for Carson to pay his respects to his brother. On arrival at his home Carson and China definitely hit it off and China told him a bit about his injuries which were evident when he took his clothes off. However, he didn’t fully explain he was on leave after a disastrous mission and Carson didn’t find out their close connection until a photograph made him question his trust in China.
Although this was a short story, Carson’s character was well developed and while China’s was a little less so it didn’t affect my enjoyment and the complexity that Laura Baumbach managed to weave into this little tale. What impressed me was how fiesty Carson was, despite his size and all the knocks he had received recently. It was clear that the ending of the story was only the beginning for Carson and China and I really liked this couple and admired how they both coped with adversity.
Jumping off Places by Z.A. Maxfield
Peter’s mother was dying and he came home only to say goodbye and to bury her when the time came. He was an Airborne Ranger on military leave because of her illness but he was uncomfortable with her dying, to the point where he avoided his mother for days, even though he decided to stay until she passed away. He accepted that death was inevitable because in his job death could come at any time, but he never pictured it the way his mother was dying at the end of an oxygen tube, waiting … and waiting….. and waiting. He spent his time working on restoring her vintage Road Runner because he really did not know how to deal with her illness and he couldn’t find a way to talk to her.
There was a complication in the person of her nurse, Robin, who had cared for Shelley, Peter’s mother, almost from the time she was diagnosed and really loved her. To Peter’s chagrin he was falling for Robin, who was not going to go back into the closet for anyone. He also had the dilemma of being the son of the town’s hero who had died while saving several children, and he did not want to tarnish his image by outing himself. But the mutual attraction between him and Robin would not go away and when they had sex it only made his situation worse because it was so wonderful. In the meantime his mother was getting more frail each day but he still could not find a way to tell her he loved her and all the things he wanted to, or express the emotions he was feeling about her impending death. In the end he did find the words and the emotions found a way of showing both Peter and his mother how love can bridge just about anything.
I loved Peter and Robin because they had both endured knocks in life but had managed to rise above them. At first I thought that Peter didn’t really care about his mother but it soon became obvious that he cared too much and just didn’t know how to handle the situation. Robin on the other hand, because of his profession, was comfortable around death and dying but he really loved Shelley, which made her passing difficult for him as well. Although this story sounds depressing, and it is in parts, it wasn’t totally dark and there were a few funny bits to relieve the theme of death and dying. Peter and Robin were complete opposites and the way they dealt with life in general reflected their personalities – Robin was quite upbeat despite being a black immigrant living in a redneck town, while Peter couldn’t seem to cope with his many problems until the very end when he showed that he had a backbone. Z.A. Maxfield did a great job on a depressing theme and I liked the way the story ended; I got the impression that Robin and Peter were going to make it, despite Peter’s job.
Until We Meet Once More by Josh Lanyon
This story is told partly in flashbacks from alternating points of view of both protagonists, although the main voice is that of Army Ranger Captain Vic Black who is based in Afghanistan. Vic, together with his team, is given the unenviable and extremely dangerous assignment of rescuing a Navy SEAL from certain death, under enemy surveillance and fire. When he is told who he has to rescue he is devastated because Lieutenant Commander Sean Kennedy is the only man he had ever loved and it seemed almost a certainty that Sean, if he had not already been killed by the Taliban, could be dead by the time they reached him.
The story then flipped back to 12 years ago as both Vic and Sean were training to be Navy SEALS . When Vic told Sean that he was going to apply to become an Army Ranger Sean became angry, and they parted not on the best of terms. But before that they had had a hot and steamy affair and both of them were seriously committed to each other although it appeared that Sean was more in love than Vic. Vic and Sean were equals in terms of their previous status in the Navy and they were extremely competitive and had a “no holds barred” relationship which I found very attractive.
The mission proved to be just as dangerous as expected and I loved the excitement and edge of your seat action which seemed quite realistic and gave this story an immediacy that was different from the others. The writing was crisp and I could feel the excitement and danger in the air and all around the protagonists and their team. This is another excellent story from the pen of Josh Lanyon.
Because of the Brave is very emotional on many levels and I think you will like the stories because of their diversity.
Fifteen percent of the sales of Because of the Brave sold through the Aspen Mountain Press website will be donated to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network between release and September 11th!
I liked this anthology a lot – except unlike you, Wave, I wasn’t that fond of Z.A. Maxfield’s story (though to be honest upfront, I’m not nearly as big a fan of her as many others are). I didn’t think it really dealt at all with the conflict of gays in the military – the issue Peter was facing just disappeared. And I found the protagonists really lacking in complexity, almost stereotypical – one dimensional, or perhaps more fairly, two dimensional. Not very interesting, at least. The potential racial issues between them, which would have made their relationship development at least a little more interesting, were never touched upon.
Then again, this is a problem I often have with her stories, particularly her relationship development; artifical seeming characters and no believable obstacles or conflict, even though the writing is often solid and the story premises promising.
But I truly enjoyed the first story – very moving – and loved Josh’s – so gripping, such fantastic tight writing, and I don’t know how he manages to consistently write the most engaging characters, who I always want more, more, more of. Definitely a worthwhile purchase!
(And I can’t figure out how to get spaces between my paragraphs, ack! Sorry!)
Hi Justacat
Thanks for commenting. First, I agree that ZAM did not touch on the racial aspect of the story or the conflicts of living with “don’t ask, don’t tell” except to introduce the issue of the blackmailer. But there were so many other issues already in this very short story – the depressing theme of a lingering death which made it rather grim, the focus on his relationship (or lack of one) with his mother, and the fact that Peter was biracial and felt inadequate trying to live up to his father’s reputation and image; the blackmailer wasn’t explored except in a very peripheral way, etc. – a very ambitious plot. Of all the stories I felt that this one would have benefitted from a longer format because, as you said, many of the issues on the table were not dealt with.
I find that writing short stories is very difficult except for the most skilled authors because inevitably they run out of their allotment of words and the story is half finished.
I did enjoy Josh’s story a lot and I think you could probably tell. I got a real rush with all the action and I have already read it again.:)
Laura’s story was also excellent – both the characters and the plot were solid and I enjoyed it.
It’s not you re the paragraphs – I think it’s the software. I can’t figure it out either.:) I’ll have to see if it’s something that can be corrected without causing more problems.
I bought this on the weekend, looking forward to reading it soon. Great authors and great reviews so far.
I loved this anthology and thought all three stories had their merits. It’s well worth the money and the fact that some of the proceeds are going to charity is an added bonus.
I loved to read something new from Laura Baumbach! Josh was good as always 🙂
Josh was brilliant as always, but actually in my very own book he had to fight with ZA Maxfield for the top slot. In contrast to the first reviewer I loved her story. Yes, it wasn’t about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (I didn’t know it had to be), or at least only obliquely, but it was a strong story.
The story I struggled with, even though it was still very good, was Laura Baumbach’s. I liked Carson, loved (like previous reviewers) the fact that though at first glance he seemed a little delicate or fragile, he actually turned out to be feisty and definitely not willing to give in to anybody. But on the other hand to me China never really became a 3D person. Though probably I was also influenced by the atrocious editing – sadly this story was particularly afflicted by spelling errors.
As always, great review Wave!
I really loved the whole anthology. All three stories had distinctly different voices and dealt with different life issues and I enjoyed them all.
I thought that ZAM was deliberately leaving some of the issues on the sidelines, because if I were in this situation, this is how I would feel. The racial issue wasn’t as important to the protagonists because they had already experienced and dealt with racism having lived with it for years. It was discussed briefly when they talked about the potential difficulties of being openly gay in *this* town with the statement regarding being black, an immigrant and gay. They then moved on to the more immediate and pressing issues. The situation with the blackmailer (the don’t ask, don’t tell part) was left open. Hsu made the decision on how to handle the situation and accepted the possible consequences. The story finishes without showing us what happened when Hsu goes back to the base, leaving all of the possibilities open. I really liked this approach. Not every issue needs to be resolved especially in a short story; sometimes the character will have something that will be a lifelong struggle or may end their careers. This seemed like a cross between HEA and HFN; knowing that things may be really rough and we may not be happy a lot of the time, but at least we have each other. Not for everybody, but I really enjoyed reading the different style.
Great review, Wave.
I loved Josh’s story. It was by far the best of the three. It read almost like an action movie and I only wish it had been longer.
ZAM’s was nice but I felt didn’t really touch too much on the ‘military’ theme. Nice characters but the ending left me with questions as to Peter’s future. Unless it’s a series I hate finishing a book that way.
Laura’s I didn’t like too much which was strange as I’ve always found her writing fabulous. The editing was atrocious in her story and the fact that they didn’t use a condom, and I reread the scene several times, made this one my least favorite of all her stories that I’ve read.
Hi Lily
I’m with you on Josh’s story! It was erxciting from start to finish.
Re Laura’s book and the issue of the editing – I did notice it but since part of the proceeds of sales of this book is going to charity I didn’t mention mention it. As to the condom, a number of M/M authors aren’t bothering to include it (other than the first time). I guess they figure we all know about safe sex so there’s no need to do so.
Amie
I usually try to give an author some leeway with short stories because inevitably they run out of words to close all the loops, due to the publisher’s word count.
Sure there were holes in some of the stories but I went easy on the book because some of the proceeds were for a charity.
I really enjoyed your review, as I always do. (Why I visit every day I guess. 🙂 )
I’m sorry Wave; I should have addressed my comment on the ZAM story to Justacat. I do tend to try and show the other children what I like about something so maybe they can enjoy it as much as I did. *sheepish smile* I may come across as pushy, overly opinionated or strident. I don’t mean to, I’m just over enthusiastic. I’m an optimist about these kinds of things since my own opinion can be changed with an alternate view or the idea that something was done deliberately and not poor writing. Sometimes I’ll re-read something with a different light on it and find that I like it after all the second time around. (I too ignored spelling errors and the like because this was for such a good cause.)
Amie
No worries. I realize that your points were mostly focused on Justacat’s comments. She did have valid points about ZAM’s characters but it’s difficult to write a short story with as much plot as there was in this one and tie up every loose end. The only fix would have been a much longer story but that would not have fit into the word count parameters of the anthology.
Everyone likes different things when they read a book and what you love someone else may feel is not worth the paper the book is printed on and vice versa. At least both of you enjoyed most of the stories in the anthology.
So true Wave! Variety is the spice of life. If everyone was exactly the same, wouldn’t life be *really* boring? 😉
I’m very bad at tracking comments; I didn’t mean to abandon this thread! And I know it’s a bit late now, so just a brief response… I do understand very well that there’s not as much room in a short story for full character development or conflict resolution. There are many shorter stories whose authors choose not to deal with certain conflicts, or whatever, and I have no – or little – issue with that, still love the story. This is more specific to ZAM – as I said upfront, I am simply not a big fan of hers. I tend to find her characters flat and her relationships artificial; in almost every story of hers I’ve read, something just feels…off, something I’m not able to articulate well, even though her writing is pretty solid and she often has interesting storylines. It all happens too fast, or something; I’m not quite sure – it (the relationship) just feels artificial to me. That’s the best word (though I think I need to do a bit more thinking about exactly what it is I don’t like). I’m always surprised at how many people rate her work so highly – but we each have our own tastes and preferences, of course!
So anyway, in light of that, her failure to deal with certain loose ends, etc., simply stands out to me more than it would with an author whose characters I found more engaging, or who created relationships that “hooked” me – if that makes sense! Plus, there’s the fact that her story simply didn’t feel “military” enough for me in an anthology that purports to have that as its very premise.
Nonetheless – this anthology is definitely worth reading; I totally agree with that.