Kirkus Reviews QR Code
A HIGH COUNTRY TALE by Zachariah Jack

A HIGH COUNTRY TALE

by Zachariah Jack

Pub Date: Sept. 22nd, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9980990-1-9
Publisher: CreateSpace

A novel chronicles the uninhibited adventures of two interracial gay couples meandering their way through Austin, Texas, and elsewhere.   

It all starts out so innocently: the foursome, dreamed up by prolific author Jack (The Mandrakes, 2017, etc.), includes longtime couple Luke Cevennes, an emergency room physician, and “Nubian prince,” university philosophy teacher, and single father Jeremy Kell. Alongside the pair are Jake Marshall, also an ER doctor, and his daring software entrepreneur partner, Cal Broadhearst. All enjoy one another’s company and energetic lifestyles, which contribute to their “ripped” physiques, with the major difference being that Luke and Jeremy prefer the bustle and variety of the city as opposed to Jake’s and Cal’s more placid rural life. The Supreme Court’s landmark same-sex marriage decision paves the way for both couples to plan their nuptials in the Colorado mountains, but a hot air balloon wedding and honeymoon intimacies aren’t the only things on their minds. Chattily narrated by Luke and Jake, the story strays from their marital bliss with the integration of a series of hardcore, graphic sexual situations that veer the book into the gay-erotica arena, complete with oversized genitalia, truck-stop sex, and gritty, provocative language (“Who says the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?”). Their collective escapades move seamlessly from a cabin hideaway in Telluride for Luke and Jeremy to Rome, Georgia, where Jake and Cal vacation, with each man driven by his insatiable libido and easily distracted by the scent of marijuana, the sight of oversized feet, or the smooth seduction of the nearest handsome stranger. Some readers may question how this behavior equates to gay marriage, but Luke seems to speak for the group when declaring, “My ambivalence to the concept of monogamy was well known.” Supporting characters drift in and out of the long-winded narrative periodically, including a pack of voracious bears, but they all take a back seat to the orgies of the fab four. Whether or not readers consider unbridled gay sex palatable or not, Jack remains a consistently engaging storyteller and amply embodies his characters with personality, carnal appeal, and enough opinionated social criticism to make them appealing and realistically drawn.

Definitely not for the timid, this Bacchanalian confection conjoins two gay couples, a drenching of explicit sex, and enough drama and sweat to please fans of the ribald and the raunchy.