The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Book Three of the "Tigers and Devils" series
Eight years out. Simon Murray and Declan Tyler are a well-established couple, and their world has settled into a sort of normal.

This would be sort of, well, dull, if not for Sean Kennedy’s excellent handling of…banter. Yes, banter—the kind of daily back and forth, between Dec and Simon, between them and their friends Roger and Fran, and amongst all the folks who inhabit this particular vision of Melbourne, Australia.

There is a rather sit-com feeling to this book, and that’s not a criticism. Yes, we have the evil Jasper Brunswick back, doing his nefarious deeds; and we have the troublesome teenager, Micah Johnson, an involuntarily out star-to-be in the Aussie football (soccer) world (which, in Australia, is a HUGE thing).

There is adventure here, but it is small-time adventure; it is the trauma of trying to find happiness and build a life in a world where not everyone finds you acceptable, much less laudable.

For all the banal goings-on in this third of Sean Kennedy’s “Tigers” series, there is a profound sense of community and emotional peace. This is (wait for it) Jane Austen as transferred to modern-day Australia, starring urban gay men instead of genteel country folk.

Seriously, it’s a perfect analogy. The book is gentle, wryly comic, and startlingly realistic.

I have put “Tigers and Devils” back on my Kindle, because I want to reread it. I want to see who Simon and Declan were eight years ago—when they were in their twenties and Declan was still in the closet. “Tigers on the Run” won’t be as meaningful if you haven’t read the previous two books, but it’s a lovely read all on its own.