In a future where the United States has split along party lines, Agent Matt Tennimore's job is to get people out of the Confederated Red States, whether they're captured special ops agents from his own country or gay CRS citizens who've petitioned for asylum. He never expected to have to retrieve his high school crush, aka the guy who ostracized him for being gay.
Rescuing James Ayala isn't going to be easy: he's crawling with tracking nanos and has a cybernetic brain implant that's granted him psychic power he isn't sure how to control. That's the good news. The bad? The implant is compromising James's mental stability.
So they're on the run, avoiding surveillance by AI aircraft and hiding from enemy militia. Then James confesses he tormented Matt in high school because James wanted him. Matt can't resist the temptation James offers, but he wants so much more than sex, assuming they ever make it home alive. Is James really a good bet when he's got a ticking time bomb in his brain and there's the question of how much he's actually changed?
Review
18% Gray is a futuristic sci-fi novel written by 164773. The United States is split along Red and Blue lines (imagine that). In the Blue States, gayness isn’t problematic. Not so in the Red states. The hero in this story is Matt Tennimore, who works in the Queer Extraction Services Agency or QESA. Matt goes behind enemy lines and rescues individuals who have requested assistance or have been identified in need of extraction. His next assignment is to extract a military officer. The problem is that this is a former high school friend who once he found out Matt was gay, gave Matt a bad time and no longer wanted to be a friend. And Matt had a huge crush on James.
As they work to get out from behind enemy lines, things get really dicey. It seems that James has unique features that have been installed in his brain. Because the Reds want to keep him, his movements are being traced, and his brain is being studied. There are many obstacles to getting out. James ends up saving Matt’s life and they realize that there’s more to their escape than just getting out. Do they make it in one piece? Matt, who’s’ family is also involved in upper level management of QESA, is having problems and James is being held responsible.
I never really considered myself a sci-fi fan, but this novel changes things. This is a great story and takes the reader on a fantastic trip into the future. Pick it up. I know you won’t want to put it down!
