Title: 18% Gray
Series: Task Force Iota book #1
Author: Anne Tenino
Genre: Dystopian Romance
Length: 9 hours and 1 minute
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (07/20/2012)
Heat Level: Moderate to Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts
Blurb: 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?
Product Link Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3118
Product Link Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/18-Gray-Audiobook/B008N0F3LU/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1383422624&sr=1-1
Reviewer: Tams
Review: I loved this book!! My three favorite genres are dystopian, m/m and zombie… so when I can get any combination of the three I am usually in heaven. Add to that the expert narration of Paul Morey and this book was pure bliss. Seriously, the guy could read the phone book and make my toes curl!
A century from now the continent is divided into two parties. The Confederated Red States which is run by a strict protocol, a military state if you will, where being gay or lesbian will get you killed, if the vigorous reconditioning camp they assign you to doesn’t make you straight. And the Blue States where you are still allowed the freedom to be yourself, to be who you are. Matt Tennimore and his family are blue’s and their job is to rescue gays and lesbians from CRS and give them asylum. Matt’s latest mission is a CRS agent gone rogue, James Ayala, who also happens to be his high school crush.
The story follows Matt and James and their cross-country escapades trying to reach the safety of the Blue States. It takes a little time before James becomes comfortable enough with Matt to tell him about the implant. As they dodge CRS soldiers in a fight for their lives, they quickly learn that old feelings long ago buried are resurfacing with a vengeance. James psychic abilities are morphing along the way as well, he goes from being able to sense Matt’s feelings to hearing his thoughts and eventually, feeling what he feels as well.
When Matt is seriously injured, they find sanctuary in a convent that is run by two lesbian nuns, and then the secret of their sexuality is discovered by a horny straight nun. Her interests are more in watching than exposing though. Once Matt is healed they continue their journey for safety within the blues with said horny nun and a talking horse in tow. Did I forget to mention that during their journey they happened upon a horse that James can communicate with telepathically?
This book was the perfect balance of seriousness and comedy. They are, in fact, on the run with the threat of death if found because they are gay. But Tenino mixed in enough comic relief to balance the story out perfectly. Whether it was Miz Horse who would huff and puff if she didn’t like what James or Matt told her to do. Or the horny nun that was bound and determined to turn the gay boys straight, at the expense of her virginity gladly. Or James himself with the faces he would make and his extremely overprotective nature when it came to Matt’s safety.
Narrated by the god of narration, Paul Morey, this book kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The nine hours listening blew by, I was so sad when I came to the end. I didn’t want it to end! Morey can read the lusty, passionate scenes like a top-notch high dollar porn star. And I assure you, there were plenty of said scenes between James and Matt.
This is a must read for fans of dystopian, m/m, strong overbearing alpha males and sci-fi nuts!