Title: Whither Thou Goest
Series: Finding Home, 2
Author: Tinnean
Genre: High Fantasy/ Historical
Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (8 April 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Blurb: Johnny Smith meets Church Chetwood during the dark days of the Great Depression. He knows Mr. Chetwood can’t be his forever. Why would the handsome and charming director want to stay with a young man who has nothing but his body and skills in bed to offer? His Mr. Chetwood can have any woman—or man—he wants, but Johnny is going to keep him as long as he can.
When they have to leave suddenly on the SS August Moon to evade the process servers trying to find Church, Johnny is glad they’ll have more time together. But the crew rises up against the good Captain Johansen, urged on by a stowaway who wants the August Moon for himself.
Johnny and Church, together with the captain, the cook, a wireless operator, and the little girl Johnny saved from prostitution, are cast off into a small lifeboat—and doomed to the open sea. Their other option is to try to land on the island where Church once discovered a saber-toothed tiger. The problem is, the last time Church was on this island, twelve men paid the price with their lives.
Will Johnny, Church, and their friends make it out alive this time?
ISBN: 978-1-63476-986-0
Product Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7603
Reviewer: Prime
Review: This is book 2 of Tinnean’s historical/fantasy/adventure series, Finding Home. You need to read book 1 in order to understand the ongoing plot. If you haven’t read the first book since its release in 2012, a quick refresh won’t hurt.
This is just as much of a roller coaster ride as the first book was. I can’t help but feel that their adventures in the Asian Pacific region are areas that were beginning to feel the influence of the Japanese, or would soon feel their presence with WWII not far off from where the series is set.
Johnny and Chet also share the same explosive chemistry. These guys just go so well together. The two guys are together with a bunch of shady shipman out of New York, with really, only one other friend on board. In this, Johnny has become the almost stereotypical “cabin boy” in an effort to protect him from the rough and not so nice or gentle sailors.
However, for reasons I’m still trying to figure out, this book didn’t really capture my attention quite like the first book did. I think part of the reason is that the action is at a slower pace here in Whither Thou Goest, and probably a bit of lull in the overall story during the second third.
Life on a ship for months on end is probably not the most riveting adventure after encountering a live saber tooth tiger. I must admit when the sailors starting stirring up trouble things did pick up and I devoured the rest of the book with no further problem.
There are certainly some interesting developments and the addition of at least a couple of likable characters – as well as a host of villains. In a strange way you see the beginnings of a family being formed in the middle of the ocean after Johnny saves a little girl from certain prostitution and death in the middle of the Pacific.
All in all, though, if you’ve read the first book this is a great and fun story to catch up with a couple familiar faces and go on a journey across the seven seas (sort of) and trying forget the troubles of everyone back on land going through the Depression! And instead of feeling a bit like a King Kong/Gulliver’s Travels/Jurassic Park vibe, the vibe is just Gulliver’s Travels and Jurassic Park.
By the end of the novel, the story is left open-ended – well, at least I think it is. Despite my feelings I would love to know if there is going to be more about Church and Johnny and their rag-tag bunch
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *