Pierre and Bill Now by Patrick Doyle-a sequel review

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A novel about gay men as lovers, parents, children, and friends.

Pierre and Bill have been together for 35 years ever since Bill was a kid. Neither related nor romantically involved, their relationship began with a third man who has long since passed. Like everyone, they face challenges. Theirs, though, are acute as are anyone’s who lives outside the norm. But they overcame those obstacles and in the end, each found a partner and all four men settled down together—along with one little girl.

‘Pierre & Bill Now’ opens several years later and Pierre and Bill are alone once again. Life’s rollercoaster ride has taken its toll. There’s been a separation, a custody loss, and a death. Age, too, has become an issue and, for Pierre, new challenges arise. Bill, on the other hand, is at his peak—professionally, at least. While he engages in sex on occasion, he’s given up on love. So when his job is threatened by insidious allegations, his world falls apart. Until he fights back. And that fight gives Pierre new life. Even now, he’s a scrapper.

Litigation, illness, and ghosts from the past rise up to destroy them. Some will be defeated and others held at bay. There will be losses, though, but they won’t face them alone. Pierre isn’t the center of only Bill’s world. He’s the center of many. Bill, too, has a following. Some of his colleagues may believe the claims made against him, but his students do not. Neither does the new caregiver assigned to take care of Pierre. He cares a lot.

With elements of mystery, erotica, and romance along with a good dose of humor, the novel follows many trails. But love takes center stage. Whether as parents, children, lovers, rivals or friends, everyone wants love, fears losing it, and struggles to make room for more. This is a story about family, too. The family that you choose.

[‘Pierre & Bill Now’ follows an earlier novel, ‘Pierre & Bill: A Love Story’, but can be easily read on its own. The story is new and events from Pierre and Bill’s earlier years are fleshed out so that the reader will have no trouble entering their world.]

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REVIEW:PIERRE AND BILL NOW by Patrick Doyle is the sequel to the author’s contemporary, adult PIERRE AND BILL: A LOVE STORY, a LGBTQ+ erotic, love story of family and friendships. This is the continuing story of octogenarian Pierre Tremblay, and forty year old, high school teacher Bill Harris. PIERRE AND BILL NOW can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary but for back story and cohesion, I recommend reading PIERRE AND BILL: A LOVE STORY.

Told from single omniscient third person perspective (Bill) PIERRE AND BILL NOW focuses on the relationship between Pierre Tremblay and Bill Harris. Pierre Tremblay had helped raise Bill Harris from the time the young man was five years old but the death of Bill’s father left Pierre Bill’s only ‘guardian’, a position he would hold until the end of his life but all was not well with Pierre, and Bill was struggling with the inevitable. A high school art teacher Bill found himself the at the centre of a scandal, and Pierre would be targeted by a ghost from the past. In desperate need of help, Bill reconnected with, and sought help from an unlikely source, another young man whose life once revolved around Pierre Tremblay.

Most of the previous story line characters return as secondary and supporting players including Pierre’s one-time love Danny, and his ‘granddaughter’ Ruth, as the ‘family’ must take up proverbial arms against those striking where it hurts the most.

PIERRE AND BILL NOW is a love story of family and friendships, relationships and love; betrayal and vengeance, greed and obsession, homophobia and lies. The premise is captivating, edgy and thought provoking; the characters are desperate, animated and tragic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy