Van Alone by Patrick Doyle -a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 1,2022

Giovanni Russo has forged a very particular life. Working in the world of rare books, he’s independent, self-sufficient, and alone. Withdrawn but combative, he engages in personal relations only to do business and, on occasion, have sex. His aloofness draws people in. Good for business, he says to himself. Good for sex. Of course, someone so enigmatic is asking for trouble.

Following his father’s sudden death, he inherits the family home, a modest place with no redeeming features other than the roomfuls of memorabilia left by his grandfather. Seeing the house as a chance to further consolidate his very private life, Van moves in. But there’s a catch. The will stipulates that neither the house nor anything in it can be sold, displaced, or otherwise moved for twenty-five years. There’s a notarized list.

One evening while moving his books out of the building where he works to his new home there’s a power failure and, from the darkness, Maurice appears. Claiming to be the janitor, he offers to help Van navigate his way. While slinking through the dark together their encounter develops into something so intense that Van finds himself obsessed. Used to living his sexuality as a series of hit-and-runs, he’s destabilized. Meeting Maurice, however, is only the first in a series of events that will disrupt his ordered existence.

He’s burglarized at both home and work, but nothing’s missing. Given Maurice’s nebulous past, Van suspects him but reconsiders when Maurice saves him from an apparent kidnapping. As he becomes increasingly attached to this mysterious man, Van’s defenses crumble and troubling events from his own past resurface. As Maurice asks him — “Why are you alone all the time? Why doesn’t somebody as amazing as you have a life?”

But Van has no time for therapy. Somebody wants something he has and they’re willing to do anything to get it. And he doesn’t even know what it is. Suddenly, he’s very popular. A woman claims to be his dead father’s fiancé. A colleague takes an interest in his movements. Another is intrigued by his family history. A neighbor is always in his face. And then there’s the thugs, sometimes masked, sometimes not, but always violent.

With Maurice by his side, Van searches not only for the answer but for the question. What does he have that everyone wants? His search leads him to a very unusual book, a hidden letter, an unresolved childhood trauma, and a fabled story of lost treasure that may be more than fiction.’

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REVIEW: VAN ALONE by Patrick Doyle is a contemporary, adult, mystery, LGBTQ, noir thriller focusing on rare book and artifacts dealer Giovanni ‘Van’ Russo.

Told from third person perspective (Van) VAN ALONE follows rare book and artifacts dealer Giovanni ‘Van’ Russo as he struggles to stay one step ahead the people trying to destroy his life. With the death of both his father and beloved grandfather, Van Russo inherited his grandfather’s collection, a collection that has caught the interest and eye of every thief, embezzler, collector and fraud. There is something hidden amongst Van’s grandfather’s collection, and Van finds himself a target of their greedy rise but Van never expected to fall for a former prisoner turned thief, his first encounter with the people taking aim at something he knows nothing about. From collectors to royalty, thugs and wanna-bes, Van must follow a trail of secrets and lies, and the ramblings of an old man who is the key to finding the treasure, everyone wants.

VAN ALONE is a story of betrayal and greed, love and loss, secrets and lies. Van Russo is a naïve young man with issues of trust, issues that prey upon our story line hero. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the romance is subtle but seductive; the characters struggle to make sense of everything going on.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy