Review - Rarely Pure and Never Simple

In the not too distant future, a new genetic breakthrough has eliminated most diseases and congenital disorders. But in an unanticipated side effect, some children are born with special talents, like the ability to find people or create fireballs. Many of these ‘variants’ join The Guild, which cultivates and makes use of their powers. However, these powers also seems to come with their own drawbacks, from psychological to political.

Damien Hazelwood is an extreme example of the double-edged sword of being a vari. His special talent is being able to find people, especially lost children. But he was so traumatized in his youth that he has a severe case of OCD, which is so bad he can’t stand to be around people. He refuses to be part of the Guild, but he still agrees to work for them from time to time.

Damien’s partner on his latest mission for the Guild to find students gone missing from their academy is Blaze Emerson, a ‘sparker’ who can create fireballs and isn’t too bad with guns either. He also seems adept at rubbing everyone he meets the wrong way. Like Damien, Blaze isn’t part of the Guild but isn’t above working for them from time to time.

The partnership seems guaranteed to meet with disaster, but the extremely odd couple are strangely drawn to each other. Blaze is surprisingly tolerant of Damien’s need for order and ritual, while Damien is largely unfazed by his partner’s abrasive personality. Attraction takes it’s course, but both men are certain that a relationship is impossible for them.

Similarities between the basic plot premise and the popular X-Men movies are hard to ignore, but such comparisons are superficial at best. Perhaps most importantly, “Rarely Pure and Never Simple” focuses on the outsiders. The students in the posh boarding school run by the Guild are the victims in this story, and the superheroes end up having to turn to people whose existence they would rather not acknowledge. Once you get past the similarities of the set up in the first few chapters, what you have is a sort of buddy adventure-romance, where two men need to overcome a lot of obstacles to find the missing kids, as well as figure out how to overcome what pulls them apart to find love, or decide if that’s really what they want.

This author seems to like to put together unlikely pairings and make them work at building a relationship. It’s something that you can really explore in a science fiction setting. The relationship between Damien and Blaze bounces around a lot, but given the emotional make up of the two men, that actually comes across as realistic. There are some genuinely funny moments between the two, as well as many endearing ones. However, for me at least, this was more of a fun read than a book that will stick with me, so I’ve given it four stars.

“Rarely Pure and Never Simple” is available from Amazon.