Twenty-something Poe is a young man without any direction. He’s not a bad person, but since about the only thing he has any passion for is graffiti, Poe is headed for trouble sooner or later. He still lives in his father Landon’s basement, and the man is near the end of his rope about what to do about his son. Hearing about Poe’s problems, Landon’s friend Jericho offers to take Poe on as his apprentice. The young man clearly has talent, but can he resist the pressure from his friends to make late night tags on buildings? More importantly, can Jericho resist his growing attraction to Poe, especially when it’s clear the young man wants him?
Poe and Jericho aren’t the most relatable characters, at least to me. Poe isn’t even that like-able at the beginning. But bit by bit we get to know and care for the two men. You have to admire writing that can make unfamiliar or even unlikable characters feel real and authentic. You’ll most likely be rooting for the two characters by the end.
The author also keeps us guessing about the key dramatic turn of the plot. There are several possibilities in the story line, and it took so long coming that I was beginning to think this would be a story without much drama. When it came, though, the drama was entirely believable, and you really didn’t know at the point whether the relationship would survive it or not.
Although billed as the first book in a series, the story of Poe and Jericho feels complete as-is, so I suspect future books will focus on different characters. There are two secondary men in this book that it seems could have a story of their own, which would be in keeping with the series. Based on this initial book, future installments will probably be reviewed as well.
“Permanent Ink” is available from Amazon.
