Review - No Filter by Nora Phoenix

Indy has been on the run for a year and a half. He changed his name and spends most of his time in public presenting as a woman. He doesn’t stay in one place for long, and can’t afford to get attached to anyone. Who would want a messed up young man like him, anyway? One day, while in a convenience store in upstate New York, the store gets held up and a man standing next to Indy has a meltdown. The dog tags the man wears tells Indy he is a vet and probably suffering from PTSD. Indy has to act fast to keep them both from being shot. He manages to calm the veteran down, but gets hurt in the process. At the hospital, Indy meets Noah, also a vet and the friend of the other man, Josh. There’s an instant attraction, which is something Indy can’t afford to indulge in.

“No Filter” sets up a complicated relationship between three men who are considered “damaged” by most people, including themselves. The stories of the individual traumas Indy, Josh, and Noah went through are revealed slowly throughout the book, as Indy learns to trust the two other men. This is the start of a long-running series, so be prepared for things to be left hanging at the end.

I’ve labeled this with a poly tag because there’s a strong element of that to the relationship the three form, but as with everything about these men, it’s complicated. Josh and Noah appear to be boyfriends to most people, but as they explain, it’s not quite what it seems. Josh ultimately admits what is rather obvious early on: the two are codependent, and while it gets them through the days, it’s not healthy for either of them in the long term.

The narration is mostly from Indy’s point of view, with some passages from Noah’s viewpoint. The young man implies enough for us to have a good idea of what he went through before he finally lays it all out for Josh and Noah. Indy is a surprisingly nice person given what he has experienced, although the reason he has a hard time trusting people becomes very obvious the more we learn about him. The title of the book refers to Indy and his habit of saying exactly what he thinks. It provides some comic relief to what can otherwise be a rather grim story.

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“No Filter” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).