Review - Turtle Bay by John Patrick

Hans escapes the Nazi prison camp where he was being repeatedly raped by one of the guards. He makes his way to Ireland, where James and Otto help to get him on a boat to America. The pair of lovers come with Hans, as their own situation has become dangerous for them. Five years later, the war is over and they’re all settled in New York. Hans runs a boarding house that is very selective about the kind of men it accommodates. It all seems perfect, but then the communist and homosexual witch-hunts begin, and the FBI has focused their attention on one of Hans’ guests.

Although this is effectively a sequel to Dublin Bay, the main characters from that story, James and Otto, play only supporting roles in this tale. You can probably read this book without having read the first story, although you’ll be in the dark about who a few of the characters are. Hans, who is central to this book, was only introduced in the closing chapters of “Dublin Bay.” We didn’t get to know much about him other than he was comfortable at dressing up as a woman.

Hans turns out to be a very interesting character. Our initial introduction to him is as a victim. As we get to know Hans, we start to see him as a very strong person with a determination to be true to himself. He is very much a man that defies many of the stereotypes of the times.

The other main character in the story is FBI Special Agent Arthur Mason. Arthur and Hans first meet when Agent Mason visits the boarding house to interview one of Hans’ guests, an actor who, like many of the time, was a member of the communist party. Arthur and Hans become friends, but Mason has long suppressed any feelings of attraction to other men. Throughout most of the story, it’s unclear just how much about himself, and Hans, Mason will be able to accept.

Unlike the first volume of the series, this story is a bit more direct in its focus on the politics of the time. At the end of World War II, the massive political-industrial complex created to fight needed a new enemy, and that was the Soviets. Like so much of today’s political discourse, the “threat” of communism (then, today it's trans people, CRT, etc.) was more of a distraction than a real danger.

“Turtle Bay” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).