Review: All or Nothing by James Buchanan

This is the third book in James Buchanan's Taking the Odds series. A word of warning: You could probably read this book as a stand-a-lone, but to get the full benefit of the character development and an understanding of the situation the two heroes are in, you really ought to read the first two books in the series, Cheating Chance (reviewed here) and Inland Empire (reviewed here).

All or Nothing opens a short time after the previous book. Brandon and Nicky have been continuing their long distance relationship and seeing each other every couple of months. It's coming up to the new year and Brandon has made the journey from So Cal to Las Vegas to see Nicky. However, this time he's brought his daughter, Shayna, along with him to meet Nicky. Brandon is still in the closet and so there's immediate tension between the two men as Nicky has to pretend to be Brandon's friend, rather than his lover. When tragedy strikes, Nicky finds himself with an increasingly unstable Brandon and a house full of unwanted guests, plus the constant guilt that he is to blame for the misfortune.

As with the previous book, the mystery plot here is secondary as the focus is very much on the relationship between Brandon and Nicky, firstly as they have to make some hard decisions as to where their relationship is going and secondly as they deal with the aftermath of the tragedy. In fact, the villain of the piece was very easy to identify, deliberately so, I think, as that meant the mystery was more concentrated on when Brandon and Nicky would twig as to what was happening, rather than the discovery of the culprit.

As with all the books in the series the narrative shifts between Brandon and Nicky. I found that my sympathies veered between the two men during different points in the book. It was hard not to feel sorry for Brandon, to share in his pain, and the understand how the stress of events lead to him starting to lose the plot. Before the tragedy, Nicky puts pressure on Brandon to make some hard decisions about them, and whilst I could understand why Nicky did this, I also felt Brandon's fear of moving too quickly, and of coming out to his family. When the tragedy happens, that additional pressure gets mixed in with Brandon's worries leading to some painful moments for both men. I felt that the way that Brandon feelings were shown: How he veered between needing to be strong and keep a stoic front for the benefit of his family, and the jumble and chaos of his internal thoughts as guilt and remorse crashed through him, was realistically done and at times heartbreaking.

Having said that, I also sympathised with Nicky, who I have a great fondness for with his ostentatious dress and his slightly dramatic temperament. He's trying hard to be a part of Brandon's life and yet has to be content to remain quiet about their relationship. He's willing to give up his job, his house and his friends to be with Brandon, but knows that Brandon may not be able to make the same commitment to him. He has to put up with an awful lot in the book: meeting Brandon's daughter; supporting Brandon when the tragedy happens and dealing with his increasingly erratic behaviour; coping with the police invading his house and having his sex life laid bare to strangers; dealing with Brandon's ex-wife and his stepmother who not only stay in his house and sleep in his bed, but also snoop about - then getting the blame from Brandon because he did hide things well enough - and criticise his taste in furnishings. As well as this he has his own guilt to deal with, but he has no-one to talk to, to confide in because everyone else in the house is suffering more than he is and he feels he can't add to that. One of the most emotionally satisfying scenes in the book was when Nicky eventually found someone with whom he could share his worries, as was the tentative friendship he develops with one of his work colleagues, Ada.

Like Ada, the other secondary characters were also well drawn, especially Brandon's stepmother, Edith. Even Diane, Brandon's ex-wife, became more than she at first appeared as the book progressed. We also reconnect with Orozco, the detective from the first book and find out more about his past, which I felt was a nice touch and added greatly to the overall complexity of the novel and the characters within it. The scenes where Brandon struggles to connect with his daughter were often highly amusing and the scene where he takes her to a pre-teen beauty parlour was just priceless.

As you can probably guess from what I've written above, this is a highly emotional book. However, it's not overwrought. Much of the intensity of the book comes from the characters having to deal with the frustration of circumstances beyond their control, as well as interact with one another. Nicky finds this most difficult of all, as he is a relative stranger to many of the people in the book and feels disconnected and pushed out by the fact that Brandon won't acknowledge that he is more than a friend. The book ends with a large number of loose ends, from this book and the series, mostly tied up. I'm not sure whether this is the final book in the series or not. Part of me thinks that I am happy with the end andwould be content to leave this as a final book, and part of me loves Brandon and Nicky so much that I'm reluctant to leave them to their happy ending.

If you've read the previous books in the series, then this is a must read. There is so much in terms of character development, especially with Brandon, in the book, that fans of the series will be delighted. I enjoyed it a great deal, more than the previous two books, and I highly recommend it with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.