Review: The Keeper by SL Armstrong & K Piet

Before I begin, I'd just like to say how much I like the cover to this book. It's very apt and quite clever really. Anyway, on with the review.

It's going to be very difficult to review this story without giving spoilers away - but I'll try! The story involves Hadi who is forced to leave a burgeoning career in the Milan fashion industry and move to Algeria to take care of a friend of the family. This has been the tradition for all elder, unmarried males in Hadi's family. That doesn't mean that he likes taking on this duty, especially when he's at such a crucial point in his career. When Hadi arrive and meets Dhakir, he discovers something extraordinary about him.

I have to admit that I had a bit of a mixed response to this book. On the positive side, I really liked Hadi. His frustrations at being dragged from Milan to Algeria were accurately shown, but I also liked that he was pragmatic about his circumstances. Once he realised the importance of his role as a 'Keeper', he was able to work out his life so that he was able to look after Dhakir and also keep his career going. This made me much happier about the situation than I perhaps would have been had Hadi given up everything for Dhakir.

Another thing I liked was the way the authors had shown the world-weariness of Dhakir in comparison to Hadi's youth. Dhakir's sadness at the way his life works, and even his disgust at how he uses his Keepers, balanced well with his ennui brought on by too much living. It was realistically done and made me feel a great deal of sympathy for Dhakir. The writing in general was strong, and even though the plot and the pace of the story is quite slow, the book didn't drag.

The part of the book which worked less well for me was the supernatural religious theme. It's not that I didn't think it was implausible, and actually I can see the merit in a story which changes Dhakir's true persona from what is widely accepted. That part at least was unusual and interesting. What failed for me, was that I was left with a number of questions about the whole thing which I didn't feel were given sufficient answers. One of these is why Dhakir ended up as he did, what purpose was it supposed to achieve? The other question was how long was Dhakir expected to exist as he does, was there an end in sight for him? The fact that none of this was answered for me was rather frustrating. I suppose I can see that it was partly the 'punishment' of Dhakir that there are no answers but I found it annoying as a reader nonetheless.

The final part which didn't work too well for me was in the romance between the men. Although there was a good emotional connection between the men in terms of friendship, I didn't feel the sexual desire or the crackle of attraction between lovers. Partly, I think this is because the story takes place over a few weeks and there are long periods where we are told the men barely engage with each other. The fact that this is a Gay For You story also didn't help with the romance either. Dhakir seems such an asexual man, lacking in the desire and motivation for anything, so that when he realises that he is feeling more for his Keeper than he should, it seems a little out of character.

So overall, whilst this was an unusual story with an interesting take on what is a well worn paranormal theme, I wasn't wholly convinced by some of the aspects to do with the religious theme and the relationship between the heroes. I'm giving The Keeper a grade of 'Good' and I think the story should still appeal to those readers who like these authors' or who are looking for a character based story with a unique religious theme.

Buy this book HERE.