A-Z Challenge Review: After Anna by Theda Black

Why I bought the book: I read an interview with the author at Clare London's blog and bought the book because it sounded interesting.

Plot: Will and Tyler are police officer partners.  When Will's girlfriend dies in a drug overdose, Tyler is there as his best friend to help him recover from the intense grief and guilt Will feels.  Tyler is also struggling with guilt over his part in Anna's death and with his attraction to Will.

The story is set out as a series of 'scenes' from the period after Anna's death.  Some of these scenes are just snap-shots of Will and Tyler's life together, and some are extended over an evening or day.  None of them last more than a few hours.  One effect of this was that the plot was very swift paced and I was propelled through the story, making it a quick read.  The downside of this type of plot is that it also felt a little disjointed as we jump from one day to the next with only the characters to link them.

Characters: The story focuses entirely on Will or Tyler with any other characters being mere shadows in comparison, apart from Anna who hangs like a spectre over their lives.  It was a little difficult to really connect with Tyler and Will because nearly the whole book is action or dialogue based with little or no internal thoughts.  That could have been a good thing, as this book certainly couldn't be accused of too much telling rather than showing!  This did work well on occasion, especially in the scenes where we see Will's downward spiral just after Anna's death.  However, when it came to the romance, I sometimes found their actions a little baffling and wished to know more about their thoughts and motivations, except from what I could glean through dialogue.  It made me work hard as a reader, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but did mean that I couldn't wholly engage with them and their difficulties.  The fact that this is a gay for you story, with both men being ostensibly straight except where it comes to each other meant that I needed to know what they were thinking, to see that internal conflict in order for the romance to work.

Overall: As you can see I had mixed feelings about this book.  On one hand it was certainly structured in an unusual way and had a plot which carried me through to the end quickly.  On the other hand, I found it difficult to connect to the main characters.  The overall tone of the book is melancholic, as you would expect given the subject matter, but this bleeds into the romance too and I was sad that the men couldn't see past their difficulties, leaving the ending nowhere near a HEA or even a HFN.

I've struggled a bit with the grade for this book because of my mixed response.  In the end I don't think it was so bad I would give it my 'Poor' grade, although it's certainly at the low end of 'Good'.  Those readers who are looking for something which plays around with style and structure may find this book an interesting read.  I know that there's a sequel to this book, Touch Like Breathing, and I'm tempted to read it, just so that I can get some closure on the romance.

Buy this book HERE.