Series: The Gabriel Church Tales
Volume: 3/3Publisher: NineStar Press
Genre/s: m/m romance, thriller, m/m mystery
Length: -
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:✮✮✮✮✮✮
Wanting to protect Chris from the danger of his recent murders, Gabe once again leaves Seattle, leaving his lover behind. Unfortunately, fate apparently doesn't care about Gabriel Church's lofty desires, as Chris becomes person of interest in Special Agent Richard Jenkins' investigation of the murder of detective Keen and his wife. Guided largely by his intuition, the inquisitive Agent starts to ask questions that make him closer to discovering the truth than the killer and his lover would like. Meanwhile, unaware of what is happening in Seattle, Gabriel stays for a few days in Sonora, where he crosses paths with an attractive police officer, Bleu Corso, who's still deeply in the closet. The young cop is so interested in Gabriel that he starts sniffing around, and that certainly won't end well.
I'm sure everyone who already read or just started reading "The Gabriel Church Tales" at the very beginning pointed out how important in the context of this series is the psyche of the main character. But I must admit that until now, I personally didn't realize how far in Gabriel Church's creation Rodd Clark referred to the subject of general psychology. The enlightenment came at my first class regarding this subject, when several times during the lecture I thought: "God, that's the case of Gabriel Church!". What is it actually about? Well, at the beginning, let's take a look at Sigmund Freud's statement "the child is the father of an adult" (previously used by English poet, Wordsworth), which means that the experiences of early childhood affect one's adulthood. Think for a while, wasn't Chris interested mainly in this subject when he wanted to write his biography of a serial killer? Yes, definitely. Now let's look at the existential psychology, which refers to the human need to find the meaning of life. And here comes the next question, to which the answer is affirmative and obvious. Because wasn't the sense of his life and of his actions what Gabriel Church wanted to confirm from the beginning of the series, and in particular in the second volume? And finally, humanistic psychology, which in every person, even the worst one, sees something good. Think about it, isn't the goodness one of the reasons why we love the main character of the series although he's a serial killer? And let me tell you that in "Ash and Cinders" this part of Gabe's nature is the most visible one. As we can see, creating Gabriel Church volume by volume, Rodd Clark went through various branches of psychology and I must admit that he did it perfectly, as in the end, from the very beginning, even as the ordinary readers, we immediately notice the psychological depth of his novels. However, I must admit that now, having this little bit more knowledge of general psychology, I'm even more impressed with this series. I suspect that the more deeply we sink in the subject of psychology, the more references to the character of Gabriel Church we could find, and it unquestionably proves that we are dealing with a really great series.
As in the previous volumes, also in the "Ash and Cinders", the subject of innocence occupies an important place. However strange this may sound when we are dealing with adult protagonists, who often have something on their conscience, it is impossible not to notice that many of them are characterized by incredible innocence. I think we can see it clearly in the case of Christine, who is so madly in love, and who in every difficult situation keeps thinking about Gabriel and sticks to those thoughts, like a child seeking a parent's support by grabbing their hand. Also his devotion to his lover, his unwavering faith in him and the strong desires to look for their future together without any murders emphasize how innocent he is. The same is true for Bleu Corso, whom the author introduces in this volume of his story. In his case, however, we have the impression that his innocence is connected with his naivety, as he sometimes willingly walks into the lion's den. It's just like with a child. All one needs to do is show him a sweet treat, and he will follow a stranger without even suspecting that this person may have some bad intentions. Bleu's case confirms what Church once noticed, namely that people seem to assume that what is beautiful can't be bad. And yet Satan himself was an Angel once. And finally, Gabriel Church, a man who has been through a lot, who has done a lot of harm and who is lost in the world of his own ideology. In this case there is no need to write more than necessary, as his innocence comes simply from Chris, who makes the killer experience all that he hasn't experienced so far, arouses his desire and joy of life and makes the man think about a possibility of innocent future at his lover's side. Rodd Clark was able to show us in an excellent and really emotional manner some different types of innocence, which can characterize even adults. Thus, "Ash and Cinders" focus not really on a serial killer but on a man who changes.
As for the action in this part, we can see that its pace is clearly slower than in the previous volumes. However, in no way can we say that the slower pace makes this novel boring. For it should be noted that the story presented in "Ash and Cinders" from the first to the last page is extremely interesting and emotional, and at the end the action speeds up incredibly and really keeps us in suspense. As a result, I have the impression that in this volume the author has combined the style in which he wrote the first and the second part of his series. On the one hand, we focus on Gabriel's peaceful, daily life and his relationship with Christian, and on the other, we witness how the police unexpectedly begin to almost tread on his heels, which clearly raises the level of adrenaline in our blood. Considering that literally everything can happen in this story, we focus on this book so strongly that it is impossible to take a break from it, as we want to know as soon as possible what will happen next and what type of the series ending the author prepared for us.
At the end of this review, I will finally let myself to be an ordinary girly girl and say that in "Ash and Cinders" the bittersweet romantic aspects of the novel reach their zenith! This part is really filled with the theme of love and with everything that goes with it. And so we can see great hopes and painful disappointments, longing for a loved one and euphoria of encounter, sexual needs closely related to deep feelings, sacrifice, courage to face an uncertain, unpredictable future. The author conquers our hearts with Chris and Gabriel's phone calls, their thoughts that complements one another and all the moments when it is simply certain that these two are madly in love with each other. But in this novel we also can find the scenes that bring tears to our eyes and simply make us cry like children. However, that's not all, because there is also the theme of infatuation, irresistible attraction, risk, drama and almost a love triangle. In short, it is a full-blown romance, so much better than many other romances. It's a pure perfection.
In conclusion, "Ash and Cinders" is a great and emotional ending of "The Gabriel Church Tales". This novel not only wins our hearts, but also caresses our senses. It is a really well written, extremely interesting and simply beautiful book. You just have to read it!
Headcanon: For every Thanksgiving, Chris makes sure that he and Gabriel can spend it exceptionally. In a motel, eating lots of great food.
Fanfiction idea: Gabe and Chris spend a week in the mountains, exactly in the place where Gabriel once wanted to take his lover, and enjoy their time like during a honeymoon.
AU idea: Omegaverse!AU, where Chris is an Omega, while Gabe is an Alpha and his fated mate.
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