WHISTLE PASS
When Charlie gets a cable from his former lover Roger, whom he has not seen nor heard from since the war, he is right on it. But not only is Roger not waiting for him in Whistle Pass, Illinois, ready to take him in his arms, Charlie finds himself attacked and beaten up by cops instead. He is befriended by the hotel manager, the town’s “official fairy”, a lonely man who nevertheless feels safe in his small town. He begins to help Charlie pin down what is really going on in local politics. What they discover, besides a new love for each other, is not pretty.

Unfortunately it’s not very clear, either. I don’t know who was more confused, Charlie and Gabe or this reviewer. I highly recommend that you keep a list of all the characters and carefully track them… otherwise you will get lost in who’s doing what and with or to whom and why well before the end of the book. If you do that, you will find the unglamorous love story rather refreshing.