Review: Turbulence by Lyn Gala

Corporal Jacqs Glebov is a simple soldier who wants a bunk, decent food and the company of other battle-hardened men and women who understand the realities of fighting. Instead he's stuck patrolling a remote corner of the border with cadets straight out of boot camp. They don't understand him, and he sure doesn't have an ounce of respect for them.

After a field promotion, Earth sends Commander Zeke Waters to the Candiru for some practical experience in a leadership role. Instead, Zeke falls in lust with the adamantly heterosexual Jacqs. The way Jacqs fights and the way he sees the world draws Zeke closer, even if common sense tells him to walk away.

Even if they can find a way to find to reconcile their sexual differences, they are both still soldiers. The war will eventually take them away from each other unless they can find a way to escape the rules that have defined their lives.

Wow.  Oh, wow.

I didn’t intend to write a review for this book.  I was just going to link my review to Xing’s and call it a day.

But then I read some more. 

Here we have Jacqs.  Jacqs is unapologetically gruff and honest to a fault.  He has pretty much alienated everyone around him with his rude behavior and stand-offishness (I made a new word!).  What makes him so amazing is that he is so incredibly self-aware.  He knows exactly who he is and if no one else likes it, well that’s just too bad.  He will tell you exactly what he thinks without an ounce of guilt.  And he’s 100% heterosexual.  Or so he thinks.

Jacqs is settled in his life.  He understands that he’s been placed on the Candiru with no intention of him ever leaving.  He’s accepted his fate and is content for the most part.  He doesn’t like change so his current way of life is just fine with him.

Then he meets Zeke.  His new commander.  His new intriguing commander.  His new sexually arousing commander.  And everything gets tilted on its head.

But does Jacqs balk at the idea of being attracted to Zeke?  Does he lash out and push him away?  Does he run?  NO!  After some careful introspection, he does what he normally does whenever something new comes at him.  He meets it head on.  He doesn’t back down.  He actually seeks out Zeke and tells him what he’s feeling.  He explores his new desires without any fear or trepidation.

This book was a breath of fresh air.  The perfect balance between character driven storyline and action/adventure.  A fine example of the classic space opera.  And all the secondary characters were fully fleshed out as well.  I was sucked into the story from the first word and wasn’t let go until the end of the epilogue.  I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I even shouted at my screen a time or two. 

And it was all because of Jacqs.  He made this alluring story all the more fascinating just by being who he was and having no regrets on how he as well as his life turned out.  I wish I could meet someone like Jacqs in real life. 

Lyn Gala gets top marks from me and now and forever will be an auto-buy for me.