REVIEW: 'Brothers LaFon Part One: Crucial Lessons' by Joseph Lance Tonlet
5 HEART READ
Title: Brothers LaFon Part One: Crucial Lessons
Author: Joseph Lance Tonlet
Publisher: JLT Publishing/Self-Published
Cover Graphic Artist: Preston Hultz & Bey Deckard
Release Date: February 28, 2015
Genre: Dark Erotica
Length: 56 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Thriller: Psychological; Novelette; CW: Taboo; CW: Abusive Relationship; CW: Forced Seduction; CW: Dub-Con; CW: Incest
Note: This book contains incest.
BLURB:
Alexander LaFon lives a nightmare, but he deals with it. Deals with the fact that his mother abandoned him as an infant, deals with the fact that his father is never home, and deals with the fact that his older brother, Jeremiah, tortures him. He dreams of escaping his mobile-home prison and finding a normal life. Of breaking free of his agony, finding a woman to love, becoming a teacher. But some horrors you can never outrun. There's nowhere to hide. Some nightmares chase you in your sleep and steal your freedom like a brutal thief. Some brothers never give up and never answer why.
REVIEW:
Edited Re-Read April 2016 (Originally Read May 2015)
Two words come to mind after reading Joseph Lance Tonlet’s Brothers LaFon Part One: Crucial Lessons….thought provoking. And these words ring even more true today, after having read it a second time. Before you attempt Brothers LaFon read Tonlet’s warnings. They are up front and there for a reason. If any of the subject matter, especially incest, is a trigger for you – don’t dip your toes.
I consider myself to have a very open mind. But I can honestly say that as the context of this book began to touch me I found myself wondering what was wrong with me. How and why could something with this subject matter, something I do not condone, impact me so? But after having read the book twice I can honestly say it is.....empathy!
Right off the bat you know that Jeremiah (Miah) is going to be twisted.
After all he is “getting off” by delivering the news to his friend that the man’s beloved mother has passed away. Literally…getting hard! In the next breath a private investigator has brought Miah the goods on his estranged brother Alexander (Alex). Which somehow you know in your gut can’t be good.
From this point forward you are taken on a ride. And I do mean a ride!
Tonlet takes you back in time to see how Miah and Alex’s “relationship” began and how it developed over the years.
This seems to be a theme with the author. I know some are put off by time hopping but I personally find that it helps tell the tale. Develops the characters for me. Who they are, what makes them tick and why they behave a certain way. After all, do not our past experiences define our personality?
Regression is never more important as it is in Brothers LaFon. As Alex suffers at the hands of Miah, mentally, physically and sexually (sometimes excruciatingly so) you get glimpses into Miah’s thoughts. You are taken on Miah’s psychotic journey.
Yet, even amongst that, somehow along the way you are meant to understand BOTH Alex and Miah.
Alex’s fears, his sense of helplessness over his situation are almost palpable and you want him to get the hell out as much as he desires to get away.
While at the same time Tonlet makes you feel empathy for Miah. How can that be you say? When the man uses pain for his own pleasure, gets turned on by his dominance and control over Alex and in his own words is a master at “psychological fuckery”? Because.....
JLT makes you see even Miah, as human.
But the real brilliance in Brothers LaFon is the end. Where you see all the well plotted ground work played out in the very last chapter. Where you see just how far Miah is willing to go to get what he thinks is his. Where Miah displays just what a Master at fuckery he truly is. I found myself screaming “no more” and then “I want more. Let Alex see HE holds all the power”!
In closing let me just say that what I find I enjoy most in Joseph Lance Tonlet’s tales is his message of empathy. He puts you in the shoes of each of his characters with so much depth and emotion. He makes you think: about people, about life, about circumstances; even at times when you think you can’t possibly endure any more. So much so that by now I have come to expect a book hangover after reading his talented work.
A copy of Brothers LaFon Part One: Crucial Lessons was purchased by Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter in order to offer our fair and honest opinion.
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Paperback Buy Link: Createspace
JOSEPH is a born and raised Southern Californian—with a twenty-year stint of living in the Midwest. He loves the laid-back lifestyle of San Diego and considers himself lucky to live where people dream of vacationing.
A lifelong reader of m/m fiction, he began his writing career one night sitting at his MacBook and has never looked back. He writes to bring the characters he dreams about to life.
