AUDIO REVIEW: 'Survivor' by T.M. Smith
Title: Survivor
Series: A Survivor Story #1
Author: T.M. Smith
Narrator: Nick J. Russo/ACX
Published: August 22, 2017
Audio: January 30, 2018
Publisher: Self-Published/TTC Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance; Suspense
Length: 5 Hours and 33 Minutes/186 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; May/December; Comfort/Hurt; Coming of Age; Law Enforcement; Friends to Lovers; HEA; Audiobook; CW: Off-Page Murder
About Survivor
Taylor Langford’s world is torn apart when he is only thirteen years old—his parents killed, leaving him alone, an orphan. With no living relatives, he'd certainly be another statistic if not for the intervention of the policeman who found Taylor hiding in the crawl space his mother hid him in that fateful night. Despite the tragedy and resulting anguish in his life, Taylor knows how lucky he is. Frank Moore is only a rookie with the Dallas Police Department when he and his partner answer a call in Devonshire, one of the city’s more affluent neighborhoods. They think the young boy in various pictures throughout the home has been kidnapped until they find him, shaken but alive. Officer Moore recognizes the pain in the kid’s eyes, having lost his own mother to cancer when he was just a boy. He intervenes, making sure Taylor is placed with a loving foster family. Over the years Frank becomes a permanent fixture in Taylor’s life. A decade later, the case remains unsolved and the once gangly, uncertain teenager is now a college graduate who knows exactly what he wants. He’s coming home to the man that helped mold and shape his life, the man he’s loved for as long as he can remember, Frank Moore. But Taylor isn’t the only person returning to Dallas and while Frank is distracted by his own conflicting feelings and the new bond growing between the two, the past creeps up on them, determined to finish what was started ten years earlier.
REVIEW:
I didn’t think this taboo-ish coming of age story could get any better but Nick J. Russo brings it with his telling of Survivor. It’s as if Smith wrote the script with the audiobook in mind. Between her picturesque narrative, and Russo’s reading, the listener can see everything – the characters’ actions and their surroundings – pulling you in and immersing you in their journey.
T.M. Smith and Nick J. Russo are the perfect marriage.
As a thirteen-year-old boy Taylor’s life is changed in an instant. Lucky for him the two cops who find him don’t let him get lost in the foster system. It’s apparent rather quickly they are a part of his upbringing with his new foster family, especially Frank. From summers on Catalina Island to the birds and the bees Frank and Caleb are there for Taylor - and their families become his family.
Having read Survivor when it came out I couldn’t wait for Russo’s delivery. He nails the two partners’ friendship with the snarky tones of cocky, smart ass banter they throw. While at the same time capturing the innocence of teenage Taylor and his progression to the bravado of a confident, take charge young man.
Smith grows Frank and Taylor’s relationship over a ten year period with carefully crafted alternating points of view which propel the story and feelings along, showing how their friendship is molded by a deep connection over having both lost close family. Frank has never treated Taylor as a kid (even though he called him such) more like a big brother, there to support and guide.
As both begin to internalize that what they feel is “more” Frank fights his fear that he’s too old for Taylor, not enough man and that his yearning will destroy their friendship. Taylor’s single-minded focus is to show Frank it isn’t just lust that fizzles and fades away – he loves Frank and he’s determined to take him!
When they succumb it’s the realization of the fear of giving oneself over to the one person you adore and respect the most and who has the power to hurt you like nothing else. It’s deep “surrender”.
Russo's narration of Frank and Taylor’s soul deep connection, their need to be with one another not only physically, but mentally, is everything!
Every gasp of fear, surprise and lust; all the moans of pleasure, desperation and desire; even the deep breaths of confusion, need and resignation can be felt deep in your heart making you want to cry. His delivery in chapter seventeen absolutely shines - saying it all!
This build up is fantastic when the story shifts and Taylor’s past comes back to haunt him with a vengeance. The groundwork is laid for both men to be each other’s rock and with the suspense unfolding you get to see the magic that is them. If you haven’t yet read Survivor it isn’t just worth reading. It’s worth reading again and again and listening to Nick J. Russo deliver a cast of characters who you wish you could chum around with. It’s a story of hurt and comfort, youth and maturity, of friends becoming lovers and will hit you in all the good places leaving you wanting more time between the pages.
An audiobook of Survivor was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by T.M. Smith, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; TM Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. A Texas transplant, she now calls DFW her home. Most days she can be found curled up with a good book, or ticking away on her next novel. Smith is a single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Besides her writing, she is passionate about Autism advocacy and LGBT rights. Because, seriously people, Love is Love!
For more from T.M. be sure and visit her website!
