Desert Sons [Paperback]

Mark Kendrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2001

Scott Faraday is sixteen and has no idea that his world is about to radically change. Scott is fun-loving, in a small-town rock band, and out—but only to a select few.

Isolated in a high desert town, Scott doesn’t know anyone else who is gay. When Ryan St. Charles, a troubled 17-year-old, moves to Yucca Valley, Scott’s world tilts on its axis.

Ryan is a brash seventeen-year-old who has just severed a long relationship with a man, but still considers himself straight. As Scott and Ryan’s friendship develops, Scott begins to suspect that Ryan might be covering up that he’s gay. When Scott comes out to Ryan, their friendship is transformed into his first real relationship.

Tightly focused on these two characters, Desert Sons follows the thoughts and emotion of the ups and downs of a young adult gay relationship. Filled with first-time wonder, teenage angst, and the swirl of emotions that can only be expressed by youth, readers are pulled headlong into a highly-charged drama.

“In Desert Sons, Mark Kendrick has provided all the ingredients of a good book: solid characterization, a compelling story, and a skillful evocation of place. All in all, Desert Sons is a wonderful read, realistic and moving. Highly recommended.”—Guy Willard, author of Foolish Fire and Mirrors of Narcissus

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Time: Summer, 1990. Place: Yucca Valley, CA. Scott has just finished his junior year of high school. He works part time at his parent’s restaurant and does sound for the popular rock band Centauri. Isolated in his high desert town, Scott doesn’t know anyone else who’s gay. But that’s about to end. When he meets Ryan St. Charles, a very troubled seventeen year old who comes to live with his uncle in town, Scott’s world is forever changed. Scott, at first, is not at all enamored with this brash new arrival, but is far more attracted to him than put off. Ryan has been hiding the fact that he’s gay for a long time. Even the long relationship he just left with a man twice his age didn’t allow him to fully come to terms with that fact. When Scott initiates their friendship, then transforms it into his first relationship, the kissing begins and the sparks fly. When Scott accompanies Ryan back to his childhood home for his eighteenth birthday, Ryan reveals his mysterious past. Tightly focused on these two characters, Desert Sons follows their thoughts and emotions as they go through the ups and downs of a young adult gay relationship. Filled with first-time wonder, teenage angst, and the swirl of emotions that can only be expressed by youth, you’ll be pulled headlong into this highly-charged drama. Due to overwhelming reader feedback, the sequel ‘Into This World We’re Thrown’, now available worldwide, completes this story.

About the Author

Mark Kendrick lives in Chicago with his partner and their two Westies. This is his debut novel. Additional information is available through his website at www.mark-kendrick.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse Star (June 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595191304
• ISBN-13: 978-0595191307
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Kendrick was born to a wee Scottish couple in the Middle Ages. He was covered with a fine white down at birth. When he was three days old, his mother set him down in a bassinet next to the kitchen fireplace. The family dog (a magical dog who could speak seven languages) padded by, sniffed at the down, and proceeded to lick all of it off. The down removed, Mark was transformed into a vessel - a database of words, phrases, and yes, even entire sentences. Once he had his fill of words his imagination soared toward the center of the galaxy. The relativistic effect of traveling so quickly allowed him to live until the 21st century, at which time he began writing stories, mostly to get the words out of his head. Unbeknownst to him, new ones began filling in the emptiness left behind.

So far, Mark is the author of six novels:

Desert Sons
Into This World We're Thrown
Stealing Some Time, Vol I and II
The Rylerran Gateway
and
Trenekis of Hiera.

Seven and eight are on the way.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Read" for everyone, November 1, 2001

By 

Mark A Roeder "frodo_baggins" (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Desert Sons (Paperback)

Mark Kendrick writes so well that it’s hard to believe “Desert Sons” is his first novel. My curiosity was intrigued from the very first chapter and I read on just dying to know what had happened between Ryan and Crawford. The truth wasn’t revealed until near the end of the novel, and the suspense added a beautiful touch to an endearing story. (...) Scott is witty, charming, funny, and oh so sexy. Ryan has a darker side than Scott, but his complexities and tragic past make him a fascinating character.

I don’t want to give away any of the story, but the developing relationship between Scott and Ryan is one that kept me reading and reading. (...)

“Desert Sons” is a realistic portrayal of gay youth. Scott and Ryan are “real” boys, with real problems, and needs. The steamy and frequent sex scenes make the novel inappropriate for younger readers, but are entirely realistic. The sex scenes aren’t just thrown in to entice readers. They belong there. The story would not be complete without them. The imagery is so sensual and sexual that the novel is worth reading just for their sake. If the sex was deleted from “Desert Sons”, it would still be a story that I’d recommend to anyone. This is a novel that works on more than one level. (...)

“Desert Sons” is a definite “must read”. It’s become one of my favorite novels of all time and I recommend it to everyone.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing and rare find, October 26, 2001

By 

Chris (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Desert Sons (Paperback)

Mark Kendrick has pulled off something amazing with the release of his first book. The story centers on Scott Faraday, a gay teen who has never been in a relationship and is out to a few friends, and Ryan St. Charles, who has been in a rocky relationship and who struggles with whether or not he is really gay. The narrative alternates between the points of view of each of the boys and offers an original spin and a chance to see things from each of their perspectives. As their friendship develops into something exciting it reveals some of Ryan's past which is both scary and tragic without being melodramatic or predictable. There is the past relationship, suicide attempts, former abuse, and loads of denial that the boys must work thru. One of the truly amazing things about this book is the authors descriptive skills...you will feel the heat of the desert and the coolness of the rain as you read. You will lose yourself in the story of these two young men. Part of the magic is that at alternate times in your life you have been each of these boys. You have felt what they feel and understand what they are going thru. You will be pulling for them at each turn. This is a great coming out and finding your way in the world book. Some authors think these themes require an "event book". Something that is larger than life and sadly mostly unbelievable. This book find the balance that is not only exciting but believable as well. From the dialogue to the descriptions this author has given the world a rare treat. Don't miss this one. You will be begging for more by the end and will be hard pressed to find another book on the subject that is half as good.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice story but a little heavy on the sex, January 6, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Desert Sons (Paperback)

This book was clearly a labor of love for its author. Mark Kendrick understands the kind of people and locales that he writes about here. It's nice, too, that he takes his time in getting the two main characters, Scott and Ryan, together. Their cautious circling of one another lasts for over a hundred pages before it finally culminates in their accepting themselves as a couple. Kendrick does a fine job with Ryan's character in particular -- his moodiness, the way his troubled past affects his sense of self, his mistrust of the world.

I just wish I liked this book more. For me one of the biggest problems is the author's apparent preoccupation with sex. While it is true that teenaged boys think about sex about a million times per day, once this book starts going on the sex scenes it just never lets up. Ultimately it all starts to get a bit repetitive and, yes, boring. Toward the end of the book I found myself skimming over the horny bits whenever I realized the boys were about to go at it yet again. (At one point I think I even muttered "Sheesh, give me a break!" outloud.)

It is one thing when a sexual escapade has a context within the story and somehow serves to develop character or drive the plot. It is quite another when it seems that the scenes have been included mainly to titillate the reader (or perhaps the author.) My own disbelief began to dawn early on, when, after those first hundred pages of comparatively realistic caution and doubt, Scott and Ryan are suddenly masturbating together on a camping trip. In this scene and the others that soon follow, bodily positions and discharges are rendered in detailed, heavy-duty prose. (It is curious, though, that when it comes to the boys' most particular feature of male anatomy, the author turns coy, declining to offer anything except that Ryan is "thicker".)

The storytelling in the non-sexual scenes is often just as descriptive, but here it is mostly in a way that furthers the story. The writing itself really isn't that bad. It is not especially poetic or rhapsodic, but it communicates the story effectively and keeps those pages turning. I have to note, however, that the worst thing about the author's prose style is the way he constantly shifts points of view, frequently within the same paragraph. (The first chapter -- the one I sampled on Amazon before buying -- happens to be entirely from Ryan's point of view, so it is non-representative.) One sentence will describe a thought on Ryan's part, then the next will suddenly come from Scott's point of view, with little or no transitional writing to guide the reader along. In my confusion I often had to stop and re-read a passage to decipher who had been thinking what. This problem gets especially bad when there are more than two people in a scene. What results is something like a traffic jam in prose. The flow of the story comes to a halt and you are snapped out of world that the author has worked so hard to create. It is really too bad that Kendrick did not have a skilled editor to help him whip his book into better shape.

Kendrick has created a memorable character in Ryan St. Charles, and he does a good job with many of the secondary characters too. I must admit, though, that the other main character, Scott Faraday, began to wear on me by the end of the novel, and for that reason I will not be reading the sequel. If you don't mind the constant sex (and I can understand where for some the sex will indeed be a plus) then this is might be the book for you.