Customer Reviews

Someone is Watching

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book should be celebrated along with its author!! It is so refreshing to read about the emotional journey of fear, anger, love, and acceptance from a purely intellectual and emotional standpoint. So many works of gay fiction focus on the physical world of desire, flesh, and sex. In "Someone is watching" we learn of the intense struggle Nathan is forced to go through within himself and the people close to him. The author explains the emotions he expierences with amazing clarity. You can't help but fall in love with this character. He first struggles to discover his true self and then is made to defend this new identity in the face of intense opposition only to find true love and acceptance in the end. I laughed and cried right along with him in remeberence of my own journey to self awareness. This book is only one out of the many pieces of fiction I've read that even remotely resembles my life and I am greatly appreciative of the author for representing a lost segment of our community. A must read for sure, especially amoung the younger members of our population.

This was the first book by Mark Roeder I picked up. I was happy to discover that he managed to capture the internal dialogue in which every gay youngster indulges when first realizing what must be different about him. After reading "Billy's Boy," I didn't think another writer could do as well at bringing the interior world of a gay youth to life. It is all here: the fears, the doubts, the hopes and the dreams. It was amazing to discover a coming of age book without cynicism. In dealing with a real possibility for gay youth from a perspective of affirmation, the author made the relationship that developed between the two main characters, Ethan and Nathan, one of hope. For some, the relationship may seem a fantasy. For me, it made me envy what so many didn't have while growing up.

This book, about a high school jock just discovering his feelings towards other boys takes a spooky turn when he begins recieving notes in his locker from somebody who apparently has figured out the secret even he just realized about himself. AS he tries to keep a semblance of normalcy he begins to try to figure out who is doing this to him? A friend joking? a girl angry at him? and what about that new Ranch hand his uncle hired who always looks so sad?
A big more upbeat than his first book "Antient Prejudice Break to New Mutiny" with a nice reward at the end for those hopeless romantics out there. I recomend this one for a rainy weekend.

This, the second book in Mark's Verona series, is a very good story about a young athlete coming out of the closet (really kind of forced out of the closet) to all his athlete friends. That revelation would usually cause the boy to be beaten up, but previous events (from "Ancient Prejudice") cause most all of the student body to accept him and his lifestyle. Maybe it's not totally realistic, as some of the reviewers whine, but it's a good story, and I love happy endings. A must read for everyone who is open to diversity in people.

The storyline is interesting and able to hold interest. However the writing style is very poor. Almost the exact same thoughts from the main character are repeated over and over again from one chapter to the next. By the middle of the book I realized I could skip the last several paragraphs of each chapter because they were all repeats. This book appears to have been written by a high school student without passing through an editor.

Mark A Roeder has written a book that is a suspenceful page turner. I found it hard to put down, when I started reading it. It is a heartfelt exploration of what it's like to be gay and trying to hide it from yourself and those around you. Nathan just wants to love and be loved. His life becomes a nightmare when someone starts leaving threatening notes in his locker at school. He also has to deal with the suicides of two of his friends who were outed.
There are several heart pounding edge of your seat scenes in the boook. I loved this book from cover to cover and was sad that it ended. Nathans journey to excepting himself is a hard one, but worth it. Will he find out who his tormentor is and why he is being tormented? Will he find true love? Read Someone Is Watching and find out for yourself. You'll be glad you did. The good thing is this book is just one in a series of books known as The Gay Youth Chronicles. Gays and non gays of all ages will find these rewarding.

Mark Roeder has done it again (a sequel to Ancient Prejudice) with Someone is Watching. But this time, he has surpassed his first book. It is relevant to gay people everywhere, but especially targeted to the young gay male who is wondering about himself. And it will keep you on the edge of your seat. It will make you cry, not because of people's tenderness but, unfortunately, because of their hatred. It grabs you early and doesn't let go, even after you've read the last page! You come back to your own life and feel happy having met such wonderful characters as Jon, Ethan, Nathan, Uncle Jack, and the rest.

This is my third novel by Mark Roeder. All three of the novels I have read are a part of the Gay Youth Chronicles. Additionally, I read "The Soccer Field Is Empty" and "A Better Place" (see my reviews). Ideally you should read the Chronicles in the order they were written. This story tells us of the struggle to deal with ones sexuality. As a man who dealt with these issues many years ago I can testify to the fact that Mr. Roeder is clearly on the mark in his writing about the experience. Throughout the novel there is a sub-plot whereas someone is leaving threatening notes to the main character, Ethan. This makes for a real page turner as the reader is anxious to see from where these threats originate. I am anxious to get a hold of the next novel in the series "The Summer of My Discontent". I highly recommend "Someone Is Watching" you most absolutely will not be disappointed!

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. Mark Roeder is an author of the highest caliber. His writing is clear and direct. He has a finely tuned dialogue ear. His adolescent male conversations are very close to the way young men actually speak, instead of the vulgar, course dialogue attributed to them and used in current movies and television. Yes, people still do speak correctly, and not just in rural Indiana. He uses repetition to help us know what his characters are experiencing. and what they are thinking about. The first time I experienced love I think I thought about it all day long and told my best friend about it 500 times a day. This is a beautiful story, beautifully told. I've read all Roeder's books and I can say that each is a wonderful journey. Just go along. Let Mark Roeder help you feel. Help you learn. This is a very well-written work, a work that is not oblique, but understood by any intelligent person from 14 to 104!

Mr. Roeder has once again given us a view into the mind of a teen-ager who is coming to grips with the reality of who he is. One of Mark's gifts is his ability to write his novels in the style that teen-agers think. You can really believe that you've picked up the journal of a 16 year old boy who has confided his innermost thoughts and feelings to you.

An essential part of Mark's great series, "Gay Youth Chronicles", be sure to add this one to your reading list.