Customer Reviews

A Song in the Park

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don't let the title fool you: "A Song in the Park" may sound quaint or confined, but the park in question is the enormous Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas, and the song is no less than the melody of love in a marvelous arrangement unexpected yet familiar. The protagonists--a surgeon running from a fatal mistake, and a park ranger secluding himself from a failed relationship--overcome their initial surprise at their easy affinity to develop a deep relationship forged in the trials of commitments to profession, family, and community. With an entertaining and well-developed supporting cast, the two main characters literally build their place in the world as they overcome the challenges of bigotry and narrow-mindedness, all in the build-up to a nail-biting climax in which those negative characteristics are personified by a criminal hiding somewhere in the park's vast desert landscape. This is terrific writing by Brant, with deft treatment of the everyday intimacies that nourish any love relationship (regardless of ethnicity or sexual orientation). In the end, the "song in the park" is a sweet metaphor: the sunny, joyful harmony of something (the park/the couple's relationship) that is both integrally natural as well as dependent on the care and maintenance of man. Highly enjoyable read with an uplifting message!

I read the original story in 2006 and loved it and I love this one too. This one adds a new twist to Michael's character and it is a situation that not only could happen but has happened to gay men and straight men too. If you have read the original book you will see that this adds to the storyline with the added details of how,why and when it happened. As I stated in my review from when I read the original book, love is love no matter what your sexual preference is. This is a great story about love, friendship, understanding, being understood, forgiveness, acceptance and tolerance.

Excellent story. Michael is a skilled heart surgeon whose life consists of surgery and casual bath house sexual encounters. His world crashes when an 8 year old girl dies after he misses a small tear in an artery. He is disgusted with himself and runs away from all he knows. He finds himself in the Big Bend National park and encounters ranger Justin and the beauty of the area. They find a way to heal and find great meaning in the simplest of life's joy along with encountering a monster.

Mr. Brant is a superb author, a man versed in the fine tuning of your heart. This was another "can't-put-it-down" book. The reading is light, though Mr. Brandt has a vast knowledge of human nature. You won't be overwhelmed by a vocabularly which will make you put down the book. In saying that, I don't want to reflect on Mr. Brant's intellect. Obviously it is very high.

It is a story of love...a mélange of emotions between a black man, a white man, two white women and a Latino PLUS a little 4-legged heart theif named Perk. If you are looking for a novel with "kinky" sex on every page, this is NOT a book to read, although it does contain physical love. It is primarily a story of love between two men...then a white woman and a Latino fall in love. The beauty of tolerance unfolds on every page. There are times when tears ran down my cheeks and times when my heart was warmed with joy and happiness

Mr. Brant had an insight into my very being by his statement, "My heart searches for a haven away from small minds."

HAVE A BIG MIND AND OPEN YOUR HEART TO TOLERANCE AND LOVE. Remember, every last person on this planet wants to be loved. Let your heart and your mind be toyed with a little bit. You will reap a great investment and walk away with warmth in your soul.

Larry Tomaw

This book became one of my favorite after finishing it.

Dr. Michael Anderson suffers an existential crisis after losing a little girl in the operation room in a routine surgery. With just 2 hour sleep before the surgery, he blames himself for losing his little patient. After this, his life has no meaning, nor his profession. So, he decides to leave his career in San Diego and finds refugee in Texas Big Bend National Park. He needs to be alone to figure things out.

There, he meets Justin, a black park ranger who also came to Big Bend to find peace after leaving his bride in the altar in their wedding day. Both men have issues on their past. Michael has never been really intimate to anyone. Justin has doubts about his sexuality. Together, they begin a friendship that will evolve into something meaningful. Together, they'll find the real meaning of love.

Michael struggles to leave medicine behind but life has other plans. Suddenly, he's required to use his surgical abilities again and he's not quite sure he will succeed. Michael will find something about his past that will change his life forever. And also, he will live with Justin an overwhelming experience that will make him acquire a new perspective about his life.

This is a GREAT NOVEL. In the beginning I thought it was kinda slow but as soon as the story develops further and you get to know every character well, you're definitely gonna love this book. In the end I really needed and wanted more and I was surprised to know there was a sequel: A Part of My Soul.

Give both books a read. You're gonna love them a lot.

I really enjoyed this book, and can find little to criticize. However, there is one point that I found just a little too weird, at least for me. The idea of a man and his male lover sleeping naked in the same bed as his sister. Especially when there was a couch for the sister to sleep on. In fact, the sister was given little choice as to where to sleep. Now this just me, but I could not possibly sleep in the nude with my partner while my sister was in the same bed with us. Am I the only one who was grossed out? Probably so, based on the other reviews here. Anyway just my humble opinion. Otherwise the book was terrific.

Enjoyed this book. Had a very difficult time putting it down. Did/do have one little gripe though, and that is that the word drug was used when the word dragged should have been used instead. Otherwise this book had me wanting to move toTX from the descriptions alone.