Whipster (Michael's House) [Kindle Edition]

Dusk Peterson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Michael is an ex-prostitute, which means that nobody in polite society wants anything to do with him. He believes that the only way to help other male prostitutes is to make their working conditions bearable. His friend Janus is an upper-class gentleman who believes that his duty to the gods requires him to fight against sexual immorality. Now Michael wants Janus to help him run a house of prostitution.

Male friendship and gay love intertwine in this multicultural historical fantasy series based on the Edwardian Era, a time when society seemed as stable as ever, though it was about to be turned topsy-turvy.

REVIEW

"Tease away the outer layers [of the story], and a whole fascinating world of triumph over tragedy emerges."

—Four-star review at "Rainbow Reviews."

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 285 KB
• Print Length: 248 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Love in Dark Settings Press (May 12, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0029O0CDK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,636 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Dusk Peterson writes fantasy, historical fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary fiction. Suspense plays an important role in many of the tales; the conflict in those tales is both external and internal. Peterson's stories are often placed in dark settings, such as prisons or wartime locations. The mood of the stories, however, is not one of unrelieved gloominess: friendship, heterosexual love, gay love, and faithful service are recurring themes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A senstitive treatment of an ugly subject, February 14, 2011

By 

Catana (Eastern Seaboard) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Whipster (Michael's House) (Kindle Edition)

There can't be too many subjects more difficult to write about than child prostitution. How much more difficult to write about a young man who survived being forced into prostitution when young, and grew up to become the part-owner and master of... a male whorehouse. For Michael, so badly damaged that his emotions are all but non-existent, his house is a way to protect boys who would otherwise wind up either in the most brutal whorehouses or dead in the streets. In a time and place where love between adult males is a crime, but purchased sex with male children is condoned, Michael's House is the closest thing to a refuge for at least a few boys with no other choices.

Without Janus's support, the house couldn't exist, and with it, it's still a struggle to clothe and feed the boys, and operate within a set of rules that protects the boys from abuse by the clients. The friendship between Michael and Janus, the pampered nephew of the prime minister, tests Janus's sense of propriety and morality, yet he throws his income into Michael's project and his reputation into the gutter for associating openly with the former prostitute.

Peterson leaves us in no doubt what life is like for poor and unwanted children in his fictional world, but he does it without resorting to graphic descriptions. "Delicate" may seem like an odd word to use for such a story, but it's written with a delicacy that respects the humanity of its characters rather than exploiting them. Whipster is a deeply moving story about survival in the underbelly of a culture that despises the people it uses and casts them off like so much garbage.