A Year with Mason
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| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Year With Mason |
| Publisher: | Nuthatch Press |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Patt |
| Cover Artist(s): | Jade |
| Illustrator(s): | Jade and Patt |
| Date(s): | 2003 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | The Sentinel |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | the zine flyer A Year with Mason online here |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
A Year with Mason is an 80-page slash novel by Patt.
About
From the flyer:
This is a story about cops and kids; about cops who happen to be gay and how looking after a 10-year old nephew for a year can upturn an established relationship ... how living as part of a two-dad family can be something of an epiphany to the kid in question ... and how being proxy-fathers can bring policework so much closer to home, when one must tackle cases that are, regretably, too common on network news. Murder and 'crimes of passion' are never simple topics; when they involve kids, they're even less so. A series of murders is taking place in Cascade and the victims are young boys. And the murders entail a sexual element, which gets under Jim's skin, and Blair's, like glass- powder. They've been a couple of surrogate-dads to 10 year old Mason Ellison for some time when this case comes along, and it hits them where they are most vulnerable ... especially considering scenes which took place just a little earlier in the year of their tenure. A YEAR WITH MASON is about serious police work as well as deep human relationships; and it does involve a couple of instances of 'improper bevahior' involving kids, as well as a realistic treatment of, and backgrounding of, a serious crime being invstigated by Cascade PD. Justice prevails, swiftly and satisfyingly in a novella that's well written and well plotted, and where the material involving kids at the crux of crimes of passion is neither trivialized, nor glamorized. These scenes are handled with great sensitivity and compassion, and they're as brief as may be, but they are pivotal to the plot and the development of the characters. They're specific and fairly explicit, but neither gratuitious nor over-developed. It's perfectly possible to skip a single column of text and read on ... but please be aware that (as they say on TV) 'A Year With Mason' contains two scenes, for a total of around a page, which may be upsetting to some readers. Accolades to author Patt for the courage to tackle the topic, for handling delicate material with such finesse, and doing a great job. Recommended reading, and if you'd like the 'delicate' passages post-it-noted in your copy so you know what to skip over, while enjoying the other 99% of this novella, let us know.