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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Entertaining book of a young gay man coming of age Sep 13, 2009
This was an entertaining book that had a few weaknesses. There should have been more development of the bad guy, his uncle. His villany was practically passed over, barely gone into at all. He was never the hovering darkness in the young man's life that he should have been. And the development of the manservent was weak in this book though it was gone into in depth in the sequel but more of how he lived and who he was should have been portrayed in this part of the story. He was pretty well glossed over too when he is really a major person in the young man's life. As well as a mystery of sorts, it was a coming of age for a young man who is gay and has to learn to live confidently with that.
The book was well written and enjoyable to read it just needs some bolstering up of certain characters who have an important part in his life and a better explanation of why he had no support from what was left of his family when he was growing up with a druggy mother. Why did it take so long for his aunt to reach out to help him?
I liked enough to buy the sequel.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Second Nolan Novel does not dissapoint!! Aug 11, 2009
Once I devoured Nick Nolan's first book, Strings Attached, I knew I'd have to read anything else he'd written.
I was not disappointed. While I prefer the plot and details of the firs book, Double Bound still kept me up all night turning pages. The straight forward writing style is easy to devour, while not sounding too airy or superficial.
The characters are engaging and consistent in their actions and mannerisms The ending took me completely by surprise, which I always enjoy.
While I await Nolan's next novel with bated breath, or anticipatory trepidation, like child whose birthday just can't come soon enough - I'll have to read both these books again!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Double Bound by Nick Nolan Jul 01, 2009
First of all, I'd like to point out that this book is a very easy read, meaning that the story flows smoothly and it maintains always an high pace. The first chapters are also very time consuming, trying to summarize 20 years of Arthur's life in few time. Arthur's past life is not the main focus of the book, but it shaped the man who he is now, and so it's essential to identify the character. Those first chapters allows also a first time reader to take in hand Double Bound without necessarily having read Strings Attached, like me, but then, at the end of the book, you will probably have the wish to read it, like me, since while this is the story of arthur, the other one is the story of Jeremy, the eighteen years old boy who plays an important role in Double Bound. And it would be probably interesting to see how the author manages a coming of age story, while Double Bond is almost a silver romance: Strings Attached was Nick Nolan first book, and it was a coming of age book... maybe the author grows with his writing? Or maybe it's only that Arthur was so compelling in Strings Attached that the author felt the need to give him his own story?
More than the story itself, that you can have summarized from the blurb, and that I would prefer not to develop more, I would like instead to talk about Arthur; the story has a lot of turn of events, and this contributes to the high pace said above. Enough to say that after all the high and down, Arthur's long and bumping life journey will end with him happy in bed with his lover, and I'm not spoiling anything, since the book starts like that, with Arthur satisfied in bed who goes down the memory lane.
Even if Arthur is a former marine, a former FBI agent and now a well-paid dogsbody who essentially has to protect Jeremy, he is not the hero type. All Arthur's grandeur gestures were made out of love or friendship, he has not a sacred fire inside for honor or patriotism. Arthur is a man who loves, and loved, too much, who can think to end his live when he is down, but that in the end never brings on the thought since he is able to love again. He loved Jeremy's father, Jonathan, and due to his betrayal he joined the Marine Corp; Arthur hoped to find in the Marine the family he hadn't and the comfort of being loved that he had with Jonathan. He did well and he opened his heart again, to Danny. But Danny died, that fathal September 11, and Arthur threw away his soldier life to commemorate Danny's love. And now Arthur is ready to love again, but at this point, it is real love, or only the memory of a lost love? or maybe the wish to finally have that family that he always searched and never found? In a case or the other, it's the proof that Arthur is able to love, and that despite all the time he was burned, he is always ready to love again.
Another thing I noticed in the story plot is that, despite being adventurous and fast paced, every events end in a "normal" way; there are not acts out of heroism, most of the time the decisive man is the one you will not expect, and even in the big action of the evil there is almost always a very small reason; and in the end, the novel closes with hope, and in a romantic way (remember Arthur in bed with his lover), but still in a very "pragmatic" way.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
This Book Kept Me Up All Night Jun 27, 2009
Having read " Strings Attached" I decided to Google Nick Nolan one day and discovered "Double Bound" I read the amazing first chapter on line then eagerly awaited receiving my copy.
I didn't realize it at first, but because I had read "Strings Attached"
these characters had become like old friends to me and I was reluctant
to travel on this dangerous journey with them. I feared for them. Wow
characters so real that I feared for them.
Nolan's glorious discriptions of characters and locations have the ability
to make the real world slip away, and put the reader right there with them. Glamour, adventure, hot sex ,intrigue its all there and more.
What I loved most of all, is that the main characters are not stereo-typical, especally Arthur who is almost heartbreakingly self-aware. I loved how he shows that childhood pain can be converted into greater love understanding and acceptance of others.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Don't miss this great read! Mar 10, 2009
Having experienced the great pleasure of reading Nolan's first book, "Strings Attached", I eagerly anticipated "Double Bound". In this second offering, Nolan greatly exceeded my expectations and delivered a superb story that is even more lively and complex. It is delightful to see how quickly he has matured into a truly masterful storyteller. Expect to be captivated from the start, taken on a wild ride, and left at the end with a strong sense of satisfaction and much to ponder.
Don't think twice about selecting this book for your next read. I assure you, you will not be disappointed!
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