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When You Don't See Me
by Timothy James Beck
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$15.00 |
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$10.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$4.80 (32%) |
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Paperback
Publisher: Kensington
Being Invisible Is Nick Dunill's M.O. For nineteen years, he's been "the one who disappears" to his disapproving, Midwestern family. And now in New York City, a metropolis of anonymity built on not making eye contact, he feels right at home. Walking the streets of the Village, sneaking into dive bars, cleaning apartments, and trying to co-exist in a cramped apartment with his three roommates, Nick's trying to find his way without doing anything to put his wounded heart at risk, all the while wondering, "Does anything last?" But Nick's vanishing act is about to be challenged in ways he never dreamed. Little by little, he's being forced into the land of the living--into relationships and opportunities, love and sex, truth and acceptance, into the heartbreaking secrets of his past and the hopeful chances of his future. And the more visible Nick becomes, the more he realizes that in life and love, disappearing is not an option... "A book to get lost in."-Bay Area Reporter on Someone Like You "Funny and touching with wonderful characters."-The Texas Triangle on He's The One "A charming, humorously appealing tale."-Publishers Weekly on It Had To Be You
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Living in the 9/11 World |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This is my first novel by this ? foursome (is this true--there are really four authors--no thoughts about too many cooks etc...?) Anyhow, as one who lives in New York and lived through 9/11 and its immediate aftermath, the story does capture the fears and the neuroses that such an event had on most New Yorkers and Nick's fear of buildings, tunnels, the subway and life in New York was rather accurate. His affair with the "hardhat" was very lovely as well--we all wanted someone strong to protect us since no one knew when the next "attack" would come. I remember going into the city on a Saturday nite about 10 days after the attack and the feeling was that of zombies living in a nuclear explosion, everyone trying to resume normal conversation and feelings. The source of Nick's particular grief over 9/11 becomes known later in the novel and explains so much. The sex scenes are rather delicate and not at all graphic. The characters are well drawn, especially Roberto. I must say however that the Mexican girl friend was stuck in without purpose or development and I nevertheless accepted her in the story, but when Morgan turned out to be a twin to Nick's boss, I was very disappointed. New York can be a small town but it is not that small and that "coincidence" spoiled a great deal of the story and again had no purpose that I could ascertain. That being said, this is a literate and thoughtful book which I would recommend to one's library of gay literature.
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| An Interesting Read |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Beck, Timothy James. "When You Don't See Me", Kensington, 2007.
An Interesting Read
Amos Lassen
"When You Don't See Me" deals with the horror of the illusions put on us by our friends and the horrors that come about after an attack. Nick Dunhill, our main character, who has come to live with his uncle Blaine because his family kicked him out after he told then that he was gay. He is now 19 and has decided to leave college and attempt to build a life for himself. He moves into an apartment with three other people and we are with him as he learns about life.
Nick comes into contact with some wonderfully drawn characters in the post 9/11 world. Nick is neurotic and somewhat annoying--loud noises bother him, he hates to ride the subway and he has a thing ageist tall buildings. He is unpleasant but there is a great deal of pain inside of him and he tries to work things out.
What you may not know about the author Timothy James Beck. He is four authors writing under one name. It is amazing that four people can manage to come across in one voice. It is a bit slow getting into this book but once you do, you are in for a terrific read.
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| Five stars for book #5 |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is the fifth book of the Timothy James Beck book series. We are back in New York with our favorite group of friends.
Nick Dunhill is the main character of this book. We first met Nick during book 3. The year was fall of 2000 and Nick was 16. Nick is the nephrew to Blaine Dunhill. Nick came to live with Blaine from the midwest after his brother and sister-in-law dumped Nick on him after Nick told his family he was gay.
In book 5 we fastward to 2003 and Nick is now 19. Three years later and Nick has decided to drop out of Art College and try to make a life for himself. One thing that the author does well in all the books is character development. This book is no exception. TJB is able to make us love our normal group of friends even more than we did as well as having us fall in love with some new faces along the way.
Warning to the fans of the book series to be prepared for a HUGE shock during this book. I will have to say that the authors address 9/11/01 in a very respectful and honorable way.
TJB is one of the best author teams and I am willing to follow them on any journey they now place on the page. I do feel sad that this book had to end the way it did as I just wanted to read more and more. I really hope the next book is soon around the corner as this is the best book series ever.
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| "When You Don't See Me" Review |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This was my first Timothy Beck novel so perhaps it was the new style of his writing or unfamiliarity that comes with a different novel as this one is but it was just 'good' for me. I found it hard to get into because of the prose and the feel that it takes a good portion of the book for the plot, character and theme to warm up and get moving. I kept having to flip the book over to read the description to remind myself what the book was about.
At first read, the book feels like a faux-autobiography of Nick Dunhill, just your run-of-the-mill "boy goes to New York to try to find himself" story. Nick is also gay, which adds a flair to his character, but doesn't completely define him. In fact, there are few expected sex/erotic scenes, which did help this book keep from becoming your expected gay erotic story. I liked reading about Nick's trouble of finding his place and see him go from having nothing and no place to really call home to, by the end of the book, having more friends, purpose, family and growth as an individual.
My complaint that keeps this from being a 'great' book is that it takes over half the book for the theme of being 'invisible' to really be addressed and applied to the main character. Around page 150 or so, things felt as if they were really picking up and the transition is almost jarring, making the previous part of the book feel as if it were nothing more than filler and wasted pages. The ending is quick and lacks the emotional punch I think Beck intended it to happen, having an almost sappy feel to it that completely goes against the grain of the rest of the book.
In all, a decent book that suffers from some plot/writing choices and an awkward ending. Not great but it's a good book.
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| When You Don't See Me |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Teh author Timothy James Beck brings all the characters to live & is yet another great novel he has written.
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