They Told Me I Was Everything by Gregory Ashe

Narrated by J.F. Harding

Anyone who follows my reviews already knows I’m a MASSIVE fan of Gregory Ashe’s work, so it will come as no surprise whatsoever when I say that I did the happiest of dances when his latest audio release hit Audible. Book one in The First Quarto series, They Told Me I Was Everything is a compelling blend of intricately plotted mystery and slow-burn romance featuring complex, well-rounded and intensely likeable leads who are obviously meant for one another but who have quite a bit of work to do in order to be together. (So no HEA in this book – but the UST and the genuine affection that grows between the leads is gorgeous and totally wonderful).

Wroxall College freshman Auggie Lopez is a social media star with tens of thousands of followers who, after a serious screw up at home in California, is determined to keep out of trouble, focus on building his brand and business, and looks forward to securing a lucrative sponsorship deal. His internet persona isn’t who he really is, though; he’s tired of continually hiding his true self, (and his sexuality) behind kooky, funny “Internet Auggie”, and longs to be truly seen. On the Saturday night before the semester begins, Auggie goes to the Sigma Sigma pledge party, where he meets a fellow pledge named Robert; they get talking and Auggie, who is more than a little tipsy and a lot angry and frustrated with the need to keep playing a role, declares he wants to go “fuck some shit up”. Robert steals a Porsche and with Auggie at the wheel, they hit the streets of Wahredua at high speed – and on the road out of town they only narrowly miss hitting a man wandering along the road by swerving off into a drainage ditch.

Graduate student Theo Stratford lost his husband in a car accident over the summer, and is getting ready to resume his job as a teaching assistant in the English department at Wroxall. He’s still grieving and recovering from his injuries, and by the time Saturday night comes around, he’s exhausted from his long daily commute by bike (he can’t handle getting behind the wheel of a car), and from preparing his classes, and he’s sick to the back teeth of all the well-meaning but useless comments and sympathy from his colleagues. He’s lost in more ways than one and has turned to drink and pills to dull the pain; working his way through a four-pack of beer on top of a Percocet (for his bad leg), he’s more than slightly wasted when he decides it’s a good idea to go outside. He ends up walking along the road towards the lights of the city – and is almost mowed down by a speeding car. When the kid who was driving gets out and runs screaming at him, Theo punches him, but is pulled off before he can land another one by the other kid – who runs off at the sound of police sirens.

Auggie arrives at his first lecture on Monday morning, and quietly admires the rear-view of his new professor as he writes his name on the board… only to realise when the man turns around that it’s the asshole who’d punched him on Saturday night. Theo beckons Auggie outside and tries to get him to drop the class on the grounds that they have ‘history’ but Auggie refuses and returns to his seat. As the lecture starts, his phone starts pinging with notifications – he’s been tagged in a video which is getting loads of comments – a video which shows him at the wheel of the Porsche, screaming his head off, then cuts to him and Theo standing together on the road, and then shows someone with a bag over their head being dragged along while calling for help. Then – white text on a black background – “you just saw a murder.”

Things go from bad to worse later in the week when Auggie is visited by a man who forces his way into his dorm room and smacks him around, demanding to know where Robert is. Auggie has no idea – which is when the slaps turn into a targeted punch to the face and real threats of worse when the man pulls a gun. In desperation, Auggie says he’ll find Robert – and with a warning not to go to the police or he’ll kill him, the man departs. Terrified and having no idea of what to do next, Auggie goes outside – only to see a huge man with a shaved head and a tall thin woman with a swastika tattooed on her cheek heading his way. He runs – to the only person he thinks might be able to help him.

That’s the setup for the mystery, which is gripping and very clever, as Theo and Auggie find themselves entangled in a dangerous web of lies, murder and betrayal and having to depend on one another to survive. Unlike the protagonists in some of the author’s other series (Hazard and Somerset, Borealis Investigations) Theo and Auggie are just regular guys who have no idea how they’ve ended up in the middle of this mess, and it all seems pretty random to them until the author very skilfully starts pulling together those seemingly arbitrary threads and the bigger picture begins to emerge. But as is always the case with Mr. Ashe’s books, the lead characters and the relationships he forges between them are just as integral to the story as the mystery, and in Theo and Auggie, he’s created another truly memorable central couple whose interactions just ooze chemistry and sexual tension. But they’ve got a way to go yet. Theo is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that ripped apart his family and frankly, he’s on the verge of going under. He’s going through the motions every day until he can get home and commence Operation Get the Fuck Out of His Own Head and has no idea what he’s doing with his life – until he meets Auggie and finds himself reluctantly agreeing to help him. Something about Auggie draws him in – even though he tries to resist it – and he starts to emerge from his self-destructive funk. And in Theo, Auggie at last finds someone he can be himself with, someone who sees the real him and likes him anyway. They find friendship and comfort and affection in each other… and the undercurrent of attraction that underlies all of it is palpable.

J.F. Harding is an excellent narrator and a personal favourite; my happy dance at seeing this novel come to audio included a few moves to celebrate his involvement ;) I love his voice, which is deep and rich with just a bit of gravel, and the performances of his I’ve listened to so far have been well paced and expressive with strong characterisations and clear differentiation, so I knew I was in for a great listening experience. His performance here, however, goes way beyond that, because I honestly can’t find a single thing to criticise. Gregory Ashe’s books typically have fairly large supporting casts, and Mr. Harding skilfully employs a variety of tone and timbre to bring all the secondary characters to life, from the bit-part roles to the important characters of Orlando, Al Lender and Cart, Theo’s late husband’s best friend and work partner, who sounds exactly as I heard him in my head when I read the book earlier this year. His portrayals of Theo and Auggie are the absolute star-turns though; they’re beautifully contrasted, Theo’s voice deep and a bit raspy, and Auggie’s lighter and higher pitched so there’s never any confusion as to who is speaking in their scenes together, and best of all, he absolutely nails the truth of their relationship, the teasing and the underlying attraction and the honest understanding that grows between them.

They Told Me I Was Everything delivered everything I’ve come to expect from a Gregory Ashe novel, and J.F Harding’s intelligent, engaged performance does the impossible and takes it to another level. This is their first collaboration, but Ashe/Harding is already on the list of my favourite author/narrator teams. I can’t wait for more!

Caz

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