Narrated by Greg Tremblay
The Old Wheel, book two in The Adventures of Holloway Holmes, opens up a few months after the events of book one (The Strangest Forms) and finds Jack Moreno now enrolled for classes at the Walker School, his father in much better health (thanks to the deal Jack ‘negotiated’ with the school’s board of trustees) and Jack’s friendship with the supremely enigmatic Holloway Holmes continuing to both enrich his life and exasperate him to the point of screaming. Things are mostly better than they were (if you don’t count Mr. Moreno’s improved health meaning he’s able to take more of an interest in what Jack is up to) although money and the lack thereof is still a major concern; medical bills are still coming in, and Jack’s reputation as someone who knows how to get stuff ensures a steady stream of lucrative side-hustles obtaining various kinds of contraband for the ‘troubled teens’ who have been sent to Walker School by families who don’t want to deal with them.
The Adventures of Holloway Holmes is a trilogy featuring the same central couple and overarching plotlines, so it’s essential to have read The Strangest Forms first. There are probably spoilers for that book in this review.
So Jack’s life has improved somewhat, but he’s still struggling with massive amounts of guilt and trauma over his mother’s death in a car accident a year ago, and the fact is dawning that maybe his one remaining parent wants him to be something he’s not. (Jack is bisexual but isn’t out to his dad.) He’s still a mess of emotions – angry, scared, resentful – and prone to indulging in high-risk behaviour as a coping mechanism, but the one constant in his life has become Holloway Holmes – his beauty, his quirks, the odd mixture of strength and vulnerability he tries to hard to hide, but has slowly started to allow Jack tiny glimpses of. Their relationship is full of messy teenaged feelings and it’s clear that Jack is already head-over-heels in love, but he’s decided that friendship is probably the way to go because Holmes is so far out of his league.
“I knew that he was something more than me, something vast and wonderful that I could only touch the edges of. But for someone like me, the edge was enough—just a glimpse was enough.”
The mystery plot kicks off when Jack receives a request for help from just about the most unlikely person ever – Aston Young. Aston is one of what Jack terms The Boy Band – the five most popular guys in the school – and is a member of a very wealthy, very strict Mormon family (his grandfather is an apostle, a major bigwig in the church). He’s also gay and a total dickhead, and in The Strangest Forms, was so desperate to keep himself from being outed that he actually tried to kill Holmes. So a teary, terrified Aston asking for help because he’s being blackmailed over video footage of him and his friend and fuck-buddy Dawson having sex is the last thing Jack expects – but the offer of five grand to find out who is behind it is too much to resist. (And nor is the rush at the prospect of getting to root out another blackmailer.)
Given the aforementioned murder attempt, Jack intends to keep Holmes out of it, even though he knows taking money from Aston when Holmes is his best friend is a shitty thing to do. Holmes being Holmes, however, very quickly realises what Jack is up to and certainly isn’t about to let him go it alone. Jack has to bow to the inevitable because, as Holmes reminds him, helping each other is what friends do.
When Dawson is found dead, Jack and Holmes begin to realise that the blackmail and murder are a smokescreen, and that there’s an entirely different game afoot. But what exactly IS the game? Who is pulling the strings? And what, precisely, does the cold, sadistic Blackfriar Holmes believe Jack has that he wants back? And worst, the very worst, of all – has Holloway Holmes been lying to Jack all this time?
The way the author constructs these stories, so that the mystery and the relationship development are so completely and inextricably intertwined, never fails to impress me. Even when Jack and Holmes are getting themselves mixed up in nefarious plots or running for their lives, their interactions show just how much they love and trust one another, and I think that, of all Gregory Ashe’s couples, their romance is one of his most, well, overtly romantic. Despite Holmes’ constant need for control, he can’t help but show Jack more of his true self than he’s ever shown anyone, and Jack’s feelings for Holmes are writ so large as to be visible from space.
He sat there in silhouette, head down. I knew the curve of his spine. I knew the span of his shoulders. Anywhere, I thought. I could be anywhere and know you.
These two are wonderfully complex, beautifully drawn characters who are easy to fall in love with despite their faults. Holmes has come a long way since he met Jack; every time he takes even a tiny step away from his ‘conditioning’ makes Jack feel like he’s winning at life (even though it sucks the rest of the time) – those small but genuine smiles, the dry humour, his delightful dorkiness, and obvious affection for Jack are all softening Holmes’ sharp edges, although he still struggles to reconcile his feelings for Jack with his training to be unemotional and controlled at all times. And Jack is trying hard to be everything to everyone – a good son, a good boyfriend, a good friend, but he just doesn’t have the wherewithal to keep all those plates spinning. On top of everything he’s still not dealing with about his mother’s death, he feels like he’s disappointing everyone he cares about and he falls back on his old friends – booze and weed – to numb himself to it all. But despite his self-destructive tendencies, Jack is intuitive and compassionate and generally pretty self-aware; he fucks up and he knows he’s fucking up – but he does it anyway, because he’s sixteen and he’s hurting and he wants it all to go away, even if only for a short time. But he never gives up on wanting to get to the truth and do the right thing – even though it’s hard.
There’s a great bunch of brilliantly drawn secondary characters here – shout-outs to Emma, Glo and Rowe who will become really good friends to Jack when he most needs them – and I loved the scenes between Jack and his dad. They’re not always pleasant – mostly because Moreno Sr. is usually out of his mind with worry about his son, and as any parent will know, we’re not always completely rational when our children are in danger – but they’re very realistic, and I really enjoyed the way they’re moving towards a better understanding of each other.
Greg Tremblay delivers another outstanding performance that once again showcases his very real talent for finding the heart of a story and getting inside the heads of its characters. I love Jack’s narrative voice – he’s bright and brave, with a big heart and a nice line in snark and self-deprecating humour, and all those qualities come through strongly in the performance, as does the vulnerability he works hard to hide but which is never far from the surface. The portrayal of Holmes is also superb – his dialogue is clipped and precise, and sounds just a little unnatural, which fits his repressed personality very well, but now there’s a bit more emotion bleeding through. The interactions between Jack and Holmes are perfectly timed and Mr. Tremblay does an incredible job of delivering the emotional content of the story; the intensity of Jack and Holmes’ connection is perfectly conveyed, and the really BIG moments in the story are superbly realised. I defy anyone to have a dry eye at the end; I’ve read the book and knew what to expect, but even so, I was choked up thanks to the very raw emotion Mr. Tremblay injects into the words.
I’ve mostly written about the central relationship in this review because I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but I’ll just remind potential listeners that despite the ages of the protagonists (sixteen), this is a typically Ashe-ian (?) mystery, so not only is it clever, twisty and full of red-herrings, it also contains some darker themes and violence.
The Old Wheel is a tough listen at times, but it’s a terrific follow up to The Strangest Forms and is highly recommended. There’s a humdinger of a cliff-hanger at the end, but my understanding is that the final book, Where All Paths Meet, will be released in audio in Oct/Nov, so there’s not too long to wait.
Note: this story contains scenes featuring drug use and an attempted (not graphic) sexual assault.
Caz
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