The year is 1883. Eduard van De Lier is a Dutchman overseeing a spice plantation on the island of Java, in the South Pacific. His obsessive attraction to dark-skinned men is just one of his many secrets. His wife Marien knows of his indiscretions, but as she's content with their Colonial lifestyle, she stays silent. Until a former lover of Eduard's shows up in their parlor with thoughts of blackmail. Reza was a crewman on the ship that brought the van De Liers to Java. During the passage, Eduard spent many a night in the younger man's arms. Two years have passed, and the last person Eduard expects to find in his drawing room is Reza, a letter in hand that could destroy the life he and Marien lead. Seeing him again ignites Eduard's lust for his first dark lover. He hopes to retrieve the letter, either through seduction or subterfuge, and the longer Reza eludes him, the more his desire grows. But they're on shaky ground, and before things can heat up between them, their world explodes -- literally -- when the unstable island of Krakatoa erupts.

All Shook Up

No one queer, wasn’t that what Joey said? And now I date guys who look like him instead.


At the hospital, Joey leads me to the elevators and when the door opens, we’re surprised to find our father already in the lift as if waiting for us. “Hey Dad,” Joey says, stepping into the elevator to take the tray that trembles slightly in my father’s hands. The food on the tray looks unappetizing, at best—a combination of hospital andcafeteria food, the worst of both worlds. As the door closes behind us, Joey nods at the panel. “Fourth floor, Brian.”


That button isn’t lit. When I lean against it, I tease my father, “Where were yougoing?”


Chapter 15