Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1488732 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

Customer Reviews

A worthwhile sequel
Having enjoyed Out of Bounds immensely, I was really looking forward to this sequel. It really pays to read its predecessor first to get an insight into the complexity of the characters. The sequel had the essential ingredients of a Seabrook novel: strong, heroic characters, the reaction of a homophobic community and a lively dialogue. But it lacked the complex layers of sub-plots which is so characteristic of his other works. Despite that, it was still a worthwhile read.

An unnecessary sequel that didn't have a charge
I was disappointed when I heard that a sequel had been written to "Out of bounds" which was a lovely romantic gay love story between a young teacher and one of his senior students. When reading the first book you always felt the ending was wrong, that Steve & Richard should always have ended up together not Steve & Graham. I suppose the need for a sequel was partly because of this...

As it is, it is Ok, but if you haven't read any other Seabrook novels, try those first, particularly "Full circle" or "Conduct unbecoming"

Diminishing returns?
Like so many other reviewers here, I read "Out Of Bounds" first some years ago and found it to be a delightful, low key, gay love story. When I found out that the author had written a sequel, I was quite intrigued and bought it. I had some problems with the book from the start though, and had to keep restarting it from the beginning because I found it somewhat tiresome and could never get past the first 20 pages. After leaving the book for a year or so (!) I tried to read it again, and this time got past the initial stages where I had previously lost interest and managed to read through all the way to the end.

I was not enamored with the book, the way that I was with "Out Of Bounds" many years earlier. I was a little unhappy about the story taking place so relatively soon after the first novel (even though there was a seven year gap in between the publishing of each book). I felt it would have been far more interesting to have seen the characters seven years down the line in order to see how they had grown as individuals. The plot of this book was a bit hit and miss, and people who are not cricket fans will find the book a bit hard going. I also found the ending to be a bit of an anti-climax, and was led to believe (by the book itself) there would be more to it. Furthermore, I found the dialogue in this book to be a bit much, as the main characters seem to be painfully upper-middle class, virtually to the extent of being spoofy caricatures. Although it was noticeable in the first book, the dialogue didnt seem to be quite as exaggerated at it is here.

On a positive note, it was nice to see "young Mr Hill" and his friend Richard again though....I just wished I could have seen them as a touch older than they were.

On the whole, not a terrible book, but certainly not as good as the first installment. It's worth trying if you liked the first book, but dont expect this one to have quite the same charm. Perhaps my own tastes have simply changed with age.