Title: D.B and Me
Author: Rob Rosen
Formats: Reviewed on eBook
Rating: 3.5 stars
Acknowledgment: Thanks to Gay Romance Reviews for providing an ARC
Prior to my review I must provide some background/context to this book- the bare facts one needs to know is that on the 24th November 1971, a man who has since been known by the pseudonym “D.B. Cooper” hijacked a Boeing 727 in the United States, obtained a then US $200,000 ransom and then parachuted out of the plane mid-flight, never to be seen again.
With these facts in mind, one can imagine that this is a historical speculative fiction (spec fic) type of read; indeed as this novel opens with a man named “Tim” (a.k.a D.B Cooper, aka Dan Cooper) still in a tree attached to his parachute, and found by a man named Adam.
Adam himself is a product of the times, having recently been discharged by the US Army after the Vietnam War and as one can imagine, has devils in his mind due to what he has encountered while over in Vietnam.
Initially, the novel tends to drag a bit as the first third novel is essentially one big sex scene, as the characters shag like bunnies. When the sexy times finally go in the background is when the novel for me shines.
Rob Rosen attempts to create a novel where it attempts to paint a psychological picture of both Tim and Adam- Tim having just jumped from a plane and Adam having just served in Vietnam and also suffering from a terrible terrible secret. The jury is out on the fact as if it was successful- after all D.B. Cooper has literally disappeared from the world after the hijacking, so Rosen has a rich tapestry he can play with in attempting a characterisation of this infamous person. Rosen’s attempt does fit in with the basic facts of the case so it’s not as far fetched as one would seem.
Where the novel is let down, at least for me, is the fact that the first third is essentially a piece of erotica, the next third is a mostly enjoyable historical spec fic, and the last third (that is the ending) is shoe horned in a short piece of time that the ending made me go “what the actual ??@?@?@”
Overall, D.B and Me is a mostly enjoyable read, but probably more worth of a loan then an outright purchase