"Moonlight, Tiger and Smoke"

Review - "Moonlight, Tiger and Smoke" by Connie Bailey

Stunning

READ THIS BOOK

Six year old boys are taken from their homes and families, shipped in crates together to a mysterious island and trained to become members of the secret Shadow World.  Why, how, and what they are to do will keep you turning the pages all night long.


This book takes off at a dead run when six young boys stolen from their homes and form a creche and are trained to take their places in this secret world. Two of them, renamed Moonlight and Tiger, (all the boys taken to this terrifying world are required to leave their old lives and families and names behind), form a friendship that is as inevitable as is it forbidden. Smoke, another one of the boys, becomes important to both boys as they struggle to become men, and to the greater story later.

The two boys grow to adolescence, and realize individually that they love each other, which is forbidden in this world. They are separated in their training, but the bond never fails them.  As they grow and age, their lives take them into the "real" world again, but the bond that started as friendship threatens to break them as men.  To give too many details would be a disservice and ruin a fascinating, twisted and all too possible world.


Ms. Bailey creates a complete universe of wonder here. The boys and their world are fully developed, believable and relatable, surprisingly. Their story will amaze you, move you, and make you believe in the power of love.

Read this amazing book. You won't regret it.

Tom