PrivateTim

I see Marie more wholesome looking like Olivia Holt.

If he would just let a damn cannon ball take out Granger he could focus.

Ugh..... I just don't get why people want Wade and Brad in a relationship. Sex is one thing, a lot of older guys want younger guys and vice versa, each for their own reasons, but partnering someone in such a different stage of life would be too weird. Wade is barely older than Darius and is Brad's dead partner's son's ex-fiance (back in Telenovela turf). It is nice to see Matt and Will starting to resolve issues and it hasn't been quick, its been six months of missed Escorial dinners when Matt has as much right to be there as anyone. I do wonder why he isn't moving in with Frank & Isidore in Lafayette though? Seems it would make more sense than Escorial once school is out. We also haven't heard where Matt is going to grad school yet. Any bets on BU or Northeastern?

Here is Ben Carter. (Theo James - Downton Abbey)

Here is Chris Martinez

Sorry the name just isn't grabbing me. I can't get the flux capacitor out of my mind.

All I can say is I am glad Wade is going to Harvard so we don't have the fucking community organizer as a teacher I like the idea of Matt and Brad as narrators and it makes a lot of sense when you think about. They are both, each in their own way, struggling to find themselves. You'd think that is something you do once and then move on, but getting lost is pretty easy, it is the way back that is hard and both of those can be pretty good stories to tell. Looking forward to this

Wow, you really are an evil bitch.... you make everyone hate Matt in the last book and make him a narrator in this one. What can one do, but quote Maro Channing?

In so many ways this must have been the hardest CAP book to write. I think so many people enjoy CAP because of how real life entwines itself in the story, but things like the Vietnam War, the sinking of the USS Thresher, airplane crashes and skating competitions are either history to us or foreign territory. But September 11, 2001 is different. It is a day and events that touched everyone who reads these stories and we all probably have different reactions, but I suspect most were deep and visceral and the echoes of that day still reverberate around the world. For many people is it The Day That Changed Everything. Mark and his support team did an amazing job, through meticulous research, keeping the story true to actual events of that day and maybe bringing back a bit of the pain to those who lost someone or maybe created that feeling of loss for those who didn't. I also think it is important to never forget the pain of the day and days that followed so we don't forget those that have sacrificed since and are still sacrificing as we speak.

Well that can't be the complete chapter, did a page fall on the floor or something? I mean Will didn't have sex with anyone....... Thank you Mark from the bottom of my heart. Not just for this perfect ending to a very emotional book, but for the entire saga. It is a monumental work of fiction and your output is simply astounding. Congratulations on another triumph and thank your team for their efforts as well.

More's the pity for Delaware. Only in a podunk state, that would be the 23rd largest COUNTY in area in CA and the #11 county in population, could a callow 29 year old be elected to the U.S. Senate. As to Ethan and Will and even JJ, this is the second time that you've mentioned Harvard Westlake in the last couple of days. Will goes to The Menlo School now and I am not sure JJ is still at H-W (unless you are dropping a major bomb that Will is returning to H-W for the next story). Also, as GLH points out, by 2001 AIDS was being managed pretty well. AIDS related deaths in the U.S. (and the developed world) fell off a cliff starting in 1995 with the first drug cocktails and have stayed low and edged downward even as new infections have edged upwards.

One word on how messed up Delaware is, Joebiden

Man..... tough crowd around here...... I think people miss the important point of the scene of only one condom between the three of them and on Stef's plane. The author has to have poetic license to move the story forward and the scene was important (in his mind and his is the only one that counts) for a healing between Gathan and Zach and Gathan and Will. As to Goodwell, in the words of Riley, "What a revoltin' development this is!" There wasn't even a straight sex warning! It was nice that Ethan seemed accepted, but it also seems like he has been consigned to the dustbin of characters with Ryan, Will's driver Pat and Sean the lawyer, among others. I do hope Elizabeth finds redemption. Maybe being a mother to Ethan will be it.

Wally is not very strong or very sure of himself, otherwise he would not still be a garbageman on a route 20 years into his job, he would have moved up the ladder. He is easily intimidated by people like Frank and Frank in particular as well. If Wally were a strong character he would have pushed back at everyone, especially Will, than he has already. And we say that because Will didn't set Zach's Durango on fire because of the girl, Will is growing up? If Zach is going to maintain his facade in high school and college he almost has to have a girlfriend or people are going to talk. What star football player doesn't have a girlfriend? Even if a guy doesn't want one, girls throw themselves at the guys and apply huge pressure and start dating you two weeks before you know you are dating. I think time will tell how long Will can survive in this arrangement. Kind of off topic? And that outfit is ridiculous. It screams "I am insecure, look at me" like a male version of Gaga. On a completely different topic..... how healthy is it for Will to fly off to see Zach every weekend? That means he is ignoring his friends from Palo Alto, which isn't good for those relationships, and it has to be pretty obvious to some of them that there is more going on than just Will going to see his cousin.

I hate when this story gets completely unbelievable! As if anyone thinks Frank and Isidore would ever live in Walnut Effin' Creek over Lafayette or Moraga!

This was a cute line and probably too much fun to pass up; “Like that dude in Popeye?” he asked. “I’m not trying to fuck Olive Oyl.” But Matt is a senior at Stanford, not a 4th year student at Skyline Community College. I have to believe Shakespeare would come to mind before Popeye. I continue to be perplexed by Will, Ruler of the Universe. Apparently he gets to decide who lives at Escorial, he gets to decide when Zach's parents get to see him and it is acceptable when he lashes out at anyone who crosses him. This is the "mature beyond his years" man child? More he reminds me of Billy Mumy in Twilight Zone. It's good we're having a good time. Not so sad about Wade kicking Matt to the curb, I'd have done that two years ago. Three chapters to go and I'm looking forward to them to see the set-up for the next story. I do hope Will stays a narrator, because even though he frustrates me, he is also very compelling and I hope we get to stick with Wade & Brad too. Not ready for a new character narrator quite yet, I can barely keep track of the ones we have now. Thanks Mark for the story in general. Your output continues to amaze.

Hun, the first thing you learn in scriptwriting is never let the facts get in the way of a good story..... And a guy named Jeremy obsessed with something? Who'd a-thunk it

I don't give a crap how much figure skating gets rewritten, CAP is much more important than who placed 4th in the U.S. Men's Nationals in 2002. Quick!, Who was it? If you said Michael Savoie or if you have a clue who Ryan Jahnke or Scott Smith are, you really need a life

Ewww, JJ & Gathan, what a revoltin' thought that is! I don't see JJ falling for a muscle head, more a Shane Jackson, Alistair, John kind of guy. Someone lithe like himself. Nice chapter in starting to tie up the pain of 9-11 as we all did in our own way and time.

Wow, a new AP story! Hope you finish in less than three years this time! Just kiddin' It is a promising beginning.

Cheap Spanish novella? Oh hell no! if you tweaked the characters to make them straight instead of gay Crónicas De Un Depredador Académico would be a multi-million dollar, long running TV series on Telemundo with Ricardo Montalbán as JP

I think sometimes Jeremy you generalize your preferences and assume everyone feels the same. I think a lot of people would prefer their high school years over their college years. To me that is one reason the writings of Dom Luka were so popular as he concentrated more on the high school years. High school seems a more innocent time than college. I didn't see any less drama or BS in college than I did in high school and college drama and BS seemed more serious as the stakes were higher. I really enjoy the pace of the story. I am guessing that the next story may have Wade as one narrator going to the U of Chicago so he can have the Bamster as a law prof, but I hope we stick with Will too as a narrator, his shenanigans are never boring and I want to see how long this long distance relationship can work or how long Will needs it. He is Kevin Reynolds from Team Canada and surprisingly, 23 years old.

Me either. I think Will's been a whiny, crazy bitch for three stories now! But watching figure skating today I thought, OMG, it's JJ! I see JJ a bit cuter, less goofy, but I thought the hair, body and costume was so JJ.

Matt does not think of himself as a Hayes, because he was raised by the Carswells thinks of them has his parents and Matt never knew he was a Hayes until very late in his life. Robbie was a sperm donor turned father only very recently. Frank? The guy who was a basket case until a few days ago? That was the answer to Matt's mental health? That and "go get counseling" constitutes support? Where was Will for Matt in those days and weeks after 9-11, before Tony-gate? Where was Brad? Darius & JJ? The rest of the Schluter clan? I think the observation on lack of support is pretty astute. As to this last chapter, I continue to be perplexed as to where things are heading and based on most of the reviews, wonder if I am reading the same story as some of the reviewers. Matt didn't move out of his and Wade's quarters, Wade did and did so very publicly. Wade is the one who didn't call Matt back while he was on the Georgetown trip, Wade is the one who rebuffed Matt's attempts to talk to him on the ride back from the airport. What is Matt supposed to do? Yes you can point to Matt's ignoring of Wade in the days after 9-11, but when Matt started to come around, Wade shot him down and moved out of their room. Why should he be surprised or offended that Matt is moving out of a room he no longer lives in? As to Will's reaction, it is typically over the top. He is done with Tony and has been treating Matt like shit (before he just sort of tolerated Matt, never, ever treated him as a brother) so what right does he have to have any say in who Tony has a roommate? He won't even return Tony's phone call and screamed "fuck off:" in his ear? What gives him standing to be pissed off at either person? I am also perplexed by the "Wade & Brad would be a good couple" crowd? Wade and Brad as in such different stages of life. Maybe they had good sex a couple of times, but that isn't a great foundation to build a relationship on. Looking forward to the next book and hope it doesn't hop too far forward and sticks with the multi-narrator format.

Wow, they say short term memory is the second thing to go!