Rigby Taylor

The tale continues to impress, I've on;y one problem. Are Americans frightened to use the word 'me'? It's very sad to see this sort of thing all the time: He motioned both Mary Lou and I to seats near his large oak desk and frowned at me over steepled fingers. It has to be Mary Lou and me. Brian and I went fishing, is correct... but, The fish saw Brian and me. not Brian and I.

I have the impression that Americans are often too demanding of 'perfect' behaviour from others. Davey is too hard on Brian, in my opinion. Another great chapter. Consistently well written and plotted.

Some very good philosophical advice on relationships. And a very USA-centric view of recent history.

Very sweet and touching sex scenes. Exactly what I like.

All the events past and present are very cleverly worked out. It all rings so true.

What a brilliant opening and first chapter! I'm hooked. Beautifully paced, erudite and very real.

What a tear-jerker! The story of Lee and Avery is a real winner. Thanks. The other guys are good too, but you've really excelled with those two. Thanks.

Thanks for writing a story I honestly wanted to go on reading.

So true to life: [Quote] And as I look at Dex, for the first time I realise that the distances between his hairline, his eyes, his nose, his mouth and his chin are in perfect proportions.

Such good style... crisp short sentences. just enough description to set the scene and the atmosphere, leaving the reader to fill in the blanks and make the story his own. Better than a movie. Great scene... sexy but never crude.

Nicely written, good pace.

Thank you Mike... This is a wonderful comment, not at all crude, and is just what I needed. The killing of poor old Mr Egas was a copycat after Pete had iread The Vatican Cellars and identified with Lafcadio who had done a similar thing.... Young people need confirmation of their worth, but Pete had received more praise than was good for him and it had turned his head. I'm very pleased you want to read more of my stories. I think you will enjoy them. They usually manage to surprise readers a bit, and are all about things that are important to me. Best wishes, Rigby.

Thank you Steve for such pleasant and thoughtful comments. [I get an email alert when people comment, which is good.] Yes, the world is changing rapidly, but without direction unfortunately - sort of shambling off in all directions. Capitalists tugging us towards increased consumption, and environmentalists desperately trying to stop what seems to be the inevitable extinction of life as we know it. Interesting that you visited New Zealand, twice! Having experienced it, you can perhaps understand why I jumped ship as soon as possible. Unfortunately, here in Australia it's become bad in a different way. Ah me, why is the world not perfect? Anyway, thanks for commenting. You also make sure you enjoy the rest of your life. Jurgen and I are still doing that, only now instead of travelling we've become hermits on our acreage, keeping the rest of the world away. Cheers, Rigby

Thank you Ullyssess! You could not have written a more welcome and appreciated comment. Writing is an odd occupation. Stories are sent on their way and disappear into the void. Then occasionally someone like you writes and tells the author his tale is still alive and appreciated, and he feels a warm glow of genuine pleasure. You have made my day.

Most interesting, thanks to all who contributed . One theme for which I have great sympathy, is that of @Wayne Gray, seeing the worth in the 'worthless'. An admirable aim.

A very fine story, especially the fixation that brought him back day after day in the hope of seeing the boy again. I have done exactly that on several occasions, but never had to good fortune to meet the other person. The silliest was at a suburban railway station, as the train moved away a perfect young man on the platform winked at me. My heart flipped, I noted the time and returned to that platform several times, but of course no luck. Such event become burned into memory. Thanks for triggering memories in such an accomplished fashion.

Thank you kfm61 for your very kind and positive words. The ending is deliberately vague, I want readers to think about justice as a concept and not confuse it with laws and legality, which are entirely different things. Regarding sex, I only include description if it’s a necessary part of the plot and demonstrates character, but unnecessary graphic sex scenes bore me witless both to write and to read. I am disappointed that so many so-called ‘gay’ stories seem to be mere excuses for empty erotica. What happens to the characters is revealed in one of my later books, in which all the 'heroes' meet up. I wrote them in this order: Rough Justice. Dome of Death. Sebastian. Jarek . Mortaumal. Fidel - in which Robert, Bart, Arnold Jurgenz, Peter, John, Sebastian, Jarek & Mortaumal accidentally meet and team up with Fidel in a dystopian thriller that leads directly to… NumbaCruncha – my vision of a possible future for the human race if humans avoid extinguishing themselves. But each book is completely stand alone; they can be read in any order with no confusion as, apart from Fidel, they have nothing to do with each other. I hope my other stories also please you. Thanks again, R.

The beast is dead and the world returns to normalcy - a great relief to all... but the Stone men are still somewhere, and a normal life for humans has never been a peaceful paradise... No doubt a sequel lurks somewhere waiting for you to write it, and our trusty duo will once more save the world...

Despite the urgency, Stravor and his father took their time getting to the Hall. So tantalising - I wanted to give them a kick along. Very interesting parallels with other organised religions - brainwashing adherents, promising peace and love... while simultaneously urging them to kill all opposition. Nice touch having Stravor sent to give his lover a hand. I hope he takes orders better as a soul than as a living body. As his father pointed out, thinking is not his strongest talent. Meanwhile the plot thickens and deepens and I become increasingly intrigued about how you will bring it all to a satisfactory conclusion. Must have been great fun writing this.

A charming tale in which Kippy's experience with Charlie's painting encapsulates what is wrong with the way we usually experience the world. We think we know what we're looking for, but that focuses our attention on a series of single objects and that stops us from experiencing the 'whole'. If we deliberately look at or for something, we only see what we’re looking at or for. But if we unfocus our senses, allowing them to work autonomously, then we can see the complete picture. It’s the same with listening; a paradox. If we look, we don’t see. If we listen, we don’t hear. If we think, we are deaf and blind.

And thank you, Geron, for reading and commenting so positively.

Well, I got that wrong, He did kill the one he loved, but that amulet will surely make all things good again?

Ah, very clever, our feeling for Stravor are clear; we like him and sympathise with his plight. It's obvious he will not kill his lover, so now we want to know how he he is going to avoid it; what fun and games and nastiness will happen.. great stuff.

Oh!! Very, very good indeed! I was brought up on Grimm's Fairy Tales and thought I'd outgrown them. But I obviously haven't; I'm seriously impressed.You write so well, succinctly, with excellent pace and exactly enough description, and deliciously erotic, [although I am a little concerned for the man-boys] . And a plot that is applicable to today -- probably to every human era. Enough compliments, I'm off to read chapter two. Thanks.

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Parker. Indeed, like so many adjectives, respectable means whatever the speaker/writer wants it to mean. Language is deliberately imprecise, I think. How else can we keep secrets while convincing people were are open and honest? Poor Kenneth, not an attractive fellow in any sense. If only we could all learn to follow the advice of ancient sages and 'know' ourselves, we would avoid many of life's pitfalls - such as believing the flattery of a gold-digger.