The Highwayman by Ali Katz Review

The Highwayman
by Ali Katz
Amber Quill Press - ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-517-1
Synopsis- http://www.a-katz.com

Hungary, 1750
Janos Vesh is a man on the edge. He's spent all of his adult life fighting his past. Now he roams the highways of the southern Carpathian Mountains chasing what little vengeance fate has to offer for the wrongs done to him and to his family. But satisfaction eludes him, and his only comfort comes in the arms of his lover, Stefan.
    The soldier's constant love is no longer enough to rein in the highwayman's growing recklessness. Stefan doesn't know what drives Janos along the path to self-destruction. He knows only that trying to save the man he loves from himself is fast becoming a losing battle. He's not ready to give up, but ideas are running short.
A robbery gone bad, a descent into darkness, and Janos's fragile hold on sanity begins to crumble. Stefan has one last hope. 

The Highwayman Reviewed by Jasmine
4.5/5 Whips


   A sexy masked man with a dark and tortured past - Yum.  A tough soldier in uniform willing to make sacrifices for his love - Yum.  The two of them together - Yum Yum!  We have complicated men, in a complicated time.  Did I believe their love? Yes.  Janos's salvation?  Love concurring all?  Well 1750 was a precarious time for anyone, two gentlemen in love does give me some concerns as to Happily Ever After, but I am sure as hell rooting for them.


   The novella was impossible to put down.  Sometimes I wish that I had it as a physical book to chuck at our main character Janos.  Has anyone else had one of those moments?  

"Janos did not trust. If he did once, he’d forgotten how.
Still, he wanted and waited for Stefan to look back. A single
glance was all he needed to chase him down and reveal all.
Just a glance, but Stefan never looked back." Pg 60 The Highwayman


My issue was Janos never changed - the situation reveals him - he does not grow to trust.  Plus at that moment when I really wanted him to crack a little and reach out to his lover, he just remained quiet and I would have aimed the book at his head and let loose.


The Highwayman is a great read and Ali Katz writes a well layered tale.   If you enjoy M/M and historicals this will be right up your alley.  Pun intended.
- Jasmine