Talker is a lyrical story filled with pain, anguish and love. Talker is a short story by Amy Lane about two unlikely friends: Tate “Talker” Walker and Brian Cooper. The two young college men meet during a track team bus ride and become fast friends and why not? They are both hiding secrets from each other and themselves. Tate is a talker with a quip for every situation, thus his nickname. Behind his bad boy rocker facade, he is hiding a lot of personal pain and fear of rejection. Brian is hiding too, but he’s hiding behind a facade of “normality”. He has a stream of faceless girlfriends who come in and out of his life, but don’t mean anything to him. It takes one of those girlfriends to wake him up to some realities about himself.
Amy Lane’s Talker touched me with its fluid language, which is almost poetical at times. While reading the book, I had the feeling that I was listening to a poet. Reading Talker was my first experience with Amy Lane’s writing. I plan to enjoy listening to this voice in the future. I read constantly and it’s been a while since a book warmed me as this one did. This one is definitely 5 stars. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
Talker’s Redemption begins some six months after Tate realizes Brian is gay. The two of them are undergoing some serious therapy sessions with paunchy Doc Sutherland, a colorful psychiatrist with a penchant for knitting cardigans. Brian is Tate’s Prince Charming, his 
knight in shining armor. What happens when events carry the knight the field? Is Tate going to step up to the plate?
Amy Lane handles the second book about this sweet couple with much skill. Lane tells much of the Talker’s Redemption in flashbacks and from Tate’s disjointed perspective. You hop from past points in Tate’s life forward to past points in Tate’s friendship with Brian. At some points, I found myself confused by what was happening, particularly the introduction of Jeremy. The story requires your full attention. I’m giving this 4 stars because it is obviously a transitional novel with several plot points left unresolved. Still, I loved the story.
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Images courtesy of Dreamspinner Press
