Forever in One Second by Finn Marlowe
Samhain Publishing
Gay Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-60928-757-3
Reviewed by Cassie




Dane Harper is nearly killed in a tornado, but is brought back from the brink by a familiar EMT.  He heals quickly—almost miraculously so—and afterward he decides to make the most of his life.  Part of that is finding his rescuer, Courtenay “Court” Woods, a childhood friend of Dane’s late brother’s.

Finding Court is easy.  Getting Court to let Dane into his life isn’t.  Once Court lets Dane in, however, will Court’s dangerous secrets be the end of them both?

Forever in One Second has a very cool premise.  I’m fascinated by superpower-like abilities, and Court’s definitely fit the bill.  The story began wonderfully, with a suspenseful tornado and rescue section.  Dane and Court’s first re-meeting was interesting too, with just the right balance of antagonism and desire.  After that, though, the story began to lose some of its impact in my eyes.  Court’s abilities were cool, as were the bizarre and mysterious dreams he had, but his relentless waffling and wallowing in his guilt wore on me.  Dane also started off very likable, but his bossy attitude and tendency to charge in without thinking caused a lot of problems.

The storyline itself is engaging, with a lot of chases, suspense, and opposing forces seeking to control Court’s ability—or to destroy it.  Secondary characters with shadowy motives pop up here and there, and it’s hard to tell who the villains are.  There are a lot of genuinely suspenseful segments.  The problems, for me, were mostly caused by Dane.  I normally like quite a bit of sex, but it seemed like there was too much of it during pivotal times (shouldn’t these guys be trying to get away or something?), and when Court would try to be sensible he ended up being overruled by Dane.  Also, several of Dane’s decisions toward the end bothered me a lot.

I don’t want to give the impression that I hated Forever in One Second.  It has a great premise and I really liked Court.  The villains were fascinating and highly nuanced.  I wasn’t fond of Dane, but other readers might find his brashness amusing.  Overall, Forever in One Second is an interesting book that takes unexpected twists.  Readers looking for something different with a paranormal slant will probably enjoy it.