Training montages are becoming an unwelcome cliché. As a reader, I am far more impressed by an author who can write a character struggling through his or her first day at a new job, one for which they haven't got the proper training, and cannot hope to excel. That is part of what Clint McCown does here, when his protagonist starts working at a radio/television outlet with no prior experience.

Of course, it helps that the stakes are low for his coworkers, who practically hold the place together everyday with their own spit.

Look for the surprise return of Wakefield's mother, and the even more surprising tale of what she had been up to in her absence.

Noone is a successful writer whose radio serial, Noone at Night, has brought him fans and fame. But his long-term companion, Jess, has just left him, and he's a mess: he can't write, he can't communicate with his father, and he can't understand why Jess is suddenly changing. Enter a special fan, a sick 13-year-old boy who forms a deep connection with Gabriel over the radio and telephone. Peter Lomax was severely abused as a child but finds he can trust Gabriel, who in turn discovers he can open himself up to this amazing boy. However, Gabriel slowly begins to doubt his young friend, just as he has doubted other important figures in his life. While the novel centers on the mysterious Peter this is less a suspense story than a tale about major and minor betrayals by lovers, friends, and family members.

I found the story a little too graphic with gay sex and the dialogue between Peter and Gabrial contrived and stiff. The suspense of the story was interesting, but the ending too jumbled.