Saving Silas

De: SJ Himes

Narrado por: Derrick McClain

Haunted by his years at war, Boston paramedic Gael Dominic spends his time saving other people's lives. An empty house, a single friend, and living at work, Gael is not content with his existence, but he's close. Gael was expecting his overnight shift on Thanksgiving to be the same as always - manic crowds, heart attacks...until catastrophe strikes, and Boston's streets run with blood.

On the run from an abusive and politically powerful father, Silas has been on the cold, mean streets of Boston for days, injured, hungry and alone. When he wakes up in the middle of a nightmare, he expects to die in the same alley he was calling home.

Brought together by tragedy, Silas and Gael can't resist their attraction. Gael may have saved Silas, but it's his alleyway angel who brings Gael back to life.

As Christmas approaches, Silas and Gael learn how to love, despite their pasts. And as Silas' past closes in, Gael learns the greatest gift he could ever give isn't something bought in a store, but freely given from the heart.

Warning: Mature content. Violence. Male/Male sexual contact.

©2015 Sheena Jolee Himes (P)2016 Sheena Jolee Himes

Love happens when you least expect it

Gael (love this name) is haunted by his past but keeps moving forward. Silas is trying to figure out what to do while staying free of his father. As these two come together and begin the path to a relationship, they are having to deal with outside sources that mean them harm. Even with that threat hanging over their heads, Gael and Silas are getting closer and you can just feel the love beginning to bloom.

I love this little story

This was a good book I loved this book will look listen to it again

Excellent narration/ Solid action/romance theme

Where does Saving Silas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's in the middle of the pack. I love the performance by narrator Derrick McClain, however found the character evolution somewhat lacking.

If you’ve listened to books by SJ Himes before, how does this one compare?

This is my first book from this author. I like that although Gael 'saved" Silas, Silas was not portrayed as week or unappreciative. The instant attraction between the two men was plausible, and definitely a feel good vibe. I would have like to have seen more depth from Silas and Gael as individuals, more of their personal growth throughout the story.

What about Derrick McClain’s performance did you like?

His ability to vividly portray the emotions and total feel of the scenes from the perspective of the characters. Derrick gives each character an individuality as far as tone, intonation, and dialect when it comes to their voices. I felt each character in this story was given a spot-on voice - especially his voice for Gael. This adds incredible nuance to an already good story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I always cringe about the subject of abuse - particularly by a parent. Happy that Silas had the strength to escape and to accept the help and love of a good man.

Any additional comments?

I kept waiting of a bit more depth from Silas - his character could have had a lot more conflict going on, with his history and all. It seemed as though his emotions and actions were being assigned to him at times, rather than percolating, being assessed, and then acted upon.

Such a cute and sweet story with a great narrator.

What made the experience of listening to Saving Silas the most enjoyable?

I had love this story when I read it back in December and now with the audiobook it just made the story so much better. Gael and Silas I feel are made for each other. With Gael wanting to save Silas from his father just my heart want to burst. Then with Derrick McClain brings the characters alive. I thought I love this story before. Well he made me love it more. This is definitely a story that needs to be heard.

Short but sweet 💖

For a short story, this one packs a good plot. It has the holiday feels & romance. It has action & a bit of suspense and the steamy parts are quite sexy.

It’s my first listen to Derrick McClain narrating and he did a great job!

Gael and his Angel!

I really enjoyed this story. I knew going in that it would be a short story so I was prepared for that. I would love more of this story because I loved Gael and Silas together. Yes this was an insta-love story but again going into a book that is less than four hours that is kind of a given. The angst was all from outside sources like Silas' worthless father and Gael's ex who I wanted to shake. I would have loved to see the outcome of what happened with the father but I was just glad that this had a happy ending, well happy for now in my opinion since this could theoretically be turned into more. I really enjoyed Derrick McClain's narration with all the different voices, especially Gael......he could call me Angel in that voice and I would probably fall in love instantly too, I'm just saying haha.

Angst-filled Holiday story

Would you consider the audio edition of Saving Silas to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version.

Would you be willing to try another book from SJ Himes? Why or why not?

Oh yes, I like her stories!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily.

Any additional comments?

*I was provided with a copy of this audiobook by the author in exchange for a fair review*Gael is an Iraqi war veteran suffering from PTSD. He now works as an EMT in Boston. Following a mass shooting event he finds a wounded young man, Silas, who is the son of a local, powerful District Attorney. Silas’ father is abusive, and doesn’t approve of his son being gay. Gael instantly feels very protective of Silas, and Silas feels very protected by Gael. I’m not a huge fan of insta-love, but it wasn’t really overdone in this story. Gael and his friend Jim work together to protect Silas from his influential father. Much of this book was kind of unbelievable and over the top, along the lines of a Die Hard movie. There is a lot of angst in this story, but it’s all wrapped up in a neat, happy ending. The narrator, Derrick McClain, is among my favorites, and once again I enjoyed listening to him narrate this story. I did have an issue with his pronunciation of Gael’s name – early in the reading I heard both Gile (one syllable, hard G, rhymes with smile) and Guy-El (two syllables). By the end of the story (and after the pronunciation had been clarified in the book) he was consistently saying it the correct way.

Silas and Gael are a wonderful couple!

Would you consider the audio edition of Saving Silas to be better than the print version?

I wouldn't consider the audio edition to be better than the print as they are the same. But Derrick McClain did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life! And you can indeed take the audio edition with you while driving so it does have that advantage over the print edition.

What other book might you compare Saving Silas to and why?

This one is difficult to answer as I haven't really read a lot of medical type stories. The closest I could think of would be Afterglow by E. Davies. The stories themselves aren't really very close in story line but they do both have similarities in that both sets of characters do end up saving each other.

Which character – as performed by Derrick McClain – was your favorite?

Silas. He did such a wonderful job bringing him to life. I believe that he was the most diverse character when it came to emotions and condition throughout the story. Silas went from being beaten, freezing, and starving to being shot then recovering from surgery and thus on good pain meds, to running and dealing with severe pain without the benefit of meds, to gradually back to what we can only believe is his normal self. Silas experiences a full array of emotions and feelings throughout the book and Derrick McClain does a wonderful job expressing them.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Sometimes the greatest gifts can come from great tragedy.

Any additional comments?

Both the print and audio editions of this story are wonderful but Derrick McClain definitely did a wonderfully amazing job bringing the characters to life!

Touching story

Short, sweet story of young man (Silas) and a troubled veteran (Gael). Loved how Silas and Gael saved each other. So perfect together!
Narrator had such a wondrous voice. Made me want to listen endlessly.
Really loved this story and I’ve read multiple times and just saw this Audible and it was even more enjoyable with Derrick’s narration. Adding him to my favorite list of narrators! S. J. Himes is already a favorite of mine and have read practically all her books. ❤️

Short but lovely story

Story:

The story takes place over the course of a month, but quite a lot is packed into it without feeling rushed. Gael, an ex-military medic now paramedic, and Silas, a young man on the run from his abusive father, meet under disastrous conditions. Gael saves Silas twice and from there a relationship forms. Gael's protectiveness over Silas is super sweet and Silas in return gets Gael to unlock his heart. Silas is given several weeks to heal before the final confrontation with his father. The pacing of the book felt right within the time frame given. Yes it's fast, but circumstances helped to create a quick bond between the characters. I would definitely listen (or read) this one again.

Performance:

I haven't listened to Derrick McClain before, but I really liked his narration of the story. He provided clear and distinct voices for the main characters as well as the occasional accent. And the voices fit with each character, a strong deep voice for Gael and a younger, softer voice for Silas. The descriptive sections had plenty of inflection keeping them interesting and the emotions from the characters came through as well. I would definitely listen to more books with his narration.

My only negative comment would be the pronunciation of Gael. I couldn't figure out the name since it sounded like a weird version of Gile. I actually reread the summary to see what the name was supposed to be. But once an explanation showed up in the story, I was able to make better sense of it. It's an unusual name so not surprising it might cause a bit of trouble.

* I received a free copy in return for an honest review.