Randy, the acolyte, is bright, earnest, honest, talented, and very naive. With a deep sense of vocation to the priesthood, he learns that being gay is just one of many challenges to be met. Bullies, teen suicide, betrayal, family dysfunction, and having to fend for himself bring out his sterling qualities and his shadows as well. But nothing tests him quite so sharply as learning the truth about Michael, his first deep love. This coming-of-age story is Brown at his finest.
“A fun, deliciously scandalous … depiction of queers in the clergy.” Brown’s prose straddles the vigorous, the poignant, and the sordid in equal measure, particularly during moments when Jared embraces his wild side and when Paul’s faith is tested against his deeply felt attraction to Jared … Though the characters lose some of their early allure, a surprise twist revives things. Brown channels his former vocation as a minister and spiritual director into creating a narrative that is authentically pious but riddled with sex and shocking secrets. For readers of queer romance yarns, this novel will satisfy on several levels…
Welcome to 2020 Last year was quite the experience. COVID-19 gave me plenty of opportunity to finish editing my first novel, We Are Not Saints: The Priest, and finish writing my second book in the series, We Are Not Saints: The Acolyte. Publication of The Priest was in mid-October of last year; publication of The Acolyte will be later this month (February) if all goes well. It’s Impossible to Be Everywhere, But… I think everyone knows that we’re on Facebook, but in two places? Right: my author Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/hlesbrown) and the We Are Not Saints page (https://www.facebook.com/WeAreNotSaintsSeries) Some of…
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! An intriguing story. I had a hard time putting it down as I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Kept me in suspense for sure. Characters are well developed—appealing and scary and often at the same time. Great surprises in the end too.
Large faiths are an amalgam of light and dark. There is the wholesome good that draws people in as believers and the bad that takes advantage of them at times. We Are Not Saints: The Priest is a book of light and dark that exposes the whole range of human emotion. It is touching and sentimental, carnal, and at times, disturbing.
This is a must to read. I have read it many times and bought it to share with others. Having not been raised Catholic but had friends who did I was always curious and felt that Priests were put on a pedestal but in time learned they are human. This would be a great movie.
I have four friends that want to read it. I’m not much of a reader guy, but I can’t put this book down!!! I’m extremely impressed with all of it. I cannot wait to read The Acolyte.
With the huge number of books published in the US every year, one of the things that contemporary authors must do in order to find readers for their work is to create a robust social media presence. This past few weeks, I’ve been all over it.
This website features a “Sign up for Updates” link that takes you to a short form, asking for your name and email address. What’s more, posts on Medium.com (interviews with the characters of my books) ask you to register there to receive emailed updates. I would very much appreciate it if you were to help me out by registering, particularly on the Medium site. Why?