Book Review: Dirty Mind by Roe Horvat

From the Blurb:

Alexander Popescu is a university lecturer in a quiet German town. He’s a respectable man in his thirties who stays fit, has a decent career and travels alone—his only vice is an occasional greasy meal. And beer. And violent computer games. Nobody has to know about the other Alex—the acclaimed porn writer. His ingenious erotic fantasies earn him good money and keep his capricious mind harmlessly entertained. 

When his young friend and protégé Christian transfers to Freiburg for medical school, Alex is overjoyed…and terrified that Christian will find out about Alex’s indecent alter ego. The time they spend together, as lovely as it is, could overturn Alex’s carefully balanced life. Suddenly, the writing is not good enough, his hair seems to be thinning, his careful hookups leave him unfulfilled, and his dreams are haunted by the innocent young man he’s vowed to protect. 

However, Christian is not a boy anymore. He’s a grown man of twenty-one, clever and deadly attractive. And he’s hiding some secrets of his own.

Ky's rating:

Another brilliant story by Roe Horvat!

An age-gap of twelve years and a protector-protectee relationship that goes back about three or four years are the starting points of this story.

Alexander and Christian met while both on vacation and maintained a friendly relationship over the years despite the distance. They exchanged emails and phone calls, they confessed deep secrets and had a true connection with each other. They even took trips from time to time to see each other.

One such trip became the reason that Christian decided to transfer to the university in Alex's city.

They were best friends before despite the distance, so now that they were in the same place they took the opportunity to spend more time together. What Alexander didn't expect though was the he would start seeing Christian in a different light.



Suddenly, he started to realise that Christian was an adult. He had changed so much since that first time they met. Suddenly, he didn't need guidance any more, he didn't need a grown up to look after him. He was mature, sure of himself and he knew what he wanted.

Once Alexander started to notice all those changes, he struggled with his own changing feelings toward Chris.

We only get Alexander's point of view so we never know what Christian is thinking or what he's doing when they're not together. We don't know how what's the nature of his relationship with all these new people he meets, or what he thinks about Alex. That was a brilliant decision on the author's part. The unknown factor of Christian's feelings and actions gave the story an unpredictable quality. We were never sure about what the outcome might be.

At some point in the story I came across a very welcome surprise. It seems like Matej, from "A Love Song for the Sad Man in the White Coat", is Alexander's best friend! I read Matej's story before I read "Dirty Mind" because I didn't know they could work together. "Dirty Mind" could be considered something like a prequel or a first glance in Matej and Simon's story. Here, we learn what Matej did while he was away. How much he struggled and get a peak into what his life was like. Those two books can be read in any order you like and the end result will be spectacular just the same!

Highly recommended!

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