The Luxorian Fugitive

Centauri Survivors Second Chance Chronicles #1

by J. Alan Veerkamp

Sergeant Liam Jacks is the security chief of transport vessel, The Santa Claus. He travels the planetary cluster with Marc Danverse, his best friend and captain, seeking to escape his tortured past and find some peace of mind.
Having been through a civil war together, Danverse and Liam are close. Maybe too close....
All that changes when mysterious stranger, Hadrian Jamison, an escaped Adonirati, books passage to Alpha Centauri. Can he be trusted? Can the stories of his past be believed?
As Liam's fascination with Hadrian grows, jealousy threatens to tear apart his friendship with Danverse.
When Hadrian's owner shows up, Liam is forced to go against orders in order to launch a rescue mission to save him.
The ensuing conflict may be more than any of them expected.

Genres: Science Fiction, M M Romance, BDSM, Gay, Romance, Abuse, M M Science Fiction

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2015

About the author

While spending years more focused on visual arts, J. Alan Veerkamp never let go of his innate passion for storytelling, wanting to write and draw comic books when he grew up. Once he discovered M/M fiction, a whole new world opened filled with possibilities. Why couldn't you have fantastic and dynamic sexy tales with an M/M cast? He started reading the online tales of authors like, Night Tempest, Rob Colton, and Alicia Nordwell, which only fueled his need to create. Eventually he found GayAuthors.org, and with a little coercive nudge, started sharing his tales with an unexpected level of positive response. The experience and support gave him the courage to cross his fingers and aim for the world of M/M publishing.

Born and raised in Michigan, J. Alan continues to type away, wishing it was practical to use an noisy, old fashioned keyboard that clacks with each strike, if just to annoy his loving partner and spoiled miniature dachshund.

Reviews

[Vivian · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 21%.

Life's too short. I love sci-fi, but this book just didn't work for me.

First, the descriptions were clunky. Reads like Tom of Finland models meets NYC Leather scene with retired military characters in bathhouse porn. The world building was not very convincing, things were too relatable: department stores, cups of tea, whiskey (pst! adding Centauri in front of whiskey doesn't make it sci-fi), camping chairs. I was losing interest even though I liked the initial scene between Danverse and Liam. Then there were derogatory comments every 7% of the book. It's not cute or funny. It's sophomoric and bad taste.

Making indiscriminate comments about people based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or creed makes you prejudiced.

--"Second, I don’t live on this boat because I trust females, boss. Synthetic or not, if she goes on her period, I’ll be the one who gets blamed when we all start screaming, ‘Oh God, oh God, we’re all going to die.’

--They turned the second passenger away. Clearly she had ignored the “No Hetero, No Female” rule.

--“Second, I’m not into a threesome with his man, and two bottoms bumping pussies doesn’t a relationship make.

I get it. I'm leaving. This book is the purview of Gay Males ONLY--everyone else can F*ck OFF!

Ciao.

[⚣Michaelle⚣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 12%

I don't think I'm the target audience for this book; it read as quite gay, cis-male oriented going so far as to ban heterosexual men & women of any sort from both the crew and passengers...a detail that didn't feel necessary. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the need for "safe spaces" but the way it was handled was derogatory and mean.

And honestly, I don't care if there is technology to "fix" any injuries sustained during rough sex, safe-words are for mental as well as physical well-being. Safe is the FIRST part of the BDSM tenents of SSC, and for one MC to tell him that he can't have a safeword is just inexcusable. I should have stopped there but I wanted to give the character a chance to develop, to see if he would realize how he handled that was wrong...

I just couldn't though. Besides these issues there were inconsistencies and confusing details in the story itself that were impossible to ignore or forget. Like taking weeks to reconfigure the ship & crew sleep/wake cycles to match the one on the space station they were headed to. Where they planned to spend ONE NIGHT. That makes NO SENSE. Why all that time & effort put into changing something so temporary? JFC I don't even do that when traveling; I just deal with the jet-lag for a couple days and sleep it off on the trip back or when I get home. That kind of adjustment is meant for long-term adaptation...

There were other instances but I can't be bothered to detail them all. Specifics that would be glaringly obvious to any halfway decent SciFi fan or someone with a bit of advanced science education. As a HUGE SciFi fan, I was really disappointed in what little I did read of the book.

Maybe I'll pick it up again if it gets another revision?


ARC provided via Netgalley and NineStar Press in exchange for honest review.

[Jeff Erno · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrilling pleasure read! This story and the writing craft of the author pushed all my buttons. The fast paced action had me on the edge of my seat, and the emotional struggles of two truly endearing protagonists pulled at my heartstrings. Add to this the heated, sensual sex scenes--and you've got m/m romance at its best.

Luxorian Fugitive is a sci-fi romance featuring an all-gay cast of interesting characters. Captain Danaverse is a stubborn, dominant alpha male (my favorite). He wants to have his cake and eat it too... and he does. The main love story, though features Security Chief Liam and an enigmatic passenger on their commercial/freight spacecraft. The mystery man, Hadrian, at first appears to be a criminal fugitive, but as the story unfolds, he becomes more complex than he at first appears.

Overall a quick read (because I couldn't put it down). Look forward to future stories in the series.

[Nemo ☠️ (pagesandprozac) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF At 32%.

I try not to DNF any books at all, let alone netgalley reads, so that just shows how Done I am with this.

It is the year of our Lord 2018. I am bloody SICK of misogyny and cissexism masquerading as pro-queerness. No, you’re not pro-queer, you’re pro cis-male homosexual, and I do NOT want to read something that demeans other marginalised groups. 🙃🙃🙃 “No Hetero, no female”? Because Mrs Claus wants to be the only female on board? The MECHANICAL, NON-LIVING “FEMALE”?

Hahahahhahaajahjahahaha I don’t have TIME for this.

In addition to this, I wasn’t gripped by the plot at all. I just don’t care about what’s going on, because the plot is meh and the writing is mediocre. I have millions more books to read, and I do not want to spend even another second on this.

Goodbye.

(Also: Danverse is a terrible name. Anything that ends with verse is a terrible name. Who the hell let this through editing. GOD nothing about this doesn’t make me ANNOYED AD HELL)

[multitaskingmomma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Blog Post:
Blog Tour, eARC Review, Excerpt, Trailer & #Giveaway:The Luxorian Fugitive by Mann Ramblings

Review by: multitaskingmomma
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

On board The Santa Claus, two best friends find themselves in a bind. Captain Marc Danverse and his chief of security, Sergeant Liam Jacks. Both men had gone through hell in the last war and this transport vessel provides surfeit from the worlds below but it is also their cage. Trapped in a situation neither wants to be in, they find they cannot get away from their needs and their inner pains.

Hadrian Jamison, is an Adonirati, a slave of his world. Genetically manipulated to the needs of his master, he finally finds freedom, but at a price he never wanted to take. With falsified papers, he goes on The Santa Claus to journey to a planet where he may just get that final ticket to a life free from the whips and abuse of his master. Then he meets Liam Jacks and something snaps inside of Hadrian. Something just clicks and he knows there is nothing to stop him from protecting what is his.

Liam finds he could not resist Hadrian, even if deep down he knows this man has secrets he cannot tell. What spurs him on, he does not know, but he will do everything and risk all to guarantee the man's safety.

Marc looks from the sidelines and sees the developing relationship between his best friend and a passenger. He does not know how he feels, but jealousy is one of them. When he acts on an impulse, he never thought that Mackenzie Smith would stand up to his dominance. Is it too late for Marc to find someone to hold dear?

As the inner conflicts escalate for each man, somewhere in the universe, Hadrian's master will stop at nothing to get back what is his property. Will Liam be able to stop him? Will Marc save Liam from certain death?

I began this read with a whole lot of scepticism for there were elements that came in which I did not expect. There are secrets to the relationship between Marc and Liam and if I continue, it would spoil lots of stuff. So I keep my fingers glued tight and not reveal anything. It is for you to find out!

As for the rest of the read? There is action, lots of it. There is erotica. LOTS! of it. Then there is the required romance and yes, there is a whole lot of that going on. Overall, a good read... if you get passed the first two chapters!

And that is where I leave you... hanging... I have to! Otherwise, it would spoil a lot of things for you. So go read and find out .... heheheheee

[Alina Popescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be the first to admit that I have a big soft spot for science fiction, and when it comes to gay scifi, I've read some pretty incredible books, so it's hard to amaze me. Yet The Luxorian Fugitive managed to meet all my high expectations. Mann Ramblings builds an interesting future world, and the community of Santa Claus is extremely appealing. Even in the distant future, the beings you encounter are as human as they are today, with the same flaws and qualities.

Luxorian is a world where the rich can afford anything, including slaves. Clones are the new second class citizens, and while this is supposedly a futuristic world, its inhabitants are not afraid to devolve back to gladiator times. They use their Adonirati to fight, and in between their appearances in the arena, they are nothing more than prostitutes.

War is still brutal and leaves just as many scars, just as Liam proves, and love is still complicated at best. Apparently, we are unable to learn to deal with our emotions and in the future, our feelings, wants, and needs are just as mind boggling as they are today. Yet this is the part I love most about scifi, being thrown in a world you do not recognize, yet immediately relating with those who populate it, with their fears and challenges, with their moral issues and their reactions to everything life throws at them.

The Luxorian Fugitive is definitely a page turner, all character are beautifully written, and it also happens to be one hot read. Hadrian is my new book boyfriend. I can't wait for the next installment in this series!

[OJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this science fiction book, thoroughly enjoyable and I will add Mann Ramblings as another author I will follow.

Hunky Liam Jacks and his PTSD need Commander Danverse's tough hand when things become too much for Sgt. Jacks... until he meets Hadrian, the Adonirati gladiator empath... thus begins a wonderful science fiction adventure which drew me in and held me... I couldn't put this down and I literally read it almost straight through - a rare thing for me.

If you're in the mood for some well written, enjoyable science fiction, this is it.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mann's characters are very three dimensional and relatable. It's not because they're flawed. It's because they are flawed and struggle to make things better, sometimes succeeding and other times not. This brings depth to his stories and makes you empathize and cheer for the crew of the Santa Claus. Great story and you'll love the next one as well, my fave!

[Tamara]

There's enough misogyny in my life as it is, I don't want it in my fiction too.

[BevS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of proofreading this one back in March, thought I'd reviewed it and discovered I haven't. Anyhoo, it was great...in fact so great a sequel comes out in the the next week or so, and I've already pre-ordered. 5 stars, well done Jody.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Luxorian Fugitive was a fun read with memorable characters and an exciting, fast-paced plot. The story caught and held my interest from the first page and I look forward to reading more in the series.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got this book from Netgalley!

I DNF this book at 13% and honestly, it was a slog to even get that far. Is it possible that this book picks up and gets magically better at 15%, or 20%, or somewhere, but I doubt it.

There were about three strikes for me for this book.

1. The whole set-up is absurd and misogynistic, with absolutely zero subtlety. The book takes place on a spaceship run by a gay man who has a "No women, no hetero" rule for both crew and passengers. The reason? He doesn't want to build a second bathroom for women, and straight people complain about the crew having sex in public places. If they framed it as a ship that's a space specifically for queer men, I could get with it, but it's all handled in such a clunky and strange way that I honestly wondered if it was written by a straight woman with no idea what she's doing but knows that gay men are hot, but it turns out the author is a gay man. Which like...power to him, he can write whatever he wants, but I don't have to read it.

2. The main character has BDSM-heavy sex with the captain because it helps with his PTSD, somehow? But they never talk about it except after the fact, don't negotiate boundaries, and the captain literally says, "There will be no safe word. You need this pain." Again, I have no problem with BDSM, but as soon as I read that sentence I knew I wasn't making it through the rest of the book.

3. When the love interest comes in, the main character has a major case of *insta-erection*, where he is suddenly and inexplicably intrigued and turned on by this man he's only seen once, more than he has been by any other person ever, to the point where he struggles not to pop a boner in the middle of all the new passengers because it is just that intense. This trope is surprisingly common and I'm over it. Sometimes it's not an irredeemable thing, but the way that it was written basically told me how the whole romance element was going to play out (love triangle, over dramatic, super sexual, angst, the whole shebang).

Now, this might not be enough to turn you off, but I have so many books to read and review, and if I wanted to read gay erotica in space with a only the barest thread of plot, I could find it easily online via fanfiction, and the quality would be about the same (or in some cases, better). This book is not necessarily a terrible book, but it is definitely not the book for me.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.5 stars

The Luxorian Fugitive was a frustrating mix of enjoyable action and eye rolling dramatics. The writing is generally well paced and the book moves smoothly. There are a couple slower areas, but these don’t last long. The action is strong and there are several shootouts and moments of explosive violence involving Hadrian captured my attention. I wouldn’t call them particularly graphic, so don’t worry if you’re squeamish about that sort of thing.

There are actually two separate romances here and the one between Hadrian and Liam is by far the strongest. Hadrian is intriguing and the unraveling of his past serves as a focal point for the story. Liam’s struggles to deal with his actions during the war are poignant and while his infatuation with Hadrian feels rushed, their relationship is generally well rounded. The other romance between the captain of the Santa Claus, Marc Danverse, and a young engineer called Mac, doesn’t work within the context of the wider story. It seems to detract from what’s happening between Hadrian and Liam and while Danverse is a critical part of Liam’s past, he doesn’t always fit into his present.

Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.

[Treessing · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this ARC to read.

Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about this book.

This is a book I, surprisingly, DNF'd at 5%.

This book was a terribly written fanfiction. The cover was appealing and so was the idea of the story, but within the first few pages, you get a good idea of where this is going. And then, well, it gets worse.

We meet our protagonist who is a chief to a commander on a spaceship heading to God knows where in this story. We begin to feel the world building and a look into our character who is suffering from PTSD.

This book blows immediately when a few pages in, our character decides to use his pent-up frustration and fear from his nightmares to participate in BDSM. We are immediately thrust into the point of view of the Commander who is the one who uses a "BDSM Technique" to help our MC, which I might say is a terrible way to cure or treat PTSD at all!

It was astonishingly disgusting that it was worded the way it was. Just the way that the secondary character spoke towards the victim of PTSD was disturbing and wrong. Second of all, he first responds to our main character negatively saying, "You deserve this, this does not make up for all those lives you too" and then proceeds to say, "This will make you better."

As someone who deals with trauma every day, I can say that engaging in harmful sexual behaviors is not positive or enforcing treatment on someone with this background. The character himself is in a desperate situation and is seeking comfort and possibly intimate relations, but I hardly think that BDSM is important or well written in any shape or form. I could not finish reading this for the life of me. I really don't think this needs to be read by anyone, ever. A major let down.

[L Cam · Rating 1 out of 5]

**Title was provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I wish I could say I liked this one, but I didn't. It was all over the place with it's characters and the relationships. I've never given a book a 1 star rating, but this one definitely deserves it. It has a good premise, but it just snowballs as soon as you read the first page.

This has some very insulting and degrading comments regarding females. I get it's a gay romance, but I feel like some of these comments aren't what gay males would say about themselves. And generally speaking, an already discriminated against group wouldn't turn around and be prejudice against heterosexual or females in the title. It just made me stop and go, wtf?

The captain is an asshole. Plain and simple. He's supposed to be this confident Dom of a character, when he's just an overly aggressive top who takes advantage of the people on his ship. Liam, is a character that I liked. The only one out of this entire story. Mac is a secondary character with no range, but he's suddenly the eye of one of the main characters. Hadrian. Man. I thought I would like him, but no. He's not really a robot, but he's perfectly made by genetics. He doesn't seem like this ethereal character with super powers, just some weird cross between a submissive trying to be a Top. Everything about these characters just doesn't fit well at all.

The process of events in this story are also so haphazardly put together that you can tell there's relatively basic understanding of how a story forms, but the flow is rough and unappealing in addition to the unlikable characters and sloppy character and plot development. Just no.

[LOLA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sci-fi adventure with Santa Claus. The ship is called the Santa Claus. The crew all non-hetero males. No females allowed. The captain is Danverse and his best friend and security officer is Liam.
Danverse and Liam have a complicated relationship.
Danverse is a Dom and helps Liam get thru some PTSD with
some BDSM action.
The next mission brings Hadrian on board. Just another beautiful man to transport... Right.!?
Hadrian is not just normal. He is genetically modified.
He is also trying to escape to Alpha Centauri.
This sci-fi story is very well crafted. Great space plot and characters are interesting and not to mention sexy. There is a decent amount of sexual tension going on. Plus sex in as many places as you can have it on a space ship. What did you expect with a space ship full of horny men?
Liam and Hadrian are a good match. They have some issues to work on and seem to be making a great start. These two are sweet, but very hot in the hallway, cargo hold and bunches of other places!
Such a wide variety of characters to have future books with.
Hoping for more BDSM scenes in the future. Maybe we could hear more from Mac and Danverse?
This sci-fi was Hot and Heavy. Enjoyable and Entertaining.
Hopefully more space drama to come.
Do you like sex in space stories? A little bit of mystery?
How about some drama and lots of testosterone.
Then this is just right for you. You will like it.
(Given a copy for an honest review).(Thanks). #NetGalley.

[MariF · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*
I bought these series because I loved Innocence and Carnality. I had a hard time reconciling that it's written by the same author...
First part was chunky and clunky and I had a hard time following events and motivations. Things got better in the middle and heated up toward the end.
I give author kudos for some interesting ideas and settings but I was also turned off by a lot of mesogenic slurs passed as jokes for no apparent reason. It's fine to have a dedicated spaceship that houses gay war veterans but making everyone act like oversexed delinquents, how old are they?, and treating PTSD with a heavy BDSM without established limits...
Fortunately, Liam wakes up to the fact that BDSM scenes are not an answer to his issues and tries to make a working relationship with Hadrian involving communications.
The last third kind of redeemed some of the crude things said and done in the first part.

[Natalie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received from Netgalley. An enjoyable read. I like how the story was focused on more than one couple and although there was plenty of sex, it didn’t feel pornographic or overshadow the plot. I like how all the characters start with haunted pasts or problems, allowing them to grow. From start to finish it was a good book.

[Michele Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!!

You have space travel, sci-fi, altered cloned super humans...who could ask for more? Oh, and of course the all male crew. Loved the characters introduced in this first in the series!!

[Michael Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my website for my full review of “The Luxorian Fugitive.”

[Sarah Meerkat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arc from netgalley

I do not have any desire to read about ship captains with misogynistic, sexist and transphobic passenger policies or about space bdsm being used to treat ptsd from war instead of actual therapy. That is not how bdsm works at all.

[Joscelyn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great series starter and I most certainly want to read more of it. It has a great cast of flawed and damaged characters working towards finding freedom from their pasts. Their journey is fraught with pain, losses and love found.