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Gentle Warriors
In San Francisco, Gregg and a group of fellow gays, plot to assassinate the president, because of government inaction on the AIDS epidemic.
- GenresFiction
299 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1989
15 people want to read
About the author
Geoff Mains
6 books2 followersGeoff Mains was born May 29, 1947. He had a doctorate in biochemistry and spent much of his professional career in Vancouver, B.C., where he was a member of the faculty of the Forestry Department at the University of British Columbia. In 1984, he was employed by Environmental Science Associates in San Francisco, enabling him to move to the city, “which he considered his true home” (San Francisco Bay Guardian obitituary). Mains will be best remembered in the gay community for his groundbreaking book, “Urban Aboriginals: A Celebration of Leather Sexuality” (1984). He also wrote a powerful novel about San Francisco in crisis, “Gentle Warriors.” Mains died of complications arising from AIDS on June 21, 1989. He was 42 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 5, 2022
A “CARING, TOUCHING BROTHERHOOD”
The main action of Gentle Warriors takes place over the course of four days. Mains tells his story in short chapters with titles such as, “The Mission, San Francisco, Thursday Evening,” “U.C.S.F. Medical Center, Late Friday Evening,” and “City Hall, San Francisco, Sunday Morning.” The cast of characters who are involved in an assassination plan on the President, many of whom are infected with the AIDS virus, are engaging and heartbreaking, particularly Marc, who is Métis, and Gregg, the Vietnam vet who is the designated shooter.
As the story progresses, we learn that Gregg’s estranged sister, Jo-Lyn, a right-wing religious zealot, who lives in Spring Valley, Maryland with her infant daughter, is married to Ed Stevens, the CIA operative who leaked the CIA’s involvement in spreading the AIDS virus. Ed has been arrested and has disappeared. Before he went public about the CIA’s actions, he had shown Jo-Lyn where he had hidden guns and ammunition. A hard plastic gun is the only one that escaped CIA searches of their home. Jo-Lyn keeps this gun with her at all times. When I read this, in chapter 31, about halfway through the novel, I immediately thought of Chekhov’s gun.
The following lines from Gentle Warriors could have been written in 2022: “Lies based on fear were the difficult to refute.” “Homos and druggies. They deserve what they get.” “They want a Christian society based on their interpretations of their beliefs.” “A country whose Presidents were eaten alive by the theory of its greatness.” “Over the past decade it had become quite clear that the press was largely incapable of nonjudgmental, non-biased reporting.”
Gentle Warriors is much more than a political thriller. Mains integrates themes from his Urban Aboriginals: A Celebration of Leathersexuality into his story. For example, “After the evil of the war, after the torment of his return, Gregg had joined a different army, an army that could move without destroying, that thought it brought hope . . . Gregg and his brothers, they were to be armies of dreamers and lovers and . . . they would change the world. Oh, how sweet had been that dream. An army for humanity, not one against it. An army anchored in the sea of caring, touching brotherhood, of men who would rather love one another than kill.” In his introduction to the 20th anniversary edition of Urban Aboriginals, Mark Thompson makes the observation that it is “Romantic to its core.” Thompson’s observation can also apply to Gentle Warriors. “Caring, touching brotherhood.” How romantic can you get?
Gentle Warriors includes many wonderfully written passages that describe a time long gone, even by the late 1980s, the period during which the novel was written and during which it takes place. For example, “In the pre-seventies, when gay men were exiles in their own cities, where few institutions existed beyond the bar, and community groups were either brave outposts or not there at all, the bar took on a special role. Bars were living rooms and community centers, places beyond home where people could to some degree relax with their own. Places where friendship and bitching and counseling occurred. Others had their churches and community halls and neighborhood services. Gays had their bars. Despite all the changes of the post-Stonewall era, the bars held their own as community places.” As we have seen in recent days, safe spaces are still vitally important for LGBTQ+ people.
I found Gentle Warriors absolutely mesmerizing.
The main action of Gentle Warriors takes place over the course of four days. Mains tells his story in short chapters with titles such as, “The Mission, San Francisco, Thursday Evening,” “U.C.S.F. Medical Center, Late Friday Evening,” and “City Hall, San Francisco, Sunday Morning.” The cast of characters who are involved in an assassination plan on the President, many of whom are infected with the AIDS virus, are engaging and heartbreaking, particularly Marc, who is Métis, and Gregg, the Vietnam vet who is the designated shooter.
As the story progresses, we learn that Gregg’s estranged sister, Jo-Lyn, a right-wing religious zealot, who lives in Spring Valley, Maryland with her infant daughter, is married to Ed Stevens, the CIA operative who leaked the CIA’s involvement in spreading the AIDS virus. Ed has been arrested and has disappeared. Before he went public about the CIA’s actions, he had shown Jo-Lyn where he had hidden guns and ammunition. A hard plastic gun is the only one that escaped CIA searches of their home. Jo-Lyn keeps this gun with her at all times. When I read this, in chapter 31, about halfway through the novel, I immediately thought of Chekhov’s gun.
The following lines from Gentle Warriors could have been written in 2022: “Lies based on fear were the difficult to refute.” “Homos and druggies. They deserve what they get.” “They want a Christian society based on their interpretations of their beliefs.” “A country whose Presidents were eaten alive by the theory of its greatness.” “Over the past decade it had become quite clear that the press was largely incapable of nonjudgmental, non-biased reporting.”
Gentle Warriors is much more than a political thriller. Mains integrates themes from his Urban Aboriginals: A Celebration of Leathersexuality into his story. For example, “After the evil of the war, after the torment of his return, Gregg had joined a different army, an army that could move without destroying, that thought it brought hope . . . Gregg and his brothers, they were to be armies of dreamers and lovers and . . . they would change the world. Oh, how sweet had been that dream. An army for humanity, not one against it. An army anchored in the sea of caring, touching brotherhood, of men who would rather love one another than kill.” In his introduction to the 20th anniversary edition of Urban Aboriginals, Mark Thompson makes the observation that it is “Romantic to its core.” Thompson’s observation can also apply to Gentle Warriors. “Caring, touching brotherhood.” How romantic can you get?
Gentle Warriors includes many wonderfully written passages that describe a time long gone, even by the late 1980s, the period during which the novel was written and during which it takes place. For example, “In the pre-seventies, when gay men were exiles in their own cities, where few institutions existed beyond the bar, and community groups were either brave outposts or not there at all, the bar took on a special role. Bars were living rooms and community centers, places beyond home where people could to some degree relax with their own. Places where friendship and bitching and counseling occurred. Others had their churches and community halls and neighborhood services. Gays had their bars. Despite all the changes of the post-Stonewall era, the bars held their own as community places.” As we have seen in recent days, safe spaces are still vitally important for LGBTQ+ people.
I found Gentle Warriors absolutely mesmerizing.
September 20, 2025
Despite the typos, I do think this is good book about gay relationships in a time as hard as the AIDS crisis. What I didn't really enjoy was his style, which is why I took so long to finish it. The amount of sentences starting with "Sure," and "yeah," was so annoying... and the frequent repetitions of things that were just said as well. I know what he was trying to do, but maybe I was just tired of the book at that point and wanted him to get it over with. I enjoyed the non-linear story telling, but there were just too many characters, and some information could've been condensed into a few sentences while other information really should've been expanded upon. Peter, who administers the AIDS vial for them, had an entire chapter or two dedicated to him despite only being in those two chapters. Did Mains want to illuminate how the crisis had affected everyone apart of the mission? Probably. One of my favorite parts of the book was actually Jo-Lyn’s, Gregg’s sister’s storyline. The focus on her questioning whether this aids genocide really is evil, while still holding onto that traditional Christian stubbornness. I also thought the sexual chapters were very intimate and honestly enlightened my view on non-monogamy. I'm done with this review. By the way, he writes in a ton of short sentences. Please don’t bully me I’m 16 and I can’t write reviews
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