Johnny Smith meets Church Chetwood during the dark days of the Great Depression. He knows Mr. Chetwood can’t be his forever. Why would the handsome and charming director want to stay with a young man who has nothing but his body and skills in bed to offer? His Mr. Chetwood can have any woman—or man—he wants, but Johnny is going to keep him as long as he can.
When they have to leave suddenly on the SS August Moon to evade the process servers trying to find Church, Johnny is glad they’ll have more time together. But the crew rises up against the good Captain Johansen, urged on by a stowaway who wants the August Moon for himself. Johnny and Church, together with the captain, the cook, a wireless operator, and the little girl Johnny saved from prostitution, are cast off into a small lifeboat—and doomed to the open sea. Their other option is to try to land on the island where Church once discovered a saber-toothed tiger. The problem is, the last time Church was on this island, twelve men paid the price with their lives. Will Johnny, Church, and their friends make it out alive this time?
Whither Thou Goest is set in the 1930s, and I thought captured the time period well. It’s written in first person, but is told from the perspective of several different characters. Although the first few chapters are from Johnny’s POV, it then switches to Church’s and then others of the ‘cast’. Although I haven’t read a book that switches POVs and does it in first person for more than two people before I thought it worked well and it fleshed out the characters nicely.
I also haven’t read the first book in this series—Call Me Church—but that didn’t take away the enjoyment of this one. Enough backstory is given to fill in the gaps without bogging down the storyline, which I appreciated.
This story is more of an ensemble with the focus not only on Johnny and Church’s romance but also the relationship between Charley aka Chow Chi and Captain ‘Jo’ Johansen. Hildy, the eight-year old girl they find on the island, is an interesting character, and I’d like to read more of her as an older woman—she had a lot of spunk and insight for a little girl, but without coming across as precocious or a Mary Sue type character. I would like to read more about Nick—the ship’s wireless operator—too.
There’s a lot of story going on, and I found Charley’s particularly interesting. I’d love to read more of his and Jo’s story. The villain of the piece is a nasty piece of work, and I thought the author did a good job with him, painting a picture of a motivated man without crossing the line into caricature.
The story, although taking the time to flesh out characters is still full of action, with the trip to the island etc a nice homage to the 1933 King Kong movie. Although Whither Thou Goest is an historical, what they find on the island also adds a dash of fantasy so it’s one of those stories which is a mix of genres.
I’d recommend Whither Thou Goest to readers who enjoy an old fashioned adventure with a touch of fantasy story in the style of King Kong with interesting characters and an ensemble cast. 4 out of 5 stars.
This is the first book by Tinnean I could not get through, gave up at 50%. The wonderful romance which began in "Call Me Church" morphed into a paranormal adventure and I lost interest. Sorry.
Whither Thou Goest takes us on an amazing journey back to the time of the Great Depression. Here we have danger, adventure, love and romance on the high seas, and on the mysterious island of Iwi Po’o. When I first started to read this tale, it reminded me of the original King Kong movie, made in 1933 when the Depression was at its lowest. There aren’t any giant gorillas, but there are saber tooth tigers, wooly mammoths, spiders, a volcano, and Romans who are looking for sacrifices for the volcano. And there are lots of other surprises too. I visualized the cargo ship SS August Moon like the one in the movie, and found some similarities to the King Kong plot.
Johnny “Kid” Smith came from a wealthy family, but his father felt Johnny brought embarrassment to his name. Johnny has nothing and is living on the street when he finds himself being befriended by Church Chetwood. Even though Johnny is facing hard times, he’s smart and also turns out to be a savior to a young girl, Hildy. And he’s not ready to let Mr. Chetwood go.
Church Chetwood is our extreme movie director. He takes chances that no other movie director would dare just to bring “the unusual” to moviegoers. His first seafaring trip to Iwi Po’o was a terrible disaster, and to add to that, he brought back a saber tooth tiger that terrorized New York. These problems had him running from the law. He also has an emotional tie that keeps growing towards “the kid.”
Captain Frank Johansen, owner of the SS August Moon, was also on the run from the law since it was his ship that ventured to that strange island along with Church Chetwood and the doomed crew. He and the ship’s cook have a special relationship.
Charley (Chow Chi) has an interesting background. He grew up in the Forbidden City, trained as a warrior and spy for the Chinese Consulate. The story of how he and Captain Johansen meet is just amazing, and their relationship is one that’s unforgettable.
Nick Hendriksen is the young wireless operator on board the ship. He ran away from home at the age of fifteen to be a sailor. I found that Johnny, Nick, Charley, and Hildy seem to have an attachment that grows throughout the story.
Of course, there’s the evil, bad guy, Thorvald Lillesand, who gets the crew of the SS August Moon riled up and causes a mutiny, then places our six characters back on the island of Iwi Po’o. What makes it worse is that they get stuck again with the evil Thorvald on the island too.
Tinnean has packed Wither Thou Goest with an amazing cast of characters and their stories. It’s fast paced and one wild and fun page turner. Even though Johnny and Church are the MCs, I appreciated how Tinnean gave other characters the chance to tell their own stories—about how they met and became part of this tale. This novel is fantasy and history melded together—check out the Author’s Note for some historical facts that are mentioned in the story.
This begins roughly where Call Me Church left off with Johnny joining Church Chetwood aboard the August Moon to escape the authorities that are after him after the whole Saber Tooth Tiger incident.
I loved Johnny when we first met him as a down and out young man doing whatever was needed to survive during the depression, even if that meant selling himself. When he gets “saved” by Mr. Chetwood and taken back to his room for the night, it melted me into a big old pile of goo the way these two found one another. Neither of them were looking and yet, they blended in the most beautiful way and are now on an adventure.
Johnny and Church are so damn smitten when we meet them again and I loved that John was learning a new skill with the skipper. But oh boy, things can't stay boring for these two and when they stop to take in show off the boat, they not only get a new experience but they gain a few new passengers.
It’s you and me, partners, from now on. You said it yourself. Whither thou goest….
This book was so much fun. As I read it reminded me of the adventure of Indiana Jones or movie Romancing the Stone. Things are set in the era right after the depression yet we are in this world where prehistoric islands exist and men can bring encounter strange creatures, Mammoths, magical waters, hidden treasures and… things you have to let you imagine wander to enjoy.
I am still stuck in the book and all that I read so I am at a loss how to review it.
I loved that we got more of Johnny and Mr. Chetwood together. I loved watching them come to terms with the reality of their relationship and it was lovely to see John grow into himself with every touch from his lover and every obstacle on the island, even gaining the trust of a new pet.
At first, I found the new POV’s to be irritating but once I got into them and realized that this new POV not only game me a new couple to fall in love with but gave me the back story of how Chetwood fell to calamity on Iwi Po’o and then some. They were amazing together and their story brought this whole story full circle.
Whither Thou Goest was a crazy wild ride with new adventures among two men who are so goofy for one another it made me goofy for them.
2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Whither Thou Goest by Tinnean I enjoyed this story, and it reminded me of the Fay Wray King Kong movies. Interesting layered characters - it's the first time I've read a story with different perspectives all told from 1st person POV, and I thought the author pulled that off really well.