“From the Depths of Hell”–a return from hell

Trudeau, Lance. “From the Depths of Hell”, Publish America, 2005.

A Return from Hell

Amos Lassen

I had never heard of Lance Trudeau before I received a copy of “From the Depths of Hell” but I have a feeling that if this book is an indication of how he writes we shall be hearing a great deal more from him. Part love story, part thriller and part supernatural, this is a book that takes an afternoon to read because once you start you will not stop. I did not so much feel that I was reading but rather having a conversation with Lance and as if I have always known him.

Luke is a young professional man. He sees Chad, a handsome fine (or so he thought) at the dentist’s office and cannot forget him. Some time later, quite accidentally, the two meet and Luke feels that this meeting was preordained. Likewise, Luke s quite determined to date Chad and Luke thinks that he has found his perfect other half. What Luke does not know is that Chad has secrets and they slowly come out as they two men begin a downward spiral in their relationship to “the depths of hell”. As the secrets emerge, Luke realizes that the man he loves and thinks he knows is someone he does not know in the least. We are to discover what drives Chad to behave as he does and we find that we are as anxious as Luke t find out the truth.

Here is an inside look at a world that most of us are not acquainted with—that is foreign to us. Trudeau makes us open ourselves to the world in which we live and to pay more attention to what goes on around us and to carefully take note of all those living here with us. He shows us, somewhat, the inner workings of the gay mind and allows us t see what makes gay men tick.

More than everything else however is that Trudeau has raised the death sentence away from those with HIV and AIDS. Our characters don’t die; they learn to live with all of their illnesses and problems.

Trudeau also deals with coming-out and maturing, the hotility of families and the reality of gay life. This is a brave book that is not afraid to show that sex is not the only thing that makes a relationship. We see love conquering all problems and that everyone, if they desire, can rise “from the depths of hell”.