The Boomerang Kid

Jay Quinn never leaves me hanging. I loved The Good Neighbor & I was certain I would love The Boomerang Kid. This is a wonderful book, with an amazing plot & amazing characters. This book will be enjoyed, & will not disappoint you.

I've read all of Jay Quinn's novels, and although I thought he couldn't top "The Good Neighbor", he did so with "The Boomerang Kid". Wonderful character development and ancillary technical knowledge/information. I highly recommend it.

I am used to heavy drama in gay and straight novels. To read a story where both parents (although separated for many years), not only still love each other, but offer unconditional love to their bipolar son whose life is difficult at the best of times. At the worst of times, Kai, comes home to his loving and supportive mother. They have a wonderful relationship. She accepts he is gay even though Kai doesn't. Kai's mother has a boyfriend who also supports Kai. Maura's boss, supports Kai and wants to help him through a bleak period. All in all the story unfolds, very neatly, very steadily with no drama, no outbursts. Just understanding and love for a young man who needs emotional help with his addiction and disease and to see his way through to the love of his life Robin. A gentle heartwarming story of love. Love between separated parents, love between a mother and boyfriend, love of a mother and son, a man and his lover. Not something I read intentionally, but a nice surprise and well written. A nice light, gay book to curl up with.

Quinn, Jay. "The Boomerang Kid". Alyson, 2008. Motherhood, Addiction and Sexual Identity Amos Lassen "The Boomerang Kid" is a story about what it means to be bi-polar and it is a novel that successfully manages to integrate gay and straight lives. Like his other books, Jay Quinn gives us a rewarding read and it is yet another wonderful book. Kai Ostryder is 27 years old and suffers from a bi-polar disorder. He functions well and has a job as a carpenter. He has been living in North Carolina with his lover and when the book opens, he decides to go home to his mother's house in Florida because he needs time to deal with several issues--he needs to understand that he is truly gay based upon his relationship with Robin and he finds himself becoming addicted to Oxycontin which he has obtained illegally. Maura, Kai's mother is an advertising executive who raised her son as a single mother and she is trying to build a new life. She is pregnant from her new boyfriend and when she learns that Kai is coming, she is forced to examine her feelings of concern for her son and the thought that his presence could affect her new life. She becomes quite depressed and is not sure she can help Kai get his life in order. She has always been the master of her own fate and she has raised Kai to be the same. Kai is somewhat remote and his bi-polar disorder has been quite a struggle for him ever since childhood. He has had to rely on medications and then he moved into self-medication with illegal drugs. As he nears home, we learn that he has spent most of his money on Oxycontin and he has run away from two lovers--a man and a woman. He wants to stop taking the drug, go back to treating his bi-polar condition and get his life back on track; He thinks that his mother's home will provide the comfort that he needs. The majority of the book takes place in Maura's kitchen, living room and porch as Kai attempts to find a way to overcome the drug. Quinn is able to perfectly capture the essence of Kai, a man in conflict who is waging two battles--one against her sexuality and one against his mental disorder while his mother battles with the need to be a mother to her son and her selfish ideas of being rid of her son. She has a life with her new man now and she wants it to work. Quinn has given us some very real characters. He has great insight into the nature of bi-polar disorders and he shows us this in Kai's character development. Here is a book that not only will entertain, but it will provide great food for though. This is a book you will not want to miss.

Jay Quinn is not a "queer writer" - he is a first rate author who has written one perfect book after another and who has, fortunately for us, a grand career ahead of him. The Boomerang Kid is an illuminating story of what it means to be bi-polar, a heartwarming love story and a great read. Jay has absolutely hit the nail on the head with his description of the transaction that takes place between an addicted or very sick person who has repeatedly disappointed those he loves and his lover. Word for word and sentence after sentence this is exactly what is felt and what is said. Yes, the story is about a gay couple. It absolutely proves that there is little difference between the essential dynamics of a gay or straight couple. Loving is hard, no matter who you are or how old you are. If you work at it, the rewards are like nothing on earth. We are lucky to have Jay Quinn write for us.