Chicago 1982 is a goldmine for the construction industry, and Eric and his two business partners are thriving. Once nothing more than orphans in a Catholic boys’ home, they’ve overcome poverty and abuse to obtain success. Now living the lives they once only dreamed of, they’re sure of one thing: they will never look back.
Then the past returns, by way of a cheap polyester suit and a smile Eric has never forgotten-and all the dark memories come crashing back. Lucky for him, Jimmy has no idea who Eric is, or who Eric used to be…
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
The overall story arc of “We Three Kings” could be told in a few short sentences, but sometimes the beauty of a story is in the telling. What I liked about this story the most was that Henley relied heavily on “showing not telling” – that is, the backstory of the characters and how they came to be the people that they are is shown, not laid out in clumsy exposition. The history is sketched in piece by piece as they novella progresses. We actually never do get the entire picture and that’s OK. The reader has enough solid information to understand what has happened and how this influences the characters and can sketch in the rest as needed.
Eric is a deeply conflicted, troubled man who desperately wants to atone for past transgressions but isn’t sure he has it within himself to do so. He and Jimmy are clearly a great match, but he has a mountain of baggage to deal with before this could ever happen. Interestingly, I’m not sure Eric is a 100% likeable guy, but he is who he is and he doesn’t apologize for that.
My only complaint with the story is that the character of Jimmy isn’t as fleshed out as I would have liked, though in the context of the story it’s understandable why. Also, when primary plot conflicts can just be settled by the characters just TALK to each other plainly, I get frustrated as a reader. Of course, seeing the big picture that’s easy for me to say – to someone actually living the story and dealing with the doubts and insecurities, it’s probably not so easy.
This is another very enjoyable story from A.F. Henley, and I am happy to heartily recommend it!
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