Rich Flaster and Eric Dazman – otherwise known as Flash and Dazzle – are best friends. They work together at an ad agency and spend most of their free time together, too. Most of their male bonding time is over beer, takeout, video games, sports or movies, but that’s pretty normal for guy-time, right? And life would continue in that vein for Flash and Daz, except for a couple of bumps in the road. And one of them is big; insurmountable, even.

This book had a slow start and I couldn’t get into the first-person narration. Add to the fact that the protagonists are men and they live in NYC… I just couldn’t relate.

But almost halfway through, I realized I WAS into it. I cared about Flash and his career. I cared about Dazzle and his family issues. I cared about Eric and Rich’s friendship, and how it was going to play out.

The ending is wonderful (beware… the kindle edition ends before 90%) and the middle is pretty good too. Lou Aronica writes authentic dialogue and believable characters. And though the plot wasn’t what I was expecting at first, I appreciated Aronica’s approach to the themes of friendship, loss, grief, and love.

Three stars for solid writing, engaging dialogue and well developed main characters. Overall, I enjoyed it.

–Calliope

Buy it now Flash and Dazzle