3.5 stars. My opinion of this book is all over the place. This book is absolutely taboo and extremely controversial. You have been warned. There were quite a few violent rape scenes which were hard to read, but they were necessary to illustrate just how much abuse Brant had to suffer through. Violence was also overabundant in this book. If you can't handle reading about murder, you'll want to move along. Same with any sort of male/male interaction - if it bothers you, this is not the book for you. There are no straight couples in this book. 
 I really liked the world that this author created. Books about mafias and underground crime organizations fascinate me. The story was heartbreaking. If you're looking for potential happiness, you will not find it within the pages of this book. Is there some sort of reward or emotional payout? Well, that depends on what you consider rewarding. The main character did get some of what he wanted in the end, but the way that he obtained it may not be pleasurable or palatable for many to read. Them's the breaks though. This world isn't easy. It's dark and full of pain. The ending was the best possible ending for the situation at hand. 
 The characters were even more complex. Brant is a character whom you can't help but want to hug and comfort and take his pain away. Constantine is a snake in the grass, and you'll hate him the entire way, but he is definitely not boring. Now Wilber...oh man. Do I like him or do I hate him? Maybe I never really got over his initial treatment of Brant, but I couldn't bring myself to really latch onto the idea that he had a heart inside. 
 One small complaint - there were several editing errors. I didn't find them to be distracting enough to halt my reading, so the complaint is very minor.