Kushtaka

by Shane Michaels

During the Klondike Goldrush, the living were not the only ones who hungered.

Chafing under the constraints of polite society, Levi flees his stifling life in Virginia for adventure in the far north—only to discover that the nimble ghost of his former lover is unwilling to let him go. As Levi wrestles with his growing attraction to Seth Lundgren, a charming miscreant from Minnesota, the deadly forces of nature and the supernatural come together to threaten both Levi’s sanity and their survival.

From Skagway’s lawless streets to the frozen tundra of the Yukon, Levi and Seth face relentless cold, gnawing hunger, and unbridled greed while battling a ravenous spirit intent on consuming them both.

Blending steamy gothic romance, queer reckoning, coming-of-age, and high adventure, Kushtaka captures the stark beauty of Jack London’s northern landscapes with the intimate, perilous longing of E. M. Forster’s Maurice and Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain. A love story set at the edge of the world—where survival always comes at a price.

[Steamy gay romance, paranormal, coming of age]

Genres: Horror

410 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 24, 2025

About the author

Shane Michaels is an adventurer who has traveled throughout the United States and Canada. Though he now lives in a remote community in the far north, his roots are in the South. His first erotic novel, "Cigars in the Parlor", delves into his memories of life amidst Virginia's Civil War Battlefields. The story tells of a doctor and soldier that fall in love under tragic circumstances. "Cigars in the Parlor" was first published as a serialized novel. The complete work was released in May 2014. His second novel, "TransAlaska", was released in Fall 2014.

His next work is an adventure between two young men discovering their sexuality during the 1898 Gold Rush in Alaska and the Yukon. Watch for this work in 2014 or early 2015.

Reviews

[Adam Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really want to give this 4 stars for just the overall vibe of it, which was amazing! The writing was really good. But as far as being a story… I didn’t really like Levi at all, though I did sympathize with him. He really didn’t deserve Seth. At all!! So I didn’t care for the ending, or the overall plot since all the hardship really didn’t seem worth it in the end…? Levi barely learned to love? If he even ever did love Seth… I also wish there was more reason and closure behind Kageet and Konstantin.

Other than the plot, my only technical issues with it were the confusing lack of clarity with pronouns and who is speaking when, and to whom. Just needlessly confusing when the writing is otherwise so pleasant to read!

Anyway, I hope this author continues to write stories, please consider happier or at least more hopeful endings!!

[Roy Mendes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I found this book. Set during the events of the Klondike Gold Rush, the story follows Levi Johnson as he leaves home from Charlottesville, Virginia to stake a claim along the selfsame river and strike it rich. Among his reasoning is his flight from his guilt after the spurning of his childhood friend and lover, Robert, leads to Robert's death.

Along the way he meets Seth Lundgren, a former railway worker also looking to find his fortune and carrying his own secrets. After a heated night where the two become intimate, friendship and more blooms between the two, leading to a partnership that takes them from Seattle, to the dangerous settlement of Skagway and beyond as they follow the frontier to their eventual claim.

Survival and romance, resentment and friendship, the supernatural and the real, and trauma and devotion all weave together to make a heartwrenching tale about two men figuring out the thorns of their past to find success and define what that means in a hostile environment where the guarantee of fortune becomes increasingly unlikely.

I really enjoyed this book. Each character felt real, as wonderful and mulish as they could be in here. Please don't pass on this book.