The H-Gene

by Lisabet Sarai

Dylan Moore will do anything for freedom. Seven years ago, a gay plague spread to heterosexuals, killing millions and sparking brutal anti-gay riots. The Guardians rounded up men who tested positive for the homogene and imprisoned them in remote quarantine centers like desolate Camp Malheur. Since then, Dylan has hacked the camp's security systems and hoarded spare bits of electronics, seeking some way to escape. He has concluded the human guards are the only weakness in the facility's defenses.

Camp guard Rafe Cowell is H-negative. He figures the lust he feels watching prisoner 3218 masturbate on the surveillance cameras must be due to his loneliness and isolation. When he finally meets the young queer, he discovers that Dylan is brilliant, brave, sexy as hell — and claims to be in love with Rafe. Despite his qualms, Rafe finds he can't resist the other man's charm. By the time Dylan asks for his help in escaping, Rafe cares too much for Dylan to refuse.

Dylan's plan goes awry and Rafe comes to his rescue. Soon they're both fugitives, fleeing from militant survivalists, murderous androids, homophobic ideologues and a powerful man who wants Dylan as his sexual toy. Hiding in the Plague-ravaged city of Sanfran, Dylan and Rafe learn there's far more than their own safety at stake. Can they help prevent the deaths of millions more people? And can Rafe trust the love of a man who deliberately seduced him in order to escape from quarantine?

Note: This novel was previously released by Pride Publishing under the title Quarantine. It has been revised and re-edited for this release.

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Two decades ago LISABET SARAI experienced a serendipitous fusion of her love of writing and her fascination with sex. Since then she has published nearly one hundred erotic titles, including the classic RAW SILK. She edited the acclaimed anthologies SACRED EXCHANGE and CREAM and is currently responsible for the altruistic erotica series COMING TOGETHER PRESENTS.

Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone needs from prestigious universities who would no doubt be embarrassed by her chosen genre. She loves to travel and currently lives in Southeast Asia with her highly tolerant husband and two cosmopolitan felines. For more information on Lisabet and her writing visit Lisabet Sarai's Fantasy Factory (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond Romance http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com). Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

Reviews

[Fiona McGier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be unsettling because it's so close to what almost happened with the AIDS crisis of a while back. Years ago there was a plague that wiped out a huge chunk of the population in the USA--so much so that the country has never been able to recover its past glory. The disease was rumored to have been spread by gay men. The "H gene" refers to a specific gene that is supposed to be in all gay men. If a man is H-gene positive, he's sent to a quarantine facility from which there is no escape, and no chance of ever getting out legally, because it's assumed he carries the plague--which is not true, but beside the point to those who want to "cleanse" the country of such depravity. Dylan is one of the heroes, a red-haired vixen of a man who enthralls many with his androgynous beauty, his easy charm, his intelligence, and his tech-acumen. Rafe, the other hero, is an ex-gang member doing his punishment as one of the two human guards at the center--all of the others are robots. He's been watching Dylan for a while, at first shocked because inmates are not supposed to touch even themselves sexually. But as Rafe continues to watch Dylan, he gets more and more turned on as Dylan "performs" for the camera, which disturbs Rafe because he's H-gene negative, so he's not gay. He keeps telling himself that even after they become involved in a physical relationship that ends with Rafe enabling Dylan to escape. But something goes wrong. Rafe isn't going to allow Dylan to be recaptured or killed--he cares too much for him. They go on the run together. The people they meet, the actions of those in charge, all of these things are startlingly close to reality. I think that's the only part of the book I didn't like--I don't like to have to accept that people like that exist--but they do. And in this novel, they're pure evil. The ending is HFN, but I can't help hoping that Dylan and Rafe, who are good for each other, stay together.