From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Come Unto These Yellow Sands

Josh Lanyon

Start date: May 1, 2013

Finish date: May 31, 2013

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4,118 comments total

Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
By Josh · 3043 posts · 623 views

last updated Feb 21, 2024 10:37PM

February 2025: The Lemon Drop Kid
By Karen · 15 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 14, 2025 04:47PM

showing 10 of 28 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jun 15, 2011 John rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gay, fiction, mystery

I enjoy Josh Lanyon's writing: he always tells an engaging story with wit and charm with a special ability to create characters we enjoy. But Come Unto These Yellow Sands really is Lanyon 2.0. This book works on so many levels. It's beautifully written and intelligent; Lanyon makes five words do the work of dozens. Main characters are carefully drawn and engaging: nothing about them is "canned" or cliche. Other reviewers have described the story with more eloquence than I could muster, but it's ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2011 Mandy*reads obsessively* rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook-owned, m-m, hurt-comfort-disability

Good mystery, honest and heartfelt love story!
Recommended!

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 17, 2011 Mtsnow13 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, erotica, fbi-agent-detective, romance, suspense, professor-teacher, less-than-200-pages

Just finished as a re-read, but this time as an audiobook. Loved it! I especially enjoyed the beginning of each chapter with 'create your own adventure' entries. And Swift's voice, as a former addict ( I guess he will always be fighting this) and his depth of apathy about his own writing, living in his own little world, and not really connecting with people on any scale, well, took a bit to warm up to him as a person. The creative genius, what do you do when everything loses color, or you have t ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2011 Paola rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourite

Though I haven’t read many stand-alone books by Josh Lanyon so far, compared to his series, Come Unto These Yellow Sands surprised me by how much I came to empathise with the main characters.
Even in 3rd person POV, Swift’s “voice” is very distinct and limpid. The book also has a very good sense of time and place, in the way vivid and beautiful descriptions of nature in this corner of Maine provide the perfect backdrop for the evocation of the character’s moods and emotions, in a way that really Though I haven’t read many stand-alone books by Josh Lanyon so far, compared to his series, Come Unto These Yellow Sands surprised me by how much I came to empathise with the main characters.
Even in 3rd person POV, Swift’s “voice” is very distinct and limpid. The book also has a very good sense of time and place, in the way vivid and beautiful descriptions of nature in this corner of Maine provide the perfect backdrop for the evocation of the character’s moods and emotions, in a way that really resonated with me. Through Swift’s senses (as a poet he has a heightened perception of even the most hidden aspects of the world around him) we perceive the colours, the smells... we are there.
In typical JL style, the protagonist, a college professor and poet, emerges as a fully-rounded character, with very believable strengths and vulnerabilities, apparently quite happy and content with his lot in life but with an undeniable wish for something more, especially as regards his relationship with the local Police Chief. The book tells his journey from being simply content, living "healthy, whole, and mostly happy", to becoming more engaged in the world around him, including taking a few risks. Moreover, despite Swift’s profound self-awareness, his long physical and mental isolation has made him a little too self-absorbed, cocooned in the apparent safety of the academic world and the small-town setting, and not fully aware of his surroundings, of what small-town people living around him might feel as regards his past and present, his sexual orientation, his academic position and credibility. His self-absorption emerges through what other characters, especially his lover Max, say to him or how they react, and it’s interesting how this affects Swift’s journey of self-discovery and growth in the latter part of the book.

Swift’s humanity is even more evident in his struggles with his addiction and the precarious balance he’s achieved since staying clean, even after several years of staying clean, and in his sense of inadequacy in the face of his famous and well-respected parents.

His lover Max is drawn with a humanity and compassion, despite his apparently intransigent behaviour and seeing the world in black-and-white terms (as Swift remarks several times): as with Jake in the AE Mysteries, it may take a while to warm up to Max’s tough exterior, and though we don’t get Max’s POV, his words and his actions reveal so much about where he stands, and about his struggles to reconcile upholding the law and his feelings and worries for Swift. Whereas on the surface Max’s role as regards Swift could be identified as the ‘protector’, we slowly realise he’s come to ‘depend’ on his relationship with Swift as well in various ways. Their intimacy is beautifully portrayed, and it includes those little but meaningful scenes where Swift cooks for Max even when he’s not sure Max will be there for dinner, and their use of nicknames (“Teach” and “Chief”) for each other.
Their relationship’s progress is poignant and realistic. Their character dynamic may remind me a little of Adrien and Jake, minus the self-hate and closet angle of the latter, and the self-deprecating wit of the former (and, unlike Adrien, Swift as an amateur sleuth is not as interested in who the murder perp is), whereas the setting has a few aspects in common with Fair Game. But these elements don’t affect the integrity of the book. Among the most original and interesting aspects is that every chapter borrows a poignant theme from Choose Your Own Adventure, which sets the tone of the chapter and highlights the cause-effect reaction from the character’s choices and the dilemmas he’s going through.

Come Unto These Yellow Sands is a heartfelt, thoughtful, intelligent book: a lot of what is not explicitly said is evoked subtly and sensitively. It’s the type of book that in my view gets better and better with each new reading.

...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 28, 2011 Lasha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle-borrowing

Some people have compared Come Unto These Yellow Sands to the Adrien English Mysteries, but since I have not read those, I have no idea if this is true or not, so for me this Josh Lanyon book will stand on its own as a truly wonderful and unique read.

Professor Sebastian Swift is a former drug addict who happens to be an award-winning poet. But ever since his addiction caused his career to crash and burn, along with most of the relationships in his life, he’s settled down in an out-of-the-way tow ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2011 HJ rated it really liked it

Shelves: not-read, m-m, romance, mystery, suspence, police-officer-as-mc

I buy everything Josh Lanyon writes, and one of the reasons I enjoy his work so much is that each book is different, and unpredictable. I liked this one as much as the Adrien English books, and that is praise indeed!

Although there is a mystery, and its resolution matters, it isn't the most important element of the book. The relationships and the interaction between the characters are what is central to the book. For example, while Swift does try to find out what happened, "The truth was, he tru ...more

Like · see review

Jun 12, 2011 Yuri Aoi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: m-m

I don't remember how I came across Josh Lanyon, but I might end up reading all of his books before long. I like the world he creates with his pen and wish to indulge myself forever in there... Is this going to be a first title of a new series? ...more

Like · see review

Jun 23, 2011 Gwendolyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: law-enforcement, artists-and-writers

Great book. I just didn't connect with Max at all. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 15, 2011 Lee Brazil rated it it was amazing

Swift is now officially my favorite Josh Lanyon character. I can relate to him from the perspective of someone who has frequently had to be dragged into awareness of the here and now. And I really, really wanted there to be a sequel. Alas.

The mystery is neat, and I enjoyed Swift's refreshing, oh no, I'll happily hide while you take out the bad guys perspective. So much more interesting a characteristic than the nosy, intrepid amateur.

The flavor of addiction is strong, and it lingers forever, an ...more

Like · see review

Apr 29, 2011 Cleon Lee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: m-m

What an emotional roller coaster. Josh really captures the emotional aspect of a recovering addict & gay who lives in a small town in the face of a crisis really well.

3 likes · Like · see review