If the Cain Casey series is the Mob on estrogen, Blue Skies is the military on hormones. Vali, as usual, combines humor and sensuality while running a smooth plot.
Characters Berkley Levine and Aidan Sullivan are the protagonists, and it is easy for a reader to like them. There is little, if anything, to dislike about them. Levine is the tough, take-all-risks pilot, and Sullivan is the doting, strong, maternal figure, even as she stands at the helm of the Navy's newest ship.
While the romance is certainly the fun, sexy part of the story, there remains a serious undertone.
Governmental Policy on Gays in the Military
Levine and Sullivan are both high ranking women in the Navy. But as lesbians, they are not allowed to show or admit to any same sex relationship without being dishonorably discharged from their posts.
It is this issue that causes the primary conflict for Sullivan. She gives up her chance at love to move up the ladder in her career, causing nearly irreparable damage to the woman she loves.
Levine, on the other hand, is careful but never overly so. She knows that love is the paramount goal, not the stripes on her uniform.
So it is that love in this novel triumphs over a policy designed to keep people in the shadows who do not fit in the accepted societal norms.
Intrigue in the Highest OfficeThe plot of the story, besides the romance, is that of intrigue. Who is it that was responsible for knocking Levine out of the air behind enemy lines? Who was it that engaged a number of old bombers and attempted to take out the Navy's newest ship, captained by Sullivan? Ultimately, how high does the treason go?
There is a clear leaning in this book toward the left. Right wing zealots are determined to return the country to its "proper" way of life. A way of life, of course, that does not include women (especially gay women) in positions of power, nor people of color in the white house.
What Vali catches so clearly here is quite frightening: she depicts the mentality of a large section of the United States, and so her characters truly come alive as they are plotting and planning. Her heroines are strong women with strong emotional ties. At no point do they come across as weak because of their love, but are, rather, stronger for it.
The AuthorAli Vali is the author of the Cain Casey series, Carly's Sound, Second Season, and Calling the Dead. Blue Skies (2009 Bold Strokes Books Inc ISBN: 9781602820777) is her most recent book, and the next Cain Casey book will be out in 2010.
Victoria Oldham - Victoria is a freelance writer from Southern California, currently living in the Midlands of England with her partner. She is in the ...
