A book review by Megan Hart   (Review 1)

Terry McCory, better known as gay porn star Blaze Wilde, has just attempted to commit suicide in response to the end of his career. Broke, broken and with no place to go, he returns to his mother, illegitimate half brother and twin sister. There he finds himself drawn back into the world of poverty, abuse and alcoholism he fled as a young man.

First, this is a play, not a novel. Without the benefit of viewpoint, and with only minor setting and action description, the reader is able only to rely on dialogue to tell the story. In a stage production, the actors' nuances and actions provide what a novel's prose usually does. Simply reading the dialogue is a far more challenging prospect.

Having said that, M. Lennon Perricone's characters come across with their unique and individual voices clearly, even on the page. It wasn't difficult at all to hear mother Sheila's drunken rage, or brother Willy's self-indulgent whining. Each character is more than a mere caricature or cliche. Perricone has delved deep into the hearts and souls of his characters and presented them, through their own words, to the reader. The character of Terry's twin sister, Katie, is particularly poignant and well-drawn.

There were some typos in the manuscript, which might have been overlooked in a piece, which simply had more words. In a play, with prose so sparse, they stood out more clearly. Some of mother Sheila's lines, though dramatic and eloquent, seemed too elegant and intelligent too fit with her drunken persona. But over all, the story flowed as we follow Terry from youth to manhood, and learn his reasons for running away and ending up in the gay porn industry.

Perricone obviously put a lot of heart into the piece, and it shows. It's easy to care about the people he's put on the stage. And it is easy to understand their joys and grief. His words and finely tuned dialogue allow the reader to enter completely the world of Terry McCory.

I recommend the book with reservations for the following reasons: 1. It is a play, not a book, and so the reader shouldn't expect the same level of depth of description, etc. as in a novel. 2. The subject matter and language might be offensive to some readers. If you're one of them, this is not the book for you.

However, if you don't mind reading material that pushes the envelope, makes you think and touches your heart, pick up a copy of the play THE LAST WHITE FAMILY ON DORCHESTER ROAD, by M. Lennon Perricone.

Anne K. Edwards, eBook Reviews Weekly   (Review 2)

Author of "Journey Into Terror"

http://www.MysteryFiction.net

This is a strong psychological drama containing the same elements that make a good book, one worth reading. Based on the strained

relationships within a dysfunctional family, the playwrite has created a realistic world wherein the reader becomes a silent, but critical resident in this chaotic situation.

Terry McCory has returned home, albeit unwillingly, after a suicide attempt to find the family members at constant odds with one another and himself unwelcome by his mother.  Angry and hurt, he seeks a respite for a world grown too harsh for him and finds only anger and pain.

Set in the declining neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, the characters play out their lives with mounting tension that will have the reader aware of a tautness within themself, as, like the mounting crescendo of a martial air, the play surges toward its climax.

This play would make for an enjoyable evening at the theater and, if you like to read plays, I can recommend it for a study in the interplay of human emotions as family secrets come to light.