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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
The Gift follows Butch Blackwell, a boy raised by his mother, Pansy, inside the strict world of the Jehovah’s Witnesses after his father, Ace Sharkey, disappears before his birth. Butch grows up in rural California under rules that shape his life, while rancher Steve Bultemeyer becomes the father figure he trusts. At eighteen, a kiss with Rusty Baldwin brings Butch’s private life into conflict with his religion, forcing him from home and far from the community that raised him. Years later, Steve’s death sends Butch toward a buried family secret involving Ace. That discovery draws him across the country in search of the truth about the father he has never known and forces him to decide what kind of life he is willing to claim.
Scott Terry’s The Gift understands a truth about people: what someone does when another person is exposed tells you who they are. That is why Steve works so well. He realizes Butch is gay, then pays his nephew a dollar to start a pregnancy rumor because he knows gossip can protect the boy. Terry gets human behavior right. Brad works for the same reason. He is a polished New York psychologist who knew Butch’s father, yet every conversation with this blunt Oregon cowboy feels like two people taking each other’s measure. The ranching world gives Butch’s adulthood credibility, especially through the auction-yard language that becomes his livelihood. There's a huge twist that changes the trajectory of more than Butch's life that is awesome. For readers who enjoy chosen-family LGBTQ+ stories, this book should go to the top of the list.
