Morgan
Bentley is a bastard. Always was and always will be.
At least that’s what Matthew Hopkins thinks. Unfortunately, Morgan is also a
brilliant law student, and easily eclipses Matthew, academically and
socially.
Matthew insists he hates Morgan. According to Matthew’s best friend, Cory,
perhaps he doth protest a bit too much.
Cory has received the chance of a lifetime in the form of an internship with
ITM—Information Technology and Medicine—the prestigious research company where
Morgan’s father is the CEO. Too inquisitive for his own good, the naturally
curious Cory stumbles on a deadly secret inside of ITM. What he has learned
will tip the balance of everything, but for good or bad?
Just what is the mysterious Project X?
What is Morgan’s involvement?
Matthew has to sort fact from fiction, friend from foe, as his world is turned
upside down and inside out, and nothing can be the way it was.
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A chat with the Project X characters
Question:
So tell me, Matthew. You didn’t have the best impression of
Morgan
at first. What…led you to that?
Matthew:
(gives a nervous glance to Morgan, who shrugs) Um. Well. The first time we met
was when me and Cory were visiting the university for the first time. To be
honest I didn’t really want to go there. I thought the place would be full of
snobs. Then I see Morgan with these three nobs, complaining about the gravel
ruining their designer shoes, and I thought they were pretty much the worst
people I could hope to meet.
Cory:
It didn’t help that Morgan had this gorgeous, shiny, sports car, and parked it
next to our piece of crap.
Matthew:
Hey, don’t talk about Ellie like that.
Question:
Ellie?
Matthew:
That’s what we called the car.
Question:
Why Ellie?
Cory:
Because it looked like a herd of elephants had gone over it.
(Morgan
sniggers)
Matthew:
It’s alright for you! We saved up for almost a year to afford that car. It was
our most prized possession, and the way you looked at it on that day made me
want to smash your face in.
Morgan:
Glad you didn’t try. I would hate to have scuffed my shoes.
Matthew:
See? That’s one of the reasons I thought he was a complete bastard.
Question:
Because of his shoes?
Matthew:
No, because he’s a sarcastic son of a bitch.
Morgan:
Guilty as charged.
Question:
What about you, Cory? What did you think about Morgan?
Cory:
(looks uncomfortable) I kind of knew from the very first day that he liked
Matthew. There was just something in the look he gave him. Then I watched them.
Matthew kept saying what a bastard Morgan was, but he kind of lit up whenever
Morgan was in the room. He said he hated the way everyone ran around Morgan,
and he would never do it himself, but he never took his eyes off him. By the
middle of the first year I knew they were falling for each other bad.
Matthew:
Now, hang on a minute. I SO did not fall for Morgan in the first year. It
wasn’t until he started acting like kind of a human being I started having
feelings for him.
Morgan:
And I certainly wasn’t falling for Matthew. I wanted him, but I wasn’t falling
for him. Until then, I got whoever I wanted. I was looking for someone with
some brains in their head, and a real personality. And yes, I wanted someone
who would piss my father off, but I wasn’t falling for him.
Cory:
They were crazy about each other by the end of the first year.
Morgan
and Matthew That’s not true.
Cory:
Whatever.
Question:
How did you feel about that, Cory?
Cory:
(flashes a quick, sad glance at Matthew) Terrible. The worst thing was I knew I
couldn’t stop it. Matthew was always so sure he wasn’t gay. He told me that if
he ever thought he might be, or was just…curious, he’d come to me first.
(Flashes another look) It isn’t that I was pissed he didn’t come to me first,
it was just…. I’ve had a crush on Matthew since I was about eight years old. It
was okay when I thought he was straight. I couldn’t have him. End of. It wasn’t
about me. Then, when I saw him start to fall for Morgan, and he was so blind
about, I started to wonder. Maybe, if he was gay, I’d have a chance. If he was
looking at Morgan like that I might be able to make him look at me like that.
Question:
Did you do anything about it? Anything to try to make Matthew look at me like
that?
Cory:
(shakes his head) No
Question:
Why not?
Cory:
It was already too late. He was already in love with Morgan. He didn’t have
eyes for anyone else.
Matthew:
I was not in love with Morgan. I was never in love with Morgan.
Morgan:
Really? It kind of felt like that to me by the end. I mean…you did say it.
Matthew:
(blushes) That was different. Of course I was in love with you by the end. We’d
been through so much.
Morgan:
Yeah.
Question:
Do you want to tell us a bit about what happened?
Matthew
and Morgan: No
Question:
Is it too hard to talk about.
Morgan:
Well, it’s not easy, but the main reason is that if we talk about it and give
away too much of the plot and no one will read our book.
Question:
Ah yes, the book. Project X. What do you have to say about that?
Matthew:
I think it’s pretty good. It tells the story well, but if you ask me, it shows
Morgan in too good a light, especially at the beginning. It just doesn’t show
what a compete and utter bastard he was.
Morgan:
I beg to differ. The very first like is ‘Morgan Bentley is a bastard’ You can’t
really get clearer than that. Besides, I never was that much of a bastard. Not
really. I had my own issues. And I did try to be friendly.
Matthew:
That’s your interpretation of ‘friendly’ is it?
Morgan:
(with the sexiest smirk ever) What can I say. I guess I am a bit of a sarcastic
bastard, but I’m a very sexy one.
Matthew:
I can’t argue with that, and to be fair, I never said you weren’t sexy.
Morgan:
True.
Question:
So, back to the book.
Morgan:
Sure, but just so we don’t give away too much, let’s just leave it to the
general promo huh? If you want to get to know us better, and hear our crazy
story, you’ll just have to read the book. It’s worth it, I promise, if only to
find out how devastatingly gorgeous I am.
Matthew:
And I can’t even argue about that.
3.25 stars
There is so much going on here--m/m romance, sci-fi epic, medical
thriller, family drama, Christmas tale--that I don't really know where to
begin. Many times, I felt that the story would have flowed better if it were
much longer or much shorter. Most of the first third is devoted to
Matthew's hatred of Morgan, which gets repetitive quickly. (A "Morgan
Bentley Is A Bastard" drinking game would send readers to the
hospital before the 40% mark.) For the most part, the admittedly annoying
Morgan doesn't seem as bad as most high school "mean girls," but Matthew
is so vitriolic towards him that I could immediately tell that
true love (or at least spirited hate sex) was on the horizon. Matthew's
eventual realization of his true feelings seems a little bit sudden, though
it does propel the story along. I think a third-person narration might
have helped, since Matthew's narrow focus seemed limiting.
The variable here is Cory, Matthew's long-suffering best friend. He has a
rather thankless role here, the sidekick nursing an unrequited crush on
his buddy whoends up having to help the very man he resents. While Cory is described
as awkward and has his milquetoasty moments in the beginning, there is
some intriguing ambiguity in his character. He can't resist hacking into
the ITM mainframes, and his flashes of jealousy make him seem more
realistic than some of the other characters. I would have loved more
development of his story, and would read a book devoted to his character.
The second half shifts into thriller territory as Project X makes its presence
known. While the explanations for the project's existence are glossed
over, its effects are explained very thoroughly and convincingly. The
story gets complicated quickly, as Cory and his professor work to counteract
Project X and Morgan's father establishes his own evil presence. While the
outcome is in doubt until the very end, I often wished for better exposition. Haltingly
phrased emotional moments alternate with many lengthy speeches in which
characters explain their motivations (I call it Bond Villain Syndrome). I usually
welcome lighter tales, so I was surprised to find myself thinking that this
would have worked better for me without the romance. The transitions between
the darkness and the more tender moments didn't resonate fully with
me, though I think it's because so much is shoehorned into one story.
In spite of these issues, PROJECT X did hold my attention all the way
through. I usually would not be eager to read such a dark story (let alone
think it should be darker), which in its way is a tribute to Nephylim's
storytelling. Often, my frustration was kind of a compliment: the author
kept bringing up intriguing story threads that kept getting tamped down
due to lack of time. (The law school moot court sounded fascinating, for
example, and I would have liked to see that play out.) I will keep an
eye out for her future work, especially if it resolves Cory's character arc!
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About the Author:
Nephylim
was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was
16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall.
Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead
fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun
to clean.
Nephylim
has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her
nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created,
in play.
Later
in life, Nephylim became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled
widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity
to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell
stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The
criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward
enormous.
It was
here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear
them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the
storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive.
Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to
the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.
In
present times, Nephylim lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son
and her two cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re
still close. The part of her that needs to earn money is a lawyer, but the
deepest, and most important part of her is a storyteller and artist, and always
will be.
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