Living in London, Michael Blasco, good looking at 38, has been in a relationship for around twelve years, but things have not been going too well of late, and while they still share a bed, he and Philip otherwise seem to lead separate lives. Matters are not helped by Michaels impotence. He's a workaholic too, a research scientist and teacher just opening a new lad for his research project. It is then that he discovers he has a unique power, he is able to conjure out of nothing the attractive young man at his gym, and he can make him do whatever he wants, that includes wanting to sleep with Michael. Michael soon learns that he can summon almost anyone he desires, living or now dead. Being a scientist he also experiments with this power, and learns some of the limitations along with some advantages.
This new found power begins to take over his life, affecting his work and relations with real people, and while he can have anyone he wants (he calls them angels), he seems unable to establish a loving relationship with a real person. But can he live with his angels, among whom he calls up missed opportunities from his own past as well as the likes of Billie Holiday, Tarzan, Lawrence of Arabia and Picaso, not to mention a cartoon character and an entire New Zealand team?
This makes for a most interesting story. Ryman approaches the idea sensibly, using Michael's scientific mind as a means of maintaining a sense of reality to the fantasy. He is able to explore his ruined childhood relationship with his father, divorced from his mother and with whom he would spend his summers in the US; gradually he learns about himself, and eventually gains self respect. The slightly misleading title, Lust, while being perhaps one of Michael's perceived problems, hides a very thought provoking and well reasoned storyline that ponders a number of interesting questions and possibilities, which Ryman does not neglect.
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