A Roof for the Rain by Katrina Strauss is a homoerotic futuristic story.

Jacob reveals in his limited shower time that his world fell apart when he was just a boy. Between the use of pesticides and man's abuse of their resources, they caused drastic climatic changes which set man against man resulting in severe water shortage and most of the land turning into a dust ball. Jacob is one of the people living underground, working with the rebellion to allow everyone free access to what is left of the natural resources. Most of the water is horded in the cities where the citizens curry favor of the Water Lords. Jacob has buried his memories of the time before when he lived without a care on the surface with his parents. Jacob is interrupted by his lover Ethan and they spend part of Ethan's shower enjoying themselves in a very intimate way. Unlike Jacob, Ethan was born in the underground bunkers and has no knowledge of what it was like before. Sometimes it is better not to know what you are missing. Jacob and Ethan are sent on a reconnaissance mission to look for any changes in their surroundings, hopefully to find water. While out, Jacob and Ethan find themselves in a dangerous situation that brings back terrible memories from Jacob's past. Will they make it out alive? Can Jacob and Ethan find a way to keep their love alive in a world gone mad?

Ms. Strauss has created a futurist world that pits humanity against a world that is not survivable. The visual descriptions about the devastation caused at first by man's neglect then greed is not much different than it is today. The flashbacks that Jacob have are poignant and bittersweet as he remembers what the world used to be. It was sad to learn that many young people like Ethan never knew what the world used to be because they grew up after the world was desolated. The raw and erotic feelings between Ethan and Jacob help them get through their difficult lives, but can their feelings ever become more while their lives are in such peril? Thanks go to Ms. Strauss for a look into what could be our future if people don't look beyond their own lives to the lives of all mankind.

Reviewed by: Teresa