Inherit the Lightning is an epic novel that spans 120 years. This fantastic book contains two stories in one: the first is that of Cooper Tiller, who earned a fortune from his coal mine and embarked on an all-encompassing, same-sex love affair as a young man in the late nineteenth century. The second story is about Cooper’s great grandson, thirty-six-year-old Darcy O’Brien, whose grandmother’s recent death spurred him on a quest to find the mystery person asserting they have a claim on Darcy’s nine-figure inheritance. The narrative hops between present day and the historic era in alternating chapters. The non-linear format is easy to follow.

At its heart, this is Coop’s story beginning when he was fourteen, living and working on his family’s small Ohio farm. He left the farm on his own and set out for Lightning Mountain, a property he acquired where he hoped to find coal. Along the way, he met and fell in love with Will, another young man living on his own. Eventually, Coop found coal on their land and it changed their lives forevermore, for better or worse. We then follow along with Coop as he grew older and became a very wealthy man. We witness his business ventures, his intimate relationship with Will, and other family relationships. If I go into more detail, I’ll spoil the happenings so I’ll leave it at that.

It’s a riveting, historic tale with memorable characters, from the neighboring farmers to Elmer the hillbilly who Coop once hitched a ride with, to endearing Will whom I love so much. Both Coop and Will are wonderful, well-developed characters. My favorite part of the book takes place on Lightning Mountain. When Coop and Will first arrive, they have almost nothing but Will teaches Coop how to build a cabin, catch fish and trap animals for meat and their pelts. The proceeds from trapping sustain them as they live off the land, a utopian existence for them. When they’re not working, they spend their time lazily on their lake just cherishing each other. They experience all the heightened emotions of first time, young love. But given the time in history, they had to stay closeted, of course.

Moving forward to the present, Darcy is disgruntled to learn of the challenge to his grandmother’s estate. Recent years have been hard on Darcy. Both parents died of Covid-19, and he was living a wild life in San Francisco. Returning to Cleveland gives him the opportunity to learn more about his history, in particular Cooper Tiller. Darcy forms a tentative relationship with his late grandmother’s gardener, Jake, and they travel together to New York City to find answers. This plotline is interesting but the story fell flat with the budding romance. Unfortunately, hardworking, unsophisticated Jake is a one-dimensional character and their relationship is severely underdeveloped. I felt very little chemistry between the two men.

The beautiful world building is a highlight of the novel, from the farm to the mountain to Cleveland. The imagery of Lightning Mountain and the boys’ rudimentary cabin on the lake makes their idyllic life feel real. Authenticity of the period is achieved with the exploration of race and class issues. We see the change of attitude toward Coop from when he was a poor farm boy to the wealthiest man in the county with people fawning all over him. Homosexuality was dangerous so Coop an Will had to project the image of business partners. Later in the story, the difference in acceptance of same-sex relationships over the years is striking. The use of visual imagery is consistent in the current day story when Darcy returns to his grandmother’s mansion (formerly Coop’s) on the shores of Lake Erie. He moves from room to room admiring the home’s artistry and architectural details, built to Coop’s standards two generations before.

Although Elmer’s appearance is brief, he adds sparkle to the story when he spins his yarns and treats Coop to a picnic of cider and cheese as they travel though the Appalachian foothills. Elmer has a big heart and a big personality that add humor to the story.

By the end of the book, Coop is rewarded with a hard-earned happy ending, whereas Darcy’s story ends with an HFN. He unlocks the mystery of the stranger and how they fit into the family history. He’s able to piece everything together largely through photos Coop left behind. But he and Jake didn’t establish a significant relationship, yet. There’s not enough substance for me to imagine their future. I found Coop’s storyline much more complex and compelling than Darcy’s.

There’s a very sad part of the book that left me heartbroken. It’s the kind of ache that stays with you all day long. If you like to give your tear ducts exercise, you’ll be pleased.

All in all, this is a beautiful, grand novel that will be of particular interest to readers who enjoy historical fiction and family history. When Darcy puts all the puzzle pieces together, it makes for a rewarding conclusion. Highly recommended.

This was an amazing read.
The POV from different times flowed very well making the story believable.

And to see love blossom in both generations.

This book is a triumph of multigenerational storytelling. I went into it not really knowing what to expect and the story really blew me away. There are several threads to this story, and I had to let myself get immersed in them without worrying that I wasn't sure how everything would connect. Everything weaves together, and the author deftly carries you along the paths you need to travel to get there. Along the way, Bud Gundy tells a hefty story that reads quickly but feels more substantial than the number of pages comprising the book.

The story follows Darcy in the present day as he tries to untangle his grandmother's estate, and in parallel we also are told the story of his great grandfather Coop Tiller's life from poor farmer's son to early 20th century businessman. There are several queer story lines for both primary and secondary characters, and while some of the plot is during eras when gays kept their relationships mostly hidden, the story does not dwell excessively on those struggles. It's really about finding a path to joy, happiness, and freedom, whatever that might look like for a gay man at the turn of the last century to post-WWII to the present day. All of this is set against the fascinating story of the Rust Belt's relationship with coal and railroads, the shift away from agrarian communities and the push toward modernization, as well as the class and racial dynamics seething under the surface and sometimes erupting in devastating ways. We learn about Coop's life before Darcy does, and it's interesting to watch how that unfolds as Darcy gradually uncovers layers of family secrets. What he learns from Coop's story becomes significant to his own life. The way the two stories converge is very satisfying. I also found the romances very compelling and real. While this isn't necessarily a romance novel, the romantic elements are significant to the plot and the decisions, motivations, and journeys of Darcy and Coop.

There were a few stylistic choices that took me a chapter or two to get used to, and I also would've liked a bit more of Darcy's story, but overall those are minor nits. I highly recommend this book, and thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review!

The author of Inherit The Lightning wants to present two stories to the reader. In each story he has some interesting scenarios, but ultimately it presented the read a challenge to keep going back in history only to return to the present. There are definite corollarries between the stories. The older story involves a gay uncle who amasses a fortune. The newer story is about a quietly gay man who wants the inheritance. I liked the second story best. The historical one was too detailed with too many characters and left me cold until near the end.Author Bud Gundy puts his heart into the story and that sure helps make it more interesting,
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC,

DNF. I was excited because the story takes place in my hometown. I just didn’t like it and didn’t get invested in the characters. I think this author just isn’t for me.

DNF after three chapters. This book was not for me.

The two reasons I decided not to finish:
- There were chapters taking place in the past. I thought we'd go on this journey in the present time and figure out secrets together with the MCs, instead of reading the story in the past.
- The main character inherited a lot of money. His lawyer said he would inherit a lot more, but first a tiny issue with someone who didn't have a claim to the money had to be settled. Instead of listening to this perfectly reasonable advice, the greedy MC set off on his own to find this person, all in a quest for more money he couldn't wait a few more days for.
Unfortunately, I quit because this book did not deliver what I expected.

Sadly... this wasn't the book for me. The tense didn't work for me, leaving me not able to connect with the characters quite the way I wanted to. I think it just wasn't what I expected from the blurb... to much storytelling in the past.

All of the above being said the writing was great. Perhaps I'm not the intended audience. Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I'm sure it will find its audience!

The author tells a sweeping story of Cooper Tiller and his rise to incredible wealth in turn of the century America, and frames it with two additional stories - a tragic school fire in Collinwood, Ohio in 1908 and that of his great-grandson, Darcy, in modern-day Cleveland, Ohio attempting to find a mysterious beneficiary listed in Tiller's will.

Coop's story is engrossing, born in 1880 into a hardscrabble life on an Ashland, Ohio farm, but after failed crops and the death of his parents, he trades the farm for some property on Lightning Mountain in Harrison County, near the town of Cadiz, in the Appalachians. And on his journey, Coop meets recently orphaned Will:

"Coop would hand over every dollar, the rest of his days, even his very soul to repeat a few moments of a buggy ride through the Appalachian foothills with Will. He'd only just met Will the night before, and they rode squished into a single small buggy with a chatty old hillbilly named Elmer. Somewhere on that bumpy road when they were little more than boys, Coop and Will fell in love. "

The story really shines as Coop and Will build their cabin near Nightmare Lake, sustained by Will's skill as a trapper, and Coop eventually finds his seam of black bituminous coal, changing his and Will's lives forever. Again, I loved all the details Gundy provides about coal mining, In fact, his explanation of how coal came to be deposited over epochs in the mountains is downright lyrical. Fun fact: did you know that miners worked naked due to the heat underground and because clothing caught on the narrow tunnels?

Gundy also shares how gay men of the era had little protection, from small town America to the skyscrapers of huge cities, with the law looking the other way if something should happen to them. In much the same way, Coop's friends, the black Whitney family, thread this thin line as well.

But life changes, people change, circumstances change, and the later part of the book moves in a new direction, equally as enthralling, as the author introduces us to many secondary characters who each play an important part in Coop's life. And later on, the Collingwood school fire comes more clearly into focus and provides the impetus for Coop's later years, and the circle is complete when Darcy and his newfound love Jake learn they share a bond built on the past.

When I first started Inherit the Lightning, I felt it wasn't really in my wheelhouse - a boy on a farm in the middle of Ohio? A coal mine? But it quickly grabbed my attention, and my heart, and while the book is about 260 pages, honestly I would have read this book if it were twice as many pages. The author bites off a huge chunk of history and gives voice to a whole range of characters, historical events, and shapes it all into a really beautiful, haunting and hopeful tale.

My only niggle is that Darcy's story just wasn't as gripping as Coop's, and the importance of the Collingwood fire doesn't really unfold until much later in the book, but the main story is wonderfully done and I highly recommend this book. 4.5 stars.

3, 5 stars

Somewhere Over Lorain Road by Bud Gundy belonged to one of my favourite books, so I was really looking forward to Inherit the Lightning.
I enjoyed it, it is a good read. Similar to Somewhere Over Lorain Road the author was not confined to one period of time or to a single story-line.

After the grandmother of Darcy O’Brien had passed away, he learned to his great surprise (and joy) that his inheritance was close to five hundred million dollars. With a small "but": there was a third person who was set by his grand-grandfarther Cooper as a beneficiary, and this unknown person claimed the complete ownership of Cooper Tiller's estate. In spite of lawyer's advice Darcy set off on his journey to find out who this beneficiary was and to learn more about his grand-grandfather.

There is a kind of mystery here: Who is this unknow person? What is his relation to the Cooper's family?
There is also a kind of romance: Darcy becomes unexpectedly a thoughtful companion on his side.
But in my opinion, it is in the first place a historical novel . Because a main story is the story of Cooper Tiller, his childhood, his family, his blessing in disguise, his personal struggle for self-definition, his love and loss, hope and despair. The story of Darcy, Cooper's grand-grandson is of secondary importance.

I wish though this book could have more balance between the past and the present telling. While the story in the past was in some scenes unnecessary detailed, I had the feeling that the present events rushed through, leaving little scope for a deeper emotional connection to the main characters. I won't recommend this book also those readers who expect mm romance as the main focus of the plot. There are intime relationships between men but it is not a classical mm romance.

So, 3, 5 stars from me. Quite a good read.

***ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.***

History can be a covetous guardian of secrets, something Darcy O’Brien will discover firsthand as he leads readers on a journey to confront a stranger who is attempting to lay claim to the family fortune amassed by his great-grandfather Cooper Tiller. Darcy not only finds the stranger he’s looking for, but he acquires something far more valuable than material possessions along the way.

Inherit the Lightning details the life of a man who is lifted up from poverty and tragedy to discover untold riches, a serendipitous windfall instigated by what many would call an impulsive fool’s bargain with a stranger who convinces a teenage Cooper to trade property deeds, Coop giving the stranger his family farm in exchange for the deed to land that, for all Cooper knows, might not even exist. Coop meets a boy named Will Herrington on the road to his new stretch of property where idyllic days and passionate nights and Mother Nature’s whims deliver them to a fortune that will carry them along in its wake to eventual heartache, driven by their need for discretion and the expectations of an unaccepting society.

Reader’s see the world through Cooper’s eyes for a good majority of the book, and we see Coop himself through the eyes of those he already knows as well as those he meets along the way. We can see for ourselves that Cooper is exceedingly kind and generous to a fault, the sort of man who is guided by conscience, integrity, and compassion in a world that, if it were discovered he was homosexual, would eagerly destroy him.

This book weaves past and present together through stories that don’t seem to coincide, until they do. Bud Gundy ties these seemingly unrelated threads together as the orchestrator of a resonant refrain, to the culmination of all Darcy’s efforts when he meets a man he didn’t know existed, a man who is able to fill in the blanks in Cooper’s life, which offers Darcy the gift of respect and admiration for a great-grandfather he never knew. There is also an unexpected twist that offers up another lovely connection with the past that draws Darcy and Jake Tester, the man Darcy could see himself falling for, closer, and serves to move their relationship forward.

Inherit the Lightning is an achingly lovely and compelling book. Its passions soar as high as its sorrows run deep, with a breadth and beauty to the story that is eloquent in its articulation of Coop’s life, his triumphs and tribulations, his courage and the strength of his convictions, and the hard-won happiness he found. In the end, Cooper boldly lays claim to the peace and fulfillment he had never stopped longing for. This story touched my heart and captivated me in a multitude of ways, which was only enriched by the author’s exceptional storytelling.

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I enjoyed it aside from the writing in present tense. It was thoughtful, though it sort of read like a script for a movie rather than a novel and I think it would work better as one with the constant lengthy flashbacks.