Gay Erotica Review – The Man Hunt Collection by Luke Braun
The Man Hunt Collection by Luke Braun is some of the first gay erotica I’ve read from the second-person perspective. I’ve read first person (I) and third person (they/Name) but I was impressed with the use of the second person (you) in this series. Six short stories, or ‘episodes’ as they are titled in this series, all told with you as the main character. The perspective, although not commonly used in fiction, suits erotica perfectly I think. I mean, a lot of us are reading erotica and placing ourselves in the situation anyway right? Braun has just removed one more step for our imagination and the result is a series of stories that is immediately engaging.
Each episode places you in a different sexy situation. Each targets a different interest or kink but they’re not too extreme that I didn’t enjoy all of the situations pretty much equally.
You is a great first episode, it gets you right into the second person style, I was engaged from paragraph one, and is set in a situation that is very identifiable for most gay readers. There’s plenty of action too.
Kcufed ventures into a little dom/sub action, in a way you don’t immediately suspect. There’s a twist in there and while I did pick what that twist was it adds another element to what is a well-written, and very hot, interaction.
Stakeout takes a different approach, incorporating some extra characters, a ‘man in uniform’ fantasy and a ‘bad boy’ for those that feel a little naughty. Luke cleverly links this story to Kcufed in a way that doesn’t take away from the Stakeout story. There’s a connection between the characters in this story which adds to its depth.
After Hours Workout starts along the ‘straight guy’ path before doing a big 180. The link with Stakeout is clear yet subtle and the combination of young twink and power bottom muscle stud makes for a great session.
Roommate Audition is a simple dom/sub setup, set against one of the Workout characters’ desperation. An unexpected, hot fuck between two clearly gifted and talented participants.
Naked Yoga rounds the series out with a really hot group session closely linked to Roommate Audition. This is the story with the deepest character arc which is well done in such a short story. Despite the kinkiness of the group session, the development of the main character progresses well enough that you’re fully on board with the change in feel at the end. It’s that change that rounds out the series and brings it to a great conclusion.
There’s always a risk when writing in the second-person perspective. I’ve tried it a couple of times myself and it’s a fine line to walk. If you add too much description to the main character it can take away from the reader feeling like they are fully themselves within the story. The other side of this risk is that the description of the main character is too vague and therefore doesn’t feel included in the story. In the first couple of episodes, this balancing act is done really well. I felt like I was a part of the story and, because of this, engaged with and enjoyed the stories all the more. However, reading through the six episodes back to back, the links created by taking a character from one story to the next took away from my ability to feel like I was the main character. While they were hot situations, hot sessions and hot writing, the second-person narration didn’t carry the same weight.
Overall it’s a hot collection of great shorts. There’s a good balance of character and action and the engagement factor of the second person narration, for the most part, makes for a good connection with each story. Each episode is available individually for anyone who has a particular interest in one of the six scenarios and the first episode is available for free on some platforms. The collection is available as a whole and, naturally, is better value than buying each individually. That being said the price on most platforms I checked isn’t on the lower side compared to other shorts and even other longer works. But you are unlikely to be disappointed if you hand over your hard-earned for the whole series.
You can find the Manhunt Collection on Amazon.