Explosive Consequences by Mackie (PG)

[magician113.livejournal.com]

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Characters/Pairing: Blair Sandburg, Jim Ellison, Simon Banks; Jim Ellison/OFC
Length: 19K words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: at the Idol Pursuits site

Why this must be read: Jim is experiencing some strange things. First of all, he’s having inexplicable and bizarre nightmares. When he wakes up, he realizes that his senses are reaching beyond the loft to focus on a new tenant in the building, Abby McNeil. When he finally meets her, he’s struck by overwhelming and conflicting urges: he feels desire similar to what he felt for Laura in “Attraction”, but he also feels overly protective. Discussing it with Blair hasn’t helped, which adds to his frustration. On top of all of this personal stuff, he’s having trouble with a big case at work. He knows he’s missing something obvious but can’t figure out what it is. Yikes.

This is the first non-humorous story I’ve read by Mackie and it intrigued me because there was just so much going on under the surface. Lots of secrets and lots of messiness and lots of emotional turmoil, and it fooled me into going down a garden path. Dare I say “enjoy”? Read and decide for yourself.

Explosive Consequences by Mackie (PG)

If you like this, take a moment to tell the author. You will absolutely make her day!

Comments

[finlaure.livejournal.com]

Poor Jim! Remind me to 'mary-sue' myself into a Sentinel story soon cause it made for a good story!

[magician113.livejournal.com]

LOL, funny! Thanks for reading and for the comment.

[unbelievable2.livejournal.com]

This was REALLY interesting. And quite disturbing, in a funny sort of way. I like my happy endings, and this wasn't one - except it was, but it was "messy", as you said, and therefore very true to life. It felt like an account of an ordinary relationship in turmoil, involving our extraordinary characters. One might almost say a "mature" account - with a small "m", that is!

I think the Blair in this is excellently drawn - doing his best to be supportive but clearly very unsettled and anxious about his future with Jim. I like the downbeat ending that still has them together though - and there are enough clues there to make one think that this is the way Jim will always end up. But overall it's an unsettling but extremely believable story, the mood of worry nicely balanced by some very witty writing all the way through. Very good - thank you for reccing, as I am sure I wouldn't have persevered with it otherwise, and that would have been my loss indeed.

[magician113.livejournal.com]

I know what you're saying about persevering. As I was reading this I kept thinking "omg what's next, omg what's next" but was really compelled to keep going. I can see echos of Sen Too in this and it actually would help explain that situation.

Thanks so much for these great comments. It helps to know that I'm not crazy for recommending something a bit off the beaten path.

[unbelievable2.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that's exactly right, and why you feel the compulsion of the story. Jim's reaction to the girl here kind of analyses the Alex-reaction, slows it down a bit so we get to understand some of what's happening to Jim and what he's feeling - and how difficult it is for him to control it. I think it's really clever stuff. I've been looking at some others of Mackie's since reading this. Recovery is another partnership-angsty fic, with lots of great mystical!Sentinel stuff going on and masses of thought and imagination put into the scenario, resulting in a very convincing read. IMHO.