Cat Porter - The Dust and the Roar (Lock & Key prequel)

“The Dust and the Roar” is the origin story of the Lock & Key Series set in the late 1970s through the 1980s before the timeline of the series. This is a literary fiction love story of Isi and original MC member, Wreck, as well as the story of the founding of the club in Meager, South Dakota. It is a full length, complete novel and can be read as a standalone before or after the series.

A forgotten era
A forever love
Their untold story.

Screw the rules.

Army veteran Richie Tallin returns to South Dakota from a disastrous war with nothing to gain and nothing to lose. With no real home, his family in shambles, his dad’s old motorcycle becomes the key to a new life as Wreck, the Road Captain of an outlaw motorcycle club. Now he’s living the life he’s always craved—freedom, good times, loyalty, no regrets, and, hell yes, no rules.

But when he finally gets a chance with Isi, a feisty girl he’s had his eye on for years, everything shifts. As fiercely independent as Wreck, Isi is determined to restart her life and keep her family’s business afloat while she hides a wounded past. She and Wreck light a fire in each other that’s unexpected and wild, and what begins as a casual fling becomes passionate and serious real fast.

Life is good.

But when a war of revenge, payback, and power breaks out, everyone gets caught in the crossfire. Choices are made. Sacrifices that can never be undone. In a crazy 80’s world of drug dealers, rock and rollers, and rival outlaws, Wreck and Isi are determined to hold on come what may.

And come it does.

Few know how the One-Eyed Jacks MC of Meager came to be. And fewer still, how the love of one woman changed the destiny of a small town in the Black Hills of South Dakota forever.

Review 5+ stars

It's hard to say whether I would have loved to have read this before I read the series. It's a back story that was always in the background of the series, like a mystery we couldn't quite reach.

If you have read the Lock & Key series, then you know the outcome. If you have not, it's ok to read this beforehand. This entire series is an amazing work of strength, decisions, loss, and love. I've loved every word.

Wreck was always the stoic strength in the series, and a favorite character. The story of Wreck and Isi is emotional. An ebb and flow of life after tragedies. They both have come away from dark events in their life to find a true love connection that comes once in a lifetime. But neither of them knew how true that statement was going to be. 

Are you a reader who gets so deep in a book you live every moment with them. The happy times and the sad? I am one of those readers, I cry with them. And cry I did. Wreck's story is emotional. Isi was his "one", his true love, the once in a lifetime connection that we all dream of having. But life isn't that giving sometimes. The impact of others decisions cause havoc in their lives and the rollercoaster outcome was an emotional ride. But we also find the origin of 2 main characters (no hints here) in the series that were great additions. All in all, if you haven't read the series this will hook you. If you have read the series, this is the perfect addition to the love story of these characters.