Wednesday, January 11, 2006

The Butcher’s Son by Dorien Grey

TITLE: The Butcher’s Son
AUTHOR: Dorien Grey
PRICE: $14.95
GENRE: MYSTERY/GLBT
ISBN: 1-879194-86-4
PUBLISHER: GLB Publishers
POINT OF SALE: http://www.glbpubs.com/butchchp1.html

Dick Hardesty is introspective and rather unhappy public relations man dropped in the middle of a seriously dangerous situation. Somebody is burning down gay nightclubs and the cops don’t seem interested in doing much about it—even as arson starts to edge towards attempted murder. Dick wends his way through a barrage of clues and a cavalcade of outrageous and evasive characters on the way to a cliffhanger ending that puts his life on a different path (and eight more books about Dick Hardesty ‘P.I.’).

The Butcher’s Son is written skillfully in first person and the plot has enough wild twists and turns to keep anyone’s attention. Dick is an utterly convincing hero whose take on what is going on is wry and always engaging—helping to compensate for a plot that is sometimes wildly implausible and pivots on a surprise twist that seemed pretty obvious from half way through the book.

This book was certainly a page-turner and I look forward to reading the other installments in this series. ‘Gay Mystery’ seems to have become a significant subgenre and readers who enjoy the adventures gay detectives like Mark Manning and Benjamin Justice will probably also appreciate The Butcher’s Son.

RATING: 8/10

SEE ALSO: (ratings scaled to /10)
10/10 Amazon.com

AVERAGE RATING: 9/10

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