Pretty Boy Dead: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: HANSEN IS, AS HANSEN DOES.
Review: I love this book. Originally published as KNOWN HOMOSEXUAL, then STRANGER TO HIMSELF, PRETTY BOY DEAD was Hansen's first mystery novel, written under the pseudonym of James Colton. This is everything a mystery novel should be.

Briefly, this is the story of Steve who is young, bright and black. Steve's family has all but disowned him, in part due to his marriage (now cracking apart), and partly due to a play Steve wrote. With Steve's future as a playwright indefinitely on hold, Steve has only his love -- Coy Randol -- to keep him warm (which is the equivilent of saying the only good thing is one's life is one's addiction to heroin). Then Coy gets his cute little self murdered, and Steve is the main suspect.

This might sound a little dreary, but it's not. For one thing the plot is a classic, and the characters are believable and fresh, not those painfully familiar stereotypes that people most mystery novels (Hansen is like the zen master of characterization: a sentence or two and you swear you know this person). For another thing, PRETTY BOY DEAD is hypnotic, baked in that old Angeleno atmosphere, that Chandleresque ambiance. Every detail--well, I just wish everybody in this genre wrote this marvellously.

Rating:
Summary: HANSEN IS, AS HANSEN DOES.
Review: I love this book. Originally published as KNOWN HOMOSEXUAL, then STRANGER TO HIMSELF, PRETTY BOY DEAD was Hansen's first mystery novel, written under the pseudonym of James Colton. This is everything a mystery novel should be.

Briefly, this is the story of Steve who is young, bright and black. Steve's family has all but disowned him, in part due to his marriage (now cracking apart), and partly due to a play Steve wrote. With Steve's future as a playwright indefinitely on hold, Steve has only his love -- Coy Randol -- to keep him warm (which is the equivilent of saying the only good thing is one's life is one's addiction to heroin). Then Coy gets his cute little self murdered, and Steve is the main suspect.

This might sound a little dreary, but it's not. For one thing the plot is a classic, and the characters are believable and fresh, not those painfully familiar stereotypes that people most mystery novels (Hansen is like the zen master of characterization: a sentence or two and you swear you know this person). For another thing, PRETTY BOY DEAD is hypnotic, baked in that old Angeleno atmosphere, that Chandleresque ambiance. Every detail--well, I just wish everybody in this genre wrote this marvellously.

Rating:
Summary: Sexier Than Brandstetter, Darn Near as Good
Review: I wouldn't dream of reviewing Mr. Hansen, since he's an idol of mine, but I will add this note: From a Gay point of view, 'Pretty Boy Dead' is a lot sexier than the Dave Brandstetter books the author is justly famous for. It's hardly X-rated, so non-Gay readers will enjoy it too, but it is more explicit; to me that made it surprising, fun, even hot, since I came to this book after discovering 'A Smile in His Lifetime' and then the Brandstetter series. 'Pretty Boy' is clearly a transition book for the author; he begins to feel his power here, he knows he's on the right track. Readers who love Brandstetter but haven't read this one, buy it. Enjoy it. Devour it. When you're done you'll appreciate even more one of the great mystery writers of all time. You'll be ready to click on All Books by Joseph Hansen, because his non-mysteries are quiet works of art.