Bourbon Street Blues

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Quite Live Up To Its Promise
Review: Bourbon Street Blues is the second book by Greg Herren and the first of what appears to be a series featuring amateur sleuth Scotty Bradley. Scott, who was given the name Milton by his hippy parents (say his first and last name and you'll understand why he chose to go by Scott), is a personal trainer and sometimes go-go boy. He lives in New Orleans where anything can happen and usually does. He rents an apartment from his lesbian aunts and has a great relationship with his Proud-to-have-a-gay-son parents.

It's Decadence (sometimes referred to as the gay Mardi Gras) in the Big Easy, and Scotty is having a great time. That is, until a former client who vanished a year ago reappears and asks Scott if he can hide at his apartment. "They're after me," he tells Scott at the club where Scott is dancing. Scott thinks his old friend is on drugs and decides to ignore him, but when he gets home, he finds a mysterious computer disk has been slipped into his boot along with his tips for the night. Technophobe Scott doesn't have a computer, so he heads out in the wee hours of the morning to use his friend's computer. When his friend turns out to be unavailable, he returns home to find an acquaintance dead on his doorstep.

Scott suddenly finds himself in the middle of a plot to destroy New Orleans, a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah according to an extreme right wing gubernatorial candidate. It's up to Scott, his friends, and Frank Sobieski, the sexy FBI agent, to prevent the murder of thousands of people.

Author Greg Herren has created likeable characters that show a lot of promise. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't really live up to that promise. I really liked Scotty and his family and friends, and I wanted so badly to like the book as well, but the plot was just so outlandishly unrealistic that it left me feeling a little cheated. I ended up reading it just as escapist fare, since there was no way you could possibly take it as a serious mystery.

The main character is one of those types that you just can't help but like. He comes across as a genuinely good person, but also as very human, as do his friends and family. I especially liked the touches of supernatural that Herren includes in the book; Scott, it turns out, is somewhat psychic. The characters alone kept me reading to the end.

Herren concludes the book with the implication that the series will continue. I'd probably read the next book in the series, just because I liked his characters so much. However, if the plot turns out to be as preposterous as this one, it will probably be the last one I read.

Rating:
Summary: Scotty Go Go
Review: Having just been to New Orleans the storyline of the book captured my attention. Heren has created a great character with Scotty Bradley and made me feel like the city was a character as well. The plot seems to tie up quickly and I felt a little robbed of some unfinished parts but over all I did enjoy this novel. I guess maybe I wanted more and will have to wait for the next installment of Scotty "Milton" Bradley and his personal trainer/GoGo boy exploits. Thanks Greg for a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Iffy Premise... But Great Read
Review: I was attracted to this book for one reason, mainly, outside of the gay theme.. and what was it's setting: Modern Day New Orleans, Louisianna. I live not to far from New Orleans and spent many a night, and Decadence (a Labor Day Holiday in New Orleans, when this story is set), in New Orleans in the very clubs he talks about. That's right, his clubs and their locations are far from fictional. If you've been to New Orleans, you know the Oz, and directly accross from it the Bourbon Pub the Parade Upstairs, the Hit Parade Across the street where you can buy all sorts of clothing in emergency situations, and next door the Bourbon Orleans (A Hotel Popular with the Gay Crowd in New Orleans, especially during holidays), all on the corner of St. Ann and the infamous Bourbon Strees, just a few blocks from Jackson Square. This story is about a Personal Trainer/Go-Go Dancer at the Bourbon Pub who gets into a situation that may be a little over his head. (BTW, if The front cover is the Bourbon Pub, the artist had obviously never been there.. ther are no short tables and chairs it's all bar tables, bar, and barstools, and Men on the bar shaking their stuff) (www.bourbonpub.com www.ozneworleans.com)
This author MUST Live in New Orleans because the most exiting thing for me was sayin "I Know where that is!" which isn't often for me that I can do that.
But aside from the setting, the story is told very well. I could not put the book down. The actual story took a minute or two before actually getting started. It took a little while to set up, but once it did.. you were hooked. I did find a few of the lines written into the Story a little corny, as well as the overall premise (that is, once you learn what is REALLY going on)... however, getting over the few corny elements. This book was a true treasure. The Author demonstrated his knowlege of Gay life in New Orleans very well (you can tell he's been there himself, for sure). I have ordered the second book, in hopes that it will follow along just as well. I hope we get a good series of Scotty and his NOLA Adventures. Greg Herren just got a fan... Keep us interested, and keep writing to keep us reading! I'm ready.

Rating:
Summary: Great ..adventure!
Review: Love this novel. Read it in a day in a half (would have been a day, if I didn't have to work). Likable characters and great pace and narrative. I live in New Orleans and have gone to Southern Decadence for almost ten years. This book brings you there with vivid descriptions that are true to life. It also gives you an idea of what it is like to manage the madness of living in the Big Easy. The plot had a few enjoyable twist and turns, too. Can't wait till my next.. adventure with Scotty!

Rating:
Summary: Seedy New Orleans at its Best
Review: This fast paced, erotically charged novel is worth your time and attention. The story line captures the reader from the opening sentences, and the story courses through a myriad of situations which are amusing and sexy at the same time. READ THIS NOVEL!...IT IS A HOOT!

Rating:
Summary: Feeble First Effort
Review: This is not a raunchy novel, though it well could have been. And, for being written in the first-person, it is convincingly told. It's about gay life (or a gay person) in the gay mecca of New Orleans. He's a go-go dancer who becomes an unwilling sleuth and catalyst to uncover a plot to destroy Sin City. He has visions through which the Goddess tells him advance events (really!). And so, a story that starts with the dancer and a trick ends up involving the FBI, the Religious Reich, pot head parents, a friend's killing, and a house burning.

The story is often redundant, with the litany "tight ass, smooth legs, and muscularly toned chest" added twice a page or so for good measure. Those expecting a steamy sex scene will be sorely disappointed. The plot is exceedingly thin, and the bulk of it is told in fewer than twenty pages. A good first effort, but not enough to recommend reading. Still a page turner all in all.

Rating:
Summary: Did we read the same book?
Review: Yes, it's a bit preposterous that Scotty, a gay go-go boy, has to save New Orleans while only wearing a green thong. It's a great visual, however, and a fitting one for this somewhat silly thriller novel. The bad guys are truly evil, and the good guys are sweet and lovable, so the author succeeds in getting the reader to root for the hero. Anyone who has been to New Orleans' French Quarter will enjoy the setting thoroughly. There are a few loose ends. One character mysteriously wasn't using his real last name - why? What will happen to the politician masterminding New Orleans' destruction? Who's going to be the dominant guy in Scotty's new relationship? Him or the Daddy FBI agent? Oh, the suspense. Perhaps, we'll find out soon enough.