Rating: 
Summary: Picano's best book
Review: Thrilling, funny, sexy and imaginative. I've re-read this one numerous times; it holds a permanent place in my library. A great story representative of its era. Sadly so much of Picano's other work is full of pretense. This is, I think, his only book where all of his characters are just that - and likable as well. A fun ride!
Rating:
Summary: Picano's best book
Review: Thrilling, funny, sexy and imaginative. I've re-read this one numerous times; it holds a permanent place in my library. A great story representative of its era. Sadly so much of Picano's other work is full of pretense. This is, I think, his only book where all of his characters are just that - and likable as well. A fun ride!
Rating: 
Summary: Uh...are you kidding me?
Review: What's with all the high praise?
The difference between a classic and a piece of...something that's not a classic...is its seeming timelessness. Time period flavors the plot, enriches the characters, places the action. "Dancer From The Dance" , "Giovanni's Room" - these are classics.
"The Lure" is just a dated embarrasment. The writing is amateurish, the plotting hilarious and the lead character is an early example - in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG line - of bad homosexual fantasy figures: the masculine, muscular, beautiful, unpretentious and helplessly desirable hetereosexual man who succumbs to his true desires for men. Ridiculous and full of gay self-loathing - these characters serve no purpose except to make gay men dream about the impossible and feel badly about themselves.
It's not a new novel so I guess I can't say it follows a trend but it sure is a trend setter.
I know it's just an "entertainment" but it's a silly one at that. The murder, mayhem, sex and glamour are depicted in such a silly manner - it's difficult to take anything seriously. It may have worked in the 70s for a reader COMPLETELY unfamiliar with a certain gay lifestyle but no longer.
If you want thrills, prepare to be bored and if you are the least bit tired of all the cliched depictions of the gay "ideal" - prepare to be annoyed.
I could go on but I've gotta call the friend who advised me to read this and ask him what the hell he was thinking.
I could not recommend The Lure any less.
Rating:
Summary: Pager-Turner
Review: Whether you're gay or straight, this book will appeal to you. It is a page-turner's page-turner. One of the most suspenseful stories I've ever read. Picano's a terrific writer. --David Ogden
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe how much I disliked this book
Review: Wow. I just finished reading this book, which I purchased on the basis of all the positive reviews. I can honestly say that I WANTED to like this book. I WAS drawn into the book early on. For the first 200 pages or so I was very excited to read what would happen next. (this in spite of how a straight main character is written to view gay life: things like 'the gays' filled the streets, etc...phraseology from a gay author who was trying way too hard and wound up sounding silly and dated) The last 170 pages or so are outrageous. I don't mean in a good way. The book goes from plausibly suspenseful to being so off the deep end that it actually made me angry. I honestly don't know how Stephen King can declare that this book is an authentic look at gay life in the 70s. Last I heard, Stephen King isn't gay. And how can ANYONE say that it is well researched in general, when the subject matter and plot twists take such ludicrous turns... I really can't recommend this book at all...and I can't understand how anyone else grounded in reality or with any appreciation of thrillers or suspense fiction or gay lit...or ANYTHING...could enjoy this book. Still want to read it? I have a copy I'll sell for CHEAP!
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe how much I disliked this book
Review: Wow. I just finished reading this book, which I purchased on the basis of all the positive reviews. I can honestly say that I WANTED to like this book. I WAS drawn into the book early on. For the first 200 pages or so I was very excited to read what would happen next. (this in spite of how a straight main character is written to view gay life: things like 'the gays' filled the streets, etc...phraseology from a gay author who was trying way too hard and wound up sounding silly and dated) The last 170 pages or so are outrageous. I don't mean in a good way. The book goes from plausibly suspenseful to being so off the deep end that it actually made me angry. I honestly don't know how Stephen King can declare that this book is an authentic look at gay life in the 70s. Last I heard, Stephen King isn't gay. And how can ANYONE say that it is well researched in general, when the subject matter and plot twists take such ludicrous turns... I really can't recommend this book at all...and I can't understand how anyone else grounded in reality or with any appreciation of thrillers or suspense fiction or gay lit...or ANYTHING...could enjoy this book. Still want to read it? I have a copy I'll sell for CHEAP!
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