Government Gay (Alex Reynolds Mysteries (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: KISS KISS, KILL KILL.
Review: Despite an entertaining premise (a gay NORTH BY NORTHWEST), A breezy, readable narrative, and an assortment of diverting characters, GOVERNMENT GAY left me cold. To be blunt, Fred Hunter is writing Romantic Suspense but leaving out the romance and the suspense.

From a reader's (this reader anyway) standpoint it's a mistake to start a mystery series with the hero/protagonist already happily mated to his significant other. What a waste of potential romance, conflict and plot twists! Study for example how effectively Michael Nava used "Josh" in GOLDENBOY (still his best effort in my opinion) to complicate a minimal mystery plot. Here we have the thoroughly married (and living with Alex's mum) Alex and Peter plunged into murder and espionage. Well, why WOULD murder and espionage strain this relationship if living with an in-law doesn't? It just makes for a more interesting story if the happy couple are not so inexorably happy. Especially at first. Remember that old Seeds of Doubt thing? It's a good thing.

Next problem: cute, cockney Mum. With so much time devoted to the old girl no wonder there's little left for exploring Peter and Alex's characters. Next caper I suggest Jean spend more time at The Mayflower Club like any normal, middle-aged Brit.

Finally, and crucially, there is not a minute of suspense here. There are beatings, kidnappings and killings but none of them feel real or seem to threaten Alex and Peter--even when they are the ones beaten and kidnapped. I loved the idea of this book but found the book itself disappointing. Perhaps Hunter is trying to do too many things. Is he writing mysteries or comedy? Is he reading too much Richard Stevenson or too little? I felt GOVERNMENT GAY lacked focus, direction. Instead of a NORTH BY NORTHWEST Hunter has devised a WEST BY SOUTHEAST.

Rating:
Summary: Light Heated Entertainment
Review: Fred Hunter has created 3 endearing and entertaining characters in Alex Reynolds, his "husband" Peter Livesay, and Alex's mother Jean Reynolds. While not "detectives" in the true sense of the word, these three seem to live an exciting shadow life in the world of crime solving. Clever, quick witted, and tightly written, this story of spies and espionage will confuse and confound until the very end.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasing read...
Review: I did not know what to expect from this author since I'd never read anything by him before. I'm adventuresome in reading and this time I was not let down. Governmnent Gay seldom gets stereotypical in its characterizations except when the two lovers engage in love talk which is not often thank goodness. The story is interesting, the pace of the writing is varied to fit the action and we come to really care about these people as the book goes along. In fact, I found myself thinking about them after I had finished the book. Two scenes that stick in my mind are when the main character goes out on a lonely stretch of road at night waiting for the bad guys and the finale on top of the Sears Tower. I could imagine quite well the urban danger in the first scene and could feel the wind and had sweaty palms during the final scene. I highly recommend this book as a quick, amusing read. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Rating:
Summary: A whole lot of fun!
Review: This author was new to me, and I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect what I got: a really playful mystery featuring one of the most engaging sleuthing couples I've seen yet. Alex and Peter are such a wonderfully matched, loving couple they made me jealous! They demonstrate a kind of old-married-couple sensibility that was different from a lot of gay fiction I've come across. And the addition of Alex's mother, Jean, to the mix was a wonderful touch. The plot, involving Russian spies and defectors, was hilariously complicated (and somewhat silly, but that was part of the fun). I'm going to get the rest of the series ASAP.

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable read
Review: This was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery, and very out of the ordinary. Alex Reynolds and his husband, Peter Livesay, join the ranks of happily married sleuthing couples along with such luminaries as Nick and Nora Charles and Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Added to the mix is Jean Reynolds, Alex's mother, an irrepresible Brit with whom the two men live. Jean is a positively delightful character, forever coming up with schemes and devising ways out of the predicament in which the trio find themselves, quite by accident. Believeability is not exactly the matter here, as with most romps. I wonderered if one would actually meet foreign agents in a gay bar, but the story and the prose were so delightful that I really didn't spare much time to worry about it! The best thing about the book was that these characters were so personable and believable (particularly the relationship between Alex and Peter, which was very complementary and compelling) that it made me want to come back and revisit them. I really am looking forward to the next entry in this series.