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    SERIES REVIEW: Boystown Books 1-3 by Marshall Thornton

    Boystown Books: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries – Marshall Thornton

    Finalist for the Lambda Award in Gay Mystery, Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries takes place in Chicago during the early 1980s. Haunted by his abrupt departure from the Chicago Police Department and the end of his relationship with librarian Daniel Laverty, Nick Nowak is a beat cop-turned-dogged private investigator. In this first book of the series, Nick works through three cases: a seemingly simple missing persons search, an arson investigation, and a suicide that turns out to be anything but. While working the cases, Nick moves through a series of casual relationships until he meets homicide detective Bert Harker and begins a tentative relationship.


    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Boys Town
    Artist: Babes
    Album: Leave Your Leather On


    Boystown Books: Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries – Marshall Thornton

    The Boystown Mystery series continues as Chicago private investigator Nick Nowak finds himself involved in three new cases. He’s asked to help a young man who murdered his stepfather but refuses to assist in his own defense, hired to find the murderer of a dead porno star, and, in a case that traps him between the two men he loves, must search for a serial killer’s only living victim. Set in the second half of 1981, Nick juggles his deepening relationship with Detective Bert Harker with the return of his ex, Daniel Laverty. Which man will he choose? Or will he be able to choose?


    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: OOO
    Artist: Karen O
    Album: Crush Songs


    Boystown Books: Two Nick Nowak Novellas – Marshall Thornton

    In the two novellas that make up the third book in the popular Boystown Mysteries private Investigator Nick Nowak works two challenging cases and grapples with an even more challenging personal life. In Little Boy Boom, Nick’s car explodes when a thief attempts to steal it. Realizing the bomb was meant for him, Nick sets out to discover who wants him dead only to find that the list of possible suspects is longer than he’d like. When he begins to run out of suspects he wonders if the bomb was truly meant for him. Little Boy Tenor finds Nick investigating the murderer of a church choir’s star tenor, while at the same time his friend Ross asks him to discover the truth behind his lover, Earl Silver’s mysterious death. As he juggles the two cases, he becomes increasingly disturbed by what he learns.


    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Slipping Away
    Artist: Moby
    Album: Hotel


    A bit strange to call a series set in a decade you lived through as historical, but I considered Boystown by award-winning author Marshall Thornton as such. My first series from the author, The Wyandot County Mysteries, was entertainingly bitchy, and another modern historical (if we can call it that) set in the 2000s.

    The usual Regencies and Victorians are not working for me as of late, so I’m hoping to dive into more books set in the mid-century and later eras.

    Boystown starts in 1980, with prequels set in 1979. It chronicles the life of ex-cop-turned-PI Nick Nowak. He’s 33 years old and in the prime of his life. He’s good at his job. His business is going well and he’s free of debts He lives in a garden apartment, a.k.a. basement apartment in downtown Chicago in the known queer neighborhood called Boystown. Every weekend, he works as a bouncer at a gay club owned by a friend.

    The storytelling is one of the best and a top favorite in my reading history. Nick has a very compelling voice and a charismatic character. The books are written like episodes in a TV series. Also, Marshall Thornton has always been fantastic at flavoring his stories with period-specific events, culture, technology, and so on. They have a palpable patina of time and they always feel authentic and lived-in. 

    Nick’s cases intertwine with his private life, and threads from the previous books are continued or mentioned in the succeeding. There are many recurring characters or references to past events that Nick would follow up on or would impact the current story. We see Nick’s everyday habits and work routine, plus the more action-packed moments.

    My favorite part is the cases. Almost all mystery series tend to default to murder as the crime, so I loved that Nick’s cases vary from background checks to missing persons to arson to car bombing, and sometimes protection for rock stars. I loved that they realistically portray the variety of work a PI handles.

    And Nick’s one hell of a PI! He doesn’t give up until he’s satisfied, not even if his client feels the matter is already settled. He’s got wily investigation skills and is not above lying, impersonating someone, seducing the gullible, or breaking inside an apartment to get answers.

    Nick knows he’s a looker and enjoys an active sex life. There is no shortage of people eager to throw themselves at him and Nick’s not inclined to say no. From informants he’s interviewing, to corporate lawyers, to friends with benefits, beat cops mistakenly apprehending him while undercover as a homeless man and even the very person he’s investigating, as well as orgies. A couple of times, he asked himself if he was giving off some kind of pheromones.

    Nick is also pining for his ex, Daniel Laverty. They had a bad breakup after a homophobic attack that left Daniel with a broken cheekbone. Daniel wanted to report what happened, but Nick, then a closeted cop, refused.

    Nick eventually develops a relationship with a closeted police detective, Bert Harker. Theirs is an open relationship, which means Nick still goes around fucking any willing body. Nick is also torn between Daniel, who recently reunited with him, and Bert, currently living with him. The series is not romance, and it didn’t make promises of a romance HEA, so the open relationships didn’t bother me.

    What bothered me was the APPALLING lack of protection in all the sex scenes. There’s also some scenes where the characters take drugs. It was a wild, hedonistic era and Nick is in the thick of it. In contrast, contemporary MM books make it a point to mention rubbers or an exchange of health status. 

    Knowing what we know now of the 80s and the AIDs epidemic, it is heartbreaking that some of the characters here were among the early victims, and Nick and his friends have no clue yet of what is happening. It’s going to hit very close to home. I almost don’t want to read the succeeding books because the impact is going to crush Nick. 

    As mentioned earlier, Boystown is written as a continuous chronicle of Nick Nowak’s life and should be read in order. I had grand plans of reviewing the entire series until I learned there are 13 books. It’s a lot for me, so I’ll probably do three books at a time.

    The first three books of Boystown opens a highly engrossing mystery series that captures a pivotal era through the eyes of a gay PI. Blending Chicago grit and 80s sex appeal with LGBTQ+ issues and noir mystery, these stories are authentic, steamy and as irresistable as Nick Nowak himself.


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    REVIEW: The Doctor by C.S. Poe

    Magic & Steam: The Doctor – C.S. Poe

    1882—Gillian Hamilton, magic caster and Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam, has been stripped of his title, badge, and freedom. Gillian’s true name and powers have been exposed, so now he’s kept under lock and key. To make a tragedy worse, Gunner the Deadly has returned to his life out in the Wild West and has not been heard from since.

    Rumors of a doctor, known only as Sawbones, with access to illegal magic have persisted into the new year. Gillian believes that violence, chaos, and certain death will befall New York City if this criminal isn’t apprehended. And despite having lost his sense of purpose, Gillian knows he’s the only one capable of confronting this new madman—with or without the backing of the FBMS.

    But such dangers should never be undertaken alone. Gillian will need both Gunner’s deadeye marksmanship, as well as his love, if he’s to detain Sawbones before irreparable damage is done to the magic of his world.


    After The Gangster‘s cliffhanger hit like Gillian’s thunderbolts, The Doctor became one of my most anticipated books. The 3rd installment of the spectacular steampunk series, Magic & Steam, starts with things on an all-time low for our favorite special agent and magic caster, Gillian Hamilton.

    In fact it was so abysmally bad, I thought there should be a misery rating similar to the heat rating for sex, just so we’re warned. Gillian’s true identity was exposed. He is now in a maximum security mental asylum in Blackwell’s island, a hell hole where the mad, a.k.a rogue magic casters, were left under the tender mercies of the sadistic staff. He has attempted escape several times, even gotten very close to doing so. The latest attempt landed him in a straitjacket in solitary confinement.

    These events would have been bearable, but Gillian’s self-flagellatory thoughts and the overall tone of pure misery made things infinitely more wretched; they pulled me out of the story completely. C.S. Poe did such a masterful job making me feel Gillian’s plight that I felt a heavy weight on my chest, like the beginnings of depression. Not the author’s fault, she’s just that talented, and I, unfortunately, happened to have low tolerance for this brand of pain.

    But I knew there’s an adventure and a reunion to be had, so I picked it up again. And yes, things do take a lighter tone once Gillian was out and about once more with help from an unlikely savior.

    Where’s Gillian’s darling outlaw? Well, trust Gunner the Deadly to make a swashbuckling entrance! And save Gillian from an even direr fate. From this point, the story gave way to things we love best about Magic & Steam.

    There’s the continuation of the tenderest love story between an outlaw and a federal agent. My favorite part about their romance is the peaceful quality of it, a sort of quiet center for Gillian and Gunner in the swirl of gunfire and explosion. I’m not sure I’m explaining it well, but it’s like how Gunner sounds in the audiobook. Always calm and even, kinda zen-like in the midst of chaos.

    The titular doctor is the notorious Sawbones, a doctor who took pleasure in hacking off limbs during the war. He’s playing god, doing powerful magic never done before. Magic that is forbidden and highly unethical. While Gillian is haunted by his past, he and Gunner race to stop the doctor from his nefarious plans. Their adventure took them full circle, from NY to the wild west and back again.

    The plot moved fast with plenty of adrenaline-pumping action scenes in an immersive alt-Victorian America run by ether. Not too many steampunk gizmos this time, but the magic was wild! Now, Gillian totally owned all his powers, and he’s unleashing them full force! I got such a thrill with him casting jaw-dropping spells left and right. He could be pretty hard on himself, but our boy is the most motherfuckin’ badass magic caster there is! I adore him!

    Gillian’s superior officer, Director Loren Moore, and his informant, the Irish boxer Addison Day, play key roles in the story. Moore is also a loyal friend who always comes though for Gillian. I feel sorry for the guy. He’s been crushing on the spectacularly oblivious Gillian for years. Not sure if they met before, but I’m low-key shipping Loren and Addie. The boss deserves his HEA too.

    Also, holy cliffhanger!!!

    The Doctor is as awesome as promised. The opening chapters might have rattled me a bit, but this is a tale worth sticking around for. It’s one man’s struggle to shed a past he was forced to endure and become the person he is meant to be. A deeply emotional journey and a thrill ride that never ever loses steam!

    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Awaken (Feel Alive)
    Artist: Big Wild & Surfaces
    Album: Awaken (Feel Alive)

    P.S.

    Magic & Steam must be read in order. Those cliffhangers are not for the faint-hearted! Check out my reviews:

    The Gangster
    The Engineer


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    THE ENGINEER | THE GANGSTER | THE DOCTOR

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