Title: VGL Male Seeks Same
Author: Rick R. Reed
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
BUY Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/VGLMale.html
Genre: GLBT romantic comedy
ISBN: 978-1-60272-430-3
Name of Reviewer: Emily Moore
Rating: Five Stars (out of five)
Reviewed by Emily Moore for Rainbow Reviews
Ethan has tried everything he can think of to find a significant other. He visited the bars where all the young, hip gay men were sure to be found only to be a wallflower and not interact with anyone. He moved to the heart of "Boystown" in Chicago to be surrounded by single gay men only to have the neighborhood gentrify and the gays move due north. He found a job as a publicist for free nights at the theater and to be surrounded by handsome actors but instead is isolated in his cube writing press releases and chatting up critics. As a result, Ethan is a single, 42 year old gay man trying to convince himself that the answer to the "riddle of how to escape a solitary existence" is out there waiting for him.
When Ethan overhears a conversation about a website that is for more than just "quick hook-ups", he thinks he has found his answer. After all, if it can work for the office receptionist, who Ethan secretly refers to as "Bubbles", it has to work for him. Right? Ethan creates a profile, pours himself into the answers, and finds a relatively decent photo only a few months old. He is totally and completely honest about himself. He's all set. There's only one problem. No one bites.
With his self-esteem taking yet another shot, Ethan decides to make a drastic move and start a bit of a social experiment. He replaces his photo with one found on the internet, a truly stunning man, and sits back and waits. And he watches the responses pour in, half of them telling him how gorgeous he is and the rest simply dirty propositions for sex, lots of sex. Not quite what he was looking for. But in the middle of all those messages is one that is very different. A message from Brian.
Brian is just what Ethan has been trying so hard to find. They have similar tastes, are looking for similar things from a relationship, and Brian is gorgeous. He is, in a word, perfect. But there is only one problem. Brian is messaging the "new" Ethan, the one that the "real" Ethan doesn't look anything like. As they start messaging back and forth, Ethan becomes more enamored with Brian and worries about what will happen when Brian discovers he is a liar.
VGL Male Seeks Same is a phenomenal story about the search for love and the one person we can connect with in every way. I absolutely adored the character of Ethan, his sharp witty humor and his emotions that are worn on his sleeve. As a person that has used internet dating, I connected with him immediately and Reed nailed the reactions and thoughts that come with such a unique way of meeting people.
Things of course are not as simple as they may seem for Ethan and, although I must admit that I guessed what was to come, it was truly a joy to read from beginning to end. The messages back and forth between Ethan and Brian are quite touching and make Ethan's angst over what to do about his deception that much more substantial. My heart was completely invested in Ethan's journey and I laughed and cried along with him. Overall this is a captivating story that had me on the edge of my seat to the very end. This is the second of Reed's stories that I have read and I am now officially a huge fan. As are many of his other stories, this is set in Chicago, my current hometown, and those familiar with the city will love the details throughout. It is obvious that Reed still loves the city. The humor throughout this story is exceptional yet doesn't disrupt the more serious themes. The ending is true perfection even if the last line is, "He really needed to pee." I cannot more highly recommend this story for all readers!
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The author blogs at http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/. He is also the author of
Dead End Street: http://tinyurl.com/5mztwy
Orientation: http://tinyurl.com/5ntwyu
High Risk: http://tinyurl.com/39dror
Deadly Vision: http://tinyurl.com/3eygd4
In the Blood: http://tinyurl.com/5zwc8w
IM: http://tinyurl.com/32rsy4
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Showing posts with label rick r reed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rick r reed. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Rick Reed's Novel So Deadly Its Great
Title: Deadly Vision
Author: Rick R. Reed
Genre: Thriller/GLBT
ISBN: 1932300961
Quest Books / January 2008
Reviewed by Vince Liaguno for Dark Scribe Magazine Reviewer
Originally published in: Dark Scribe Magazine
Hot on the heels of his enjoyable gay serial killer novel – last year's IM – Rick Reed returns with another gripping thriller, Deadly Vision. Reed is quickly developing his own unique formula that blends suspense, fast-moving narratives, fully-realized gay characters, and a touch of the occult. His seeming bid to become a gay hybrid of James Patterson and Dean Koontz will not be lost on readers with this latest offering.
Cass D'Angelo, single mother to seven-year-old Max, is toiling away as a waitress in a small, depressed river town in Ohio. When Cass goes off after Max when he wanders off one afternoon during a thunderstorm, she runs afoul of a lightning strike and a falling tree limb. She awakens days later in the hospital – relieved to find Max safe – and discovers that the resulting concussion has left her with a newfound psychic ability. Before you can say Psychic Friends Network, Cass receives disturbing images of several local girls gone missing – their grisly fates playing out behind her mind's eye. Fearing more deaths, the reluctant psychic reaches out to the police and to one of the missing girl's parents – all of whom are skeptical. But when the father of a second missing girl begs Cass' help in finding his daughter and her decomposing body is found along the Ohio River banks, Cass finds herself the center of unwanted attention from a pair of devil-worshipping killers desperate to find out how she found their carefully hidden grave. It's here that the story kicks into even higher gear with a kidnapping, a manhunt, and – to a lesser extent - hints of a budding romance with a sympathetic female journalist.
As in IM, Reed again opts to tell his story through multiple points-of-view. And, again, it works surprisingly well even when minor characters like Cass' mother get their chance at the storytelling bat. Laying out the actions and motives of your villains for readers is a tricky proposition - give too much and risk predictability at the expense of the suspense. But Reed expertly walks the tightrope between disclosure and omission, crafting passages told from the killers' perspective that are appropriately chilling and give just enough away to readers so that their acquired insight translates into dread when the action switches back to Cass and company. It's foreboding at it s finest with readers left muttering, "If you only knew what I know" at the book itself.
Reed also imbues Deadly Vision with a strong sense of setting, creating in Summitville a bleak tableau of working class hardship. One gets a strong sense of inevitability for the fictional denizens of the town, like they surrendered master status of their own destinies somewhere between unplanned pregnancies and factory closings. He nails the idea of familiarity and disconnection as analogous functions of small-town life:
When Sheryl McKenna's mother opened the door, Cass felt as though she had already seen her. And maybe she had. Summitville was, after all, a small town. She could have passed the tired-looking woman on the street downtown, or served her in the diner. The woman stared at her with bright gray eyes, looking her over as if Cass were something she had discarded in the yard that had managed to make its way back to the porch. Mrs. McKenna was small, with no fat on her bones; she looked almost skeletal. Her skin was weathered, the result of too much sun, too much smoke. Her skin, combined with straw-like bleached blonde hair and hard eyes made her, Cass was sure, look older than her years. She held a cigarette in her hand, and the smell of tobacco smoke came out of the house in a wave when she opened the door.
Unlike IM, the lesbian romance is relegated to the background here, never even a glimmer of possibility until the third act - and even then it's only alluded to in a near future. This is the novel's only misstep – and a slight one at that – and an area where Reed missed an opportunity for deeper emotional investment in the reporter character of Dani Westwood. The lack of romantic connection to Cass keeps her at arm's length for much of the action, consigning her to stock character status.
The novel's supernatural elements are handled quite well, with Cass' understanding of her precognitive abilities evolving gradually over the course of the book and never coming off as forced or over-the-top. Only toward the end when Cass encounters the spectral vision of one of the victims does one get the sense that they're smack dab in the middle of an episode of Cold Case or The Ghost Whisperer – and that's either criticism or commendation depending upon your level of tolerance for either of those shows.
The literary equivalent of a hybrid vehicle, Deadly Vision powers forward on a combustion of supernatural suspense, murder mystery, and breakneck thriller. With psychics and serial killers rendered with the same deft hand in a propulsive narrative likely to increase respirations, it takes no psychic ability to see that Rick Reed is headed for the top of the suspense class.
--
Check out my most recent releases on Amazon:
High Risk: http://tinyurl.com/39dror
Deadly Vision: http://tinyurl.com/3eygd4
In the Blood: http://tinyurl.com/3dbb7k
IM: http://tinyurl.com/32rsy4
Find me at:
http://www.rickrreed.com and http://www.myspace.com/rickrreed
Coming in 2008
Orientation
Dead End Street
More information and excerpts at http://www.rickrreed.com
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coaliition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Author: Rick R. Reed
Genre: Thriller/GLBT
ISBN: 1932300961
Quest Books / January 2008
Reviewed by Vince Liaguno for Dark Scribe Magazine Reviewer
Originally published in: Dark Scribe Magazine
Hot on the heels of his enjoyable gay serial killer novel – last year's IM – Rick Reed returns with another gripping thriller, Deadly Vision. Reed is quickly developing his own unique formula that blends suspense, fast-moving narratives, fully-realized gay characters, and a touch of the occult. His seeming bid to become a gay hybrid of James Patterson and Dean Koontz will not be lost on readers with this latest offering.
Cass D'Angelo, single mother to seven-year-old Max, is toiling away as a waitress in a small, depressed river town in Ohio. When Cass goes off after Max when he wanders off one afternoon during a thunderstorm, she runs afoul of a lightning strike and a falling tree limb. She awakens days later in the hospital – relieved to find Max safe – and discovers that the resulting concussion has left her with a newfound psychic ability. Before you can say Psychic Friends Network, Cass receives disturbing images of several local girls gone missing – their grisly fates playing out behind her mind's eye. Fearing more deaths, the reluctant psychic reaches out to the police and to one of the missing girl's parents – all of whom are skeptical. But when the father of a second missing girl begs Cass' help in finding his daughter and her decomposing body is found along the Ohio River banks, Cass finds herself the center of unwanted attention from a pair of devil-worshipping killers desperate to find out how she found their carefully hidden grave. It's here that the story kicks into even higher gear with a kidnapping, a manhunt, and – to a lesser extent - hints of a budding romance with a sympathetic female journalist.
As in IM, Reed again opts to tell his story through multiple points-of-view. And, again, it works surprisingly well even when minor characters like Cass' mother get their chance at the storytelling bat. Laying out the actions and motives of your villains for readers is a tricky proposition - give too much and risk predictability at the expense of the suspense. But Reed expertly walks the tightrope between disclosure and omission, crafting passages told from the killers' perspective that are appropriately chilling and give just enough away to readers so that their acquired insight translates into dread when the action switches back to Cass and company. It's foreboding at it s finest with readers left muttering, "If you only knew what I know" at the book itself.
Reed also imbues Deadly Vision with a strong sense of setting, creating in Summitville a bleak tableau of working class hardship. One gets a strong sense of inevitability for the fictional denizens of the town, like they surrendered master status of their own destinies somewhere between unplanned pregnancies and factory closings. He nails the idea of familiarity and disconnection as analogous functions of small-town life:
When Sheryl McKenna's mother opened the door, Cass felt as though she had already seen her. And maybe she had. Summitville was, after all, a small town. She could have passed the tired-looking woman on the street downtown, or served her in the diner. The woman stared at her with bright gray eyes, looking her over as if Cass were something she had discarded in the yard that had managed to make its way back to the porch. Mrs. McKenna was small, with no fat on her bones; she looked almost skeletal. Her skin was weathered, the result of too much sun, too much smoke. Her skin, combined with straw-like bleached blonde hair and hard eyes made her, Cass was sure, look older than her years. She held a cigarette in her hand, and the smell of tobacco smoke came out of the house in a wave when she opened the door.
Unlike IM, the lesbian romance is relegated to the background here, never even a glimmer of possibility until the third act - and even then it's only alluded to in a near future. This is the novel's only misstep – and a slight one at that – and an area where Reed missed an opportunity for deeper emotional investment in the reporter character of Dani Westwood. The lack of romantic connection to Cass keeps her at arm's length for much of the action, consigning her to stock character status.
The novel's supernatural elements are handled quite well, with Cass' understanding of her precognitive abilities evolving gradually over the course of the book and never coming off as forced or over-the-top. Only toward the end when Cass encounters the spectral vision of one of the victims does one get the sense that they're smack dab in the middle of an episode of Cold Case or The Ghost Whisperer – and that's either criticism or commendation depending upon your level of tolerance for either of those shows.
The literary equivalent of a hybrid vehicle, Deadly Vision powers forward on a combustion of supernatural suspense, murder mystery, and breakneck thriller. With psychics and serial killers rendered with the same deft hand in a propulsive narrative likely to increase respirations, it takes no psychic ability to see that Rick Reed is headed for the top of the suspense class.
--
Check out my most recent releases on Amazon:
High Risk: http://tinyurl.com/39dror
Deadly Vision: http://tinyurl.com/3eygd4
In the Blood: http://tinyurl.com/3dbb7k
IM: http://tinyurl.com/32rsy4
Find me at:
http://www.rickrreed.com and http://www.myspace.com/rickrreed
Coming in 2008
Orientation
Dead End Street
More information and excerpts at http://www.rickrreed.com
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coaliition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
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