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eesh25's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
This is a tricky one because I don't know if, and how much, my opinion of the book was influenced by some things I read. You see, halfway through the book, I was having some doubts, so I decided to see how the series would go. Not full spoilers, just checking the trajectory. And what I read made me even more unsure.
The book follows Adrien English, a bookseller and aspiring mystery writer. One day, he finds that a friend and employee of his has been murdered. And with the way the police are treating him, it seems that he's their prime suspect.
This book series is considered, partly, a gay romance series. But there's no romance in this book, just a hint at the end that I didn't buy because the book hadn't created enough of a connection between the two men. In fact, I'm not even going to mention the name of the love interest. I didn't like him anyway, and from what I understand, he gets way worse before he starts to get better.
But enough talk about future installments. This book didn't do much for me. Adrien is a decent protagonist, funny and easy to care about. The writing is perfectly coherent. But it's such a miserable read. Adrien is an unhappy person—for vague reasons, it seems. Well, the reason might be that he's surrounded by homophobic assholes, but the general tone of misery that permeates the story makes it a very-not-fun experience. Not my cup of tea.
Then there's the issue of the mystery not being that good. I'd say the identity of the killer was obvious, but underwhelming is a better description. And this is a mystery novel, so that's a big deal.
What else... Oh, there were a few side characters, none of whom I liked. And though this is a short book, it's slow-paced. There are often mundane scenes that interrupt the mystery and kill the momentum. And most importantly, for me, I just didn't enjoy reading this book. I'm not sure I want to continue the series, but I feel like I should. If I can give Dresden three books, then Adrien deserves at least two, right?
This is a tricky one because I don't know if, and how much, my opinion of the book was influenced by some things I read. You see, halfway through the book, I was having some doubts, so I decided to see how the series would go. Not full spoilers, just checking the trajectory. And what I read made me even more unsure.
The book follows Adrien English, a bookseller and aspiring mystery writer. One day, he finds that a friend and employee of his has been murdered. And with the way the police are treating him, it seems that he's their prime suspect.
This book series is considered, partly, a gay romance series. But there's no romance in this book, just a hint at the end that I didn't buy because the book hadn't created enough of a connection between the two men. In fact, I'm not even going to mention the name of the love interest. I didn't like him anyway, and from what I understand, he gets way worse before he starts to get better.
But enough talk about future installments. This book didn't do much for me. Adrien is a decent protagonist, funny and easy to care about. The writing is perfectly coherent. But it's such a miserable read. Adrien is an unhappy person—for vague reasons, it seems. Well, the reason might be that he's surrounded by homophobic assholes, but the general tone of misery that permeates the story makes it a very-not-fun experience. Not my cup of tea.
Then there's the issue of the mystery not being that good. I'd say the identity of the killer was obvious, but underwhelming is a better description. And this is a mystery novel, so that's a big deal.
What else... Oh, there were a few side characters, none of whom I liked. And though this is a short book, it's slow-paced. There are often mundane scenes that interrupt the mystery and kill the momentum. And most importantly, for me, I just didn't enjoy reading this book. I'm not sure I want to continue the series, but I feel like I should. If I can give Dresden three books, then Adrien deserves at least two, right?
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
First in the Adrien English Mystery series based in a bookstore in L.A.
My Take
This was good. Well, it does involve a bookstore and writers, so I may be prejudiced. I did enjoy Lanyon's story. He created an interesting cast of characters and provides insight into a community of which few of us have experience. Cute innuendoes.
Definitely a fast read, Lanyon has provided a very complete story with reasonable background on its characters---naturally, Adrien's background is the most complete. I suspect Lanyon is leaving Riordan's background as part of the tease to entice us into reading A Dangerous Thing. I'll be ordering it up as soon as I get a bit caught up.
Lanyon didn't provide the tension I was expecting. Sure, he's got Adrien all set up as the bad guy as far as the police are concerned, but it was just words. Obviously Adrien is unlikely to be guilty since the series is about him so it becomes more difficult to create worry amongst the readers, but I still expect to feel it. I suspect Lanyon was more concerned with portraying the gay community as regular guys while still providing a picture of the lifestyle and setting the series up than with ratcheting up any tension. Yes, there was drama. People are dying who don't seem to have a connection. There's Claude's concerns about Riordan. Anger with the police for being such jerks. But Adrien's exploring the possibilities mostly just mentions connections. He doesn't actually do much with it. I'm not sure why Lanyon has Adrien freaking out about Gordon's movements. What's the deal with the middle-of-the-night phone calls?
I'm also confused about the finances. It starts off saying that Adrien is doing well with the bookstore, then the insurance policy bit comes up and it sounds as though Adrien needs the money, and then he's offering to finance the newsletter. Nor do I understand why it's so necessary for Claude to run.
It's certainly a colorful story. It can't help but be colorful with someone like Claude whom Lanyon describes as "a Southland native…[with]...a kind of gender-confused French like a Left Bank expatriate with severe memory loss". Too funny! As far as I'm concerned, the greatest intrigue was Detective Riordan, a bisexual cop hiding his gay side. At first Lanyon describes him as having a neo-Nazi haircut which sets up one impression, but by the end of the story, that haircut takes on a whole different appearance in my mind.
If reading about gays and the gay community will bother you, don't read it. But, you'll be missing a fascinating little story.
The Story
It's a pair of detectives descending upon his doorstep in the wee hours that turns Adrien's life upside down. Seems a friend of his has been murdered and since both he and Robert are gay, they were obviously lovers and therefore Adrien must have murdered him.
Naturally, when Adrien returns to the bookstore after having lunch with Claude and finds it trashed, the cops assume he did it to throw off suspicion. Nor does the bartender's testimony from the night before help.
Claude isn't much help as he's more concerned with the letters and poetry he wrote Robert. So as the police press harder, the more attractive Bruce Green's support looks. But it's his mother's condolences that provide the vital clue.
The Characters
Adrien English owns a bookstore that specializes in mysteries, Cloak and Dagger Books. He's recently sold his first book and has started the next. Lisa is his youthful, very social, and very protective mother worried about his heart condition.
Robert Hersey is an old high school classmate of Adrien's. The first man with whom Adrien experimented and best man at Robert's wedding to Tara, his high school sweetheart. An extremely angry and vituperative Tara. Hannah and Bobby are Robert's young children.
Claude La Pierra owns Cafe Noir. I keep trying to imagine this big black guy with his affected French accent! Bruce Green is a reporter from Boytimes interested in both the story and in Adrien.
Detectives Chan and Jake Riordan investigate the murder of an employee at Adrien's bookstore.
The Partners in Crime mystery writers group meets every Tuesday night at the shop and includes the very heterosexual Max Siddons, Claude, Jean and Ted Finch are writing partners, and Grania Joyce with her hardboiled feminist writing. Angus "Gus" Gordon is the temp sent over to help Adrien put the shop back together and take Robert's place. Members of the high school chess club included Robert, Adrien briefly, Grant Landis, Rusty Corday, Andrew Chin, and Felicity Burns.
The Cover
The cover is an interesting array of textures using a smudgy sort of pointillism to create the gray background with the man's face emerging from an unbuttoned shirt and jacket and drops of blood.
The title refers to shadows that hide a figure in a black skull mask, the mysterious phone calls, the non-suspect. Any of these could hide Fatal Shadows.
My Take
This was good. Well, it does involve a bookstore and writers, so I may be prejudiced. I did enjoy Lanyon's story. He created an interesting cast of characters and provides insight into a community of which few of us have experience. Cute innuendoes.
Definitely a fast read, Lanyon has provided a very complete story with reasonable background on its characters---naturally, Adrien's background is the most complete. I suspect Lanyon is leaving Riordan's background as part of the tease to entice us into reading A Dangerous Thing. I'll be ordering it up as soon as I get a bit caught up.
Lanyon didn't provide the tension I was expecting. Sure, he's got Adrien all set up as the bad guy as far as the police are concerned, but it was just words. Obviously Adrien is unlikely to be guilty since the series is about him so it becomes more difficult to create worry amongst the readers, but I still expect to feel it. I suspect Lanyon was more concerned with portraying the gay community as regular guys while still providing a picture of the lifestyle and setting the series up than with ratcheting up any tension. Yes, there was drama. People are dying who don't seem to have a connection. There's Claude's concerns about Riordan. Anger with the police for being such jerks. But Adrien's exploring the possibilities mostly just mentions connections. He doesn't actually do much with it. I'm not sure why Lanyon has Adrien freaking out about Gordon's movements. What's the deal with the middle-of-the-night phone calls?
I'm also confused about the finances. It starts off saying that Adrien is doing well with the bookstore, then the insurance policy bit comes up and it sounds as though Adrien needs the money, and then he's offering to finance the newsletter. Nor do I understand why it's so necessary for Claude to run.
It's certainly a colorful story. It can't help but be colorful with someone like Claude whom Lanyon describes as "a Southland native…[with]...a kind of gender-confused French like a Left Bank expatriate with severe memory loss". Too funny! As far as I'm concerned, the greatest intrigue was Detective Riordan, a bisexual cop hiding his gay side. At first Lanyon describes him as having a neo-Nazi haircut which sets up one impression, but by the end of the story, that haircut takes on a whole different appearance in my mind.
If reading about gays and the gay community will bother you, don't read it. But, you'll be missing a fascinating little story.
The Story
It's a pair of detectives descending upon his doorstep in the wee hours that turns Adrien's life upside down. Seems a friend of his has been murdered and since both he and Robert are gay, they were obviously lovers and therefore Adrien must have murdered him.
Naturally, when Adrien returns to the bookstore after having lunch with Claude and finds it trashed, the cops assume he did it to throw off suspicion. Nor does the bartender's testimony from the night before help.
Claude isn't much help as he's more concerned with the letters and poetry he wrote Robert. So as the police press harder, the more attractive Bruce Green's support looks. But it's his mother's condolences that provide the vital clue.
The Characters
Adrien English owns a bookstore that specializes in mysteries, Cloak and Dagger Books. He's recently sold his first book and has started the next. Lisa is his youthful, very social, and very protective mother worried about his heart condition.
Robert Hersey is an old high school classmate of Adrien's. The first man with whom Adrien experimented and best man at Robert's wedding to Tara, his high school sweetheart. An extremely angry and vituperative Tara. Hannah and Bobby are Robert's young children.
Claude La Pierra owns Cafe Noir. I keep trying to imagine this big black guy with his affected French accent! Bruce Green is a reporter from Boytimes interested in both the story and in Adrien.
Detectives Chan and Jake Riordan investigate the murder of an employee at Adrien's bookstore.
The Partners in Crime mystery writers group meets every Tuesday night at the shop and includes the very heterosexual Max Siddons, Claude, Jean and Ted Finch are writing partners, and Grania Joyce with her hardboiled feminist writing. Angus "Gus" Gordon is the temp sent over to help Adrien put the shop back together and take Robert's place. Members of the high school chess club included Robert, Adrien briefly, Grant Landis, Rusty Corday, Andrew Chin, and Felicity Burns.
The Cover
The cover is an interesting array of textures using a smudgy sort of pointillism to create the gray background with the man's face emerging from an unbuttoned shirt and jacket and drops of blood.
The title refers to shadows that hide a figure in a black skull mask, the mysterious phone calls, the non-suspect. Any of these could hide Fatal Shadows.
lapon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
tfpeel's review against another edition
4.0
Quattro stelle abbondanti per questo primo capitolo... Piccolo eh Jake? Ne vedremo delle belle...
gillianw's review against another edition
3.0
First read June 2015
Unknown number re-read Aug 2022: Problematic af in parts but time hasn’t dimmed my love for Adrien-with-an-e and grumpy Jake. This was my first Lanyon book back when she still had an interest in finishing a series. It doesn’t completely hold up but I adore it anyways. There a reason the term problematic fave exists and this is mine.
Unknown number re-read Aug 2022: Problematic af in parts but time hasn’t dimmed my love for Adrien-with-an-e and grumpy Jake. This was my first Lanyon book back when she still had an interest in finishing a series. It doesn’t completely hold up but I adore it anyways. There a reason the term problematic fave exists and this is mine.
byrons_brain's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
bhavyamarya's review against another edition
4.0
“Okay, baby?”
I could very well give this book less stars because of the non-existent romance but I don't want to.
There was a point I reached in the book where I could not stop reading it. I'm blaming it on the writing. It was SO GOOD. I was so immersed in the book that I didn't even notice I reached the ending. I love it when that happens.
The mystery plot was kind of good. It wasn't that surprising who the killer was but I still liked how the plot progressed and how they came to that conclusion.
I also really liked Adrien. I was having fun discovering his POV and reading his thoughts.
I'm reserving judgement on detective Riordan. There was not much of him in the book for me to understand his character fully. I'm looking forward to seeing him more.
I'm definitely binging the rest of the books. I've seen reviews saying that the series gets better so my expectations are kinda high. Let's see if the books matches them.
“Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.”
Copy recieved via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
the_otaku_bibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
First ever Josh Lanyon book to impress me. He’s either a hit or miss and I’ve been getting more misses than hits but this was fun (all my anger at each character aside) and interesting. Fingers crossed the mysteries keep me hooked like this. It’s Adrien English doing the cops’ jobs for me
sarah_fodots's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
gryvon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal death, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Death, and Murder
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Gaslighting