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dic65's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the humour, do not read in public if your don't want funny looks from family, friends and strangers when you laugh out loud at some of the things the gang get up to in this story. This is the first book I read by this author and I am hooked. Going to get the other books with Chase and Grant because I love them especially Grant.
condygurl's review against another edition
3.0
I received this as an E-Galley from publisher via NetGalley.
No remuneration was exchanged and all opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.
Grant & Chase are two of the most incompetent crooks I have EVER read about. Now add in politicians *shudders* and we have a strangely compelling tale.
Grant is so out of the time that he doesn’t even know what a tweet is, and Chase is into IT, and they are a very odd couple indeed. Now the deal is that we have a politician who sends naughty photo’s to his tweet and their job is to get those photos back.
There is a bit of switching Point of View’s which I normally don’t like. However in this case it didn’t detract from the overall story. It was interesting getting to know their secrets, their motivations, goals and ambitions and even their history.
This is a m/m romance book however there isn’t much romance in it. Chase and Grant are together as a couple but their relationship isn’t the focus. I have to say some of their dialogue had me laughing a lot.
I can say the beginning of the book didn’t snag me, but I did end up liking the story. The beginning was just too farfetched for me. Two criminals posing as store mannequins and getting caught and their antics to get away from the cops, just not really believable. But still funny and it did keep me reading so that says something I suppose.
All in all it was a bit of good fun, light hearted, terrific satire. A good read in my honest opinion.
No remuneration was exchanged and all opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.
Grant & Chase are two of the most incompetent crooks I have EVER read about. Now add in politicians *shudders* and we have a strangely compelling tale.
Grant is so out of the time that he doesn’t even know what a tweet is, and Chase is into IT, and they are a very odd couple indeed. Now the deal is that we have a politician who sends naughty photo’s to his tweet and their job is to get those photos back.
There is a bit of switching Point of View’s which I normally don’t like. However in this case it didn’t detract from the overall story. It was interesting getting to know their secrets, their motivations, goals and ambitions and even their history.
This is a m/m romance book however there isn’t much romance in it. Chase and Grant are together as a couple but their relationship isn’t the focus. I have to say some of their dialogue had me laughing a lot.
I can say the beginning of the book didn’t snag me, but I did end up liking the story. The beginning was just too farfetched for me. Two criminals posing as store mannequins and getting caught and their antics to get away from the cops, just not really believable. But still funny and it did keep me reading so that says something I suppose.
All in all it was a bit of good fun, light hearted, terrific satire. A good read in my honest opinion.
apostrophen's review
5.0
I'm a confirmed Byrnes fan. I sniffled my way through the Lambda award winner [b:When The Stars Come Out|965509|When The Stars Come Out|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179862806s/965509.jpg|950406]. I laughed so loud reading [b:The Night We Met|963519|The Night We Met|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179851270s/963519.jpg|948420] that I got thrown out of the pizza joint where I was reading it. I smirked and let my inner cynic gloat throughout [b:Trust Fund Boys|965511|Trust Fund Boys|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328018898s/965511.jpg|950408]. I shivered at the dark mystery "Patience, Colorado" in [b:Men of the Mean Streets: Gay Noir|9535382|Men of the Mean Streets Gay Noir|Greg Herren|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1288841206s/9535382.jpg|14421559]. I love fun books, and Rob Byrnes makes books that are freaking fun and funny and not just a little bit witty.
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS is the third book in the Grant and Chase series, and I gobbled my way through it in roughly a day. I say series, but I should point out that although references are made to the previous two books (namely [b:Straight Lies|6331167|Straight Lies|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266642878s/6331167.jpg|6516836] and [b:Holy Rollers|11787287|Holy Rollers|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328743866s/11787287.jpg|16739465]), nothing is spoiled and new readers can jump in at any point of the trio without fear of missing something or having something else ruined. That said, I've loved all three of these titles, so I'd heartily suggest you grab the bunch. The style is like that of a gay Westlake - where even though Grant and Chase are pretty smart, there's no such thing as a fool-proof plan when you're dealing with trying to rip off some fools.
Especially if the fools in question are politicians.
The caper in question seems simple enough: Grant and Chase, partners in crime as well as life, are hired to recover all the copies of a digital photograph that an up-and-coming young democrat has accidentally sexted to the wrong number. That photo is in the hands of a ultra right-wing blogger, who has plans to ruin the young man's career before things even really begin for him. The boys couldn't care less about the politics of it all, it's the payout that they want. But politics is an ugly business, and before long the basic plan turns into something more convoluted - in the way of all the Grant and Chase books - and soon the two are assembling their group of miscreants to set off a clockwork efficient series of events that will land them with the best payoff of all: revenge.
And cash.
Fans of Byrnes will also enjoy what I think of as the "Easter eggs" in the book - references to previous books and characters abound, though you don't have to have read them to get the full effect of STRANGE BEDFELLOWS. This is Grant and Chase (and the rest) in solid form, and their plan, and then plan B, and then the rest of the plans from C through Z continue to fly fast and loose as they scramble their way towards a payoff. The prose and style - and the always brilliant dialog - snap and crack, and you grin and laugh your way through the book rooting for this gang of crooked miscreants. Many of the characters you love (or love to hate) from STRAIGHT LIES and HOLY ROLLERS return, but the introduction of a few new troops to the gang, most notably the limber and comic-book obsessed Nick Donovan, set up some new one-two punches that will leave you laughing.
In public.
While people stare at you.
You'd think I'd have learned not to read a Byrnes books on a plane by now. When the fourth caper arrives, someone remind me.
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS is the third book in the Grant and Chase series, and I gobbled my way through it in roughly a day. I say series, but I should point out that although references are made to the previous two books (namely [b:Straight Lies|6331167|Straight Lies|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266642878s/6331167.jpg|6516836] and [b:Holy Rollers|11787287|Holy Rollers|Rob Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328743866s/11787287.jpg|16739465]), nothing is spoiled and new readers can jump in at any point of the trio without fear of missing something or having something else ruined. That said, I've loved all three of these titles, so I'd heartily suggest you grab the bunch. The style is like that of a gay Westlake - where even though Grant and Chase are pretty smart, there's no such thing as a fool-proof plan when you're dealing with trying to rip off some fools.
Especially if the fools in question are politicians.
The caper in question seems simple enough: Grant and Chase, partners in crime as well as life, are hired to recover all the copies of a digital photograph that an up-and-coming young democrat has accidentally sexted to the wrong number. That photo is in the hands of a ultra right-wing blogger, who has plans to ruin the young man's career before things even really begin for him. The boys couldn't care less about the politics of it all, it's the payout that they want. But politics is an ugly business, and before long the basic plan turns into something more convoluted - in the way of all the Grant and Chase books - and soon the two are assembling their group of miscreants to set off a clockwork efficient series of events that will land them with the best payoff of all: revenge.
And cash.
Fans of Byrnes will also enjoy what I think of as the "Easter eggs" in the book - references to previous books and characters abound, though you don't have to have read them to get the full effect of STRANGE BEDFELLOWS. This is Grant and Chase (and the rest) in solid form, and their plan, and then plan B, and then the rest of the plans from C through Z continue to fly fast and loose as they scramble their way towards a payoff. The prose and style - and the always brilliant dialog - snap and crack, and you grin and laugh your way through the book rooting for this gang of crooked miscreants. Many of the characters you love (or love to hate) from STRAIGHT LIES and HOLY ROLLERS return, but the introduction of a few new troops to the gang, most notably the limber and comic-book obsessed Nick Donovan, set up some new one-two punches that will leave you laughing.
In public.
While people stare at you.
You'd think I'd have learned not to read a Byrnes books on a plane by now. When the fourth caper arrives, someone remind me.
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