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A review by cspoe
Pretty Pretty Boys by Gregory Ashe
5.0
This is a hell of a start to a mystery series that promises to deliver some terrifying yet wonderfully crafted stories, with a huge side-helping of a study in humanity—the Good, Bad, and Ugly.
It took me a day or two to unpack everything I'd read, because I didn't just read the story, I experienced it. Felt the heat and sweat of the day, smelled the alcohol, could practically touch the restrained rage coiled tight inside Hazard, that was so, so close to tearing him apart... As I told Gregory Ashe, the only word I could sum Pretty Pretty Boys up with was: brutal.
Emery Hazard has returned to Wahredua, Missouri, where he grew up as a harassed, bullied, and physically tormented gay teen. His job as detective in St. Louis soured, and he was sent to an opening with Wahredua PD, which was basically his only option besides being fired and losing a job he liked. Maybe even loved. It was always Hazard's chance to make the world better, even if it was only after something worse happened, as he points out early in the book.
Not only is it rough emotionally and mentally, being back in a town that nearly broke Hazard as a boy, but it turns out the job he's taking over, one for a detective retiring, partners him with boyhood crush and bully, John-Henry Somerset. And Somerset might have had something to do with the death of Hazard's high school boyfriend, Jeff. But the two don't even have a moment to breathe before they're thrown into a homicide involving a burned corpse, radical college professors, neo-Nazis, and a local gay club. My God. And it only gets more and more intense as the story develops.
One particular aspect of Gregory's storytelling that I personally commend him for is his fearlessness to broach the scary, the unsettling, the painful, and I'll say it again, the brutal topics. The mystery in this book involves intense violence and multiple homicides, but what really left me speechless was the development of his main character, Hazard.
Hazard is not okay. Period. He carries so much anguish, torment, and profound frustration that is colors how he interacts with the world as an adult. And most importantly to the series, it affects how he handles his partner, and to this day, crush— Somers. To make that relationship impossibly more complicated, Somers is nothing like he was as a teen. He's kind, funny, and charming. He's recently separated from his wife, is definitely not straight, despite his insistence on the matter, and sees Hazard as more than just a man. And I love how Gregory develops their relationship. It leaves an actual ache, an open wound in the reader, to see how they dance around one another, especially when it comes to the highroad decision Hazard took near the conclusion of the book. I can't delve into the nitty gritty on that particular moment without sharing huge spoilers, but wow. Readers, and Hazard, have their work cut out for them before they find some kind of happily ever after.
I must stress to new readers that there is so much more to Hazard than meets the eye. Please remember when you experience this angry and hurt man, that there is a mountain of characterization Gregory has only hinted at if you carefully read along. Consider Hazard to be an iceberg. You can't see what's under the water in Book 1, but it's there. Good God, there is so much there. Hazard is a fascinating character because he is painted in such an honest light. He comes with a lot of neutral and negative aspects, and readers have to accept him not as a fictional hero, or even an antihero, but as a human. That's impressive storytelling. Gregory has brought some incredible skill to the gay mystery genre and I am living for everything he gives us!
I'm also desperately in love with his prose, if I can be quite honest. I don't usually highlight while I read, but some of his word choices and twists of the English language were gorgeous. Very blunt and rough and unvarnished in delivery. I adore authors who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, and that's really the best way to describe his narrative. I highly recommend this book, and the rest of the Hazard and Somerset series, by Gregory Ashe.
It took me a day or two to unpack everything I'd read, because I didn't just read the story, I experienced it. Felt the heat and sweat of the day, smelled the alcohol, could practically touch the restrained rage coiled tight inside Hazard, that was so, so close to tearing him apart... As I told Gregory Ashe, the only word I could sum Pretty Pretty Boys up with was: brutal.
Emery Hazard has returned to Wahredua, Missouri, where he grew up as a harassed, bullied, and physically tormented gay teen. His job as detective in St. Louis soured, and he was sent to an opening with Wahredua PD, which was basically his only option besides being fired and losing a job he liked. Maybe even loved. It was always Hazard's chance to make the world better, even if it was only after something worse happened, as he points out early in the book.
Not only is it rough emotionally and mentally, being back in a town that nearly broke Hazard as a boy, but it turns out the job he's taking over, one for a detective retiring, partners him with boyhood crush and bully, John-Henry Somerset. And Somerset might have had something to do with the death of Hazard's high school boyfriend, Jeff. But the two don't even have a moment to breathe before they're thrown into a homicide involving a burned corpse, radical college professors, neo-Nazis, and a local gay club. My God. And it only gets more and more intense as the story develops.
One particular aspect of Gregory's storytelling that I personally commend him for is his fearlessness to broach the scary, the unsettling, the painful, and I'll say it again, the brutal topics. The mystery in this book involves intense violence and multiple homicides, but what really left me speechless was the development of his main character, Hazard.
Hazard is not okay. Period. He carries so much anguish, torment, and profound frustration that is colors how he interacts with the world as an adult. And most importantly to the series, it affects how he handles his partner, and to this day, crush— Somers. To make that relationship impossibly more complicated, Somers is nothing like he was as a teen. He's kind, funny, and charming. He's recently separated from his wife, is definitely not straight, despite his insistence on the matter, and sees Hazard as more than just a man. And I love how Gregory develops their relationship. It leaves an actual ache, an open wound in the reader, to see how they dance around one another, especially when it comes to the highroad decision Hazard took near the conclusion of the book. I can't delve into the nitty gritty on that particular moment without sharing huge spoilers, but wow. Readers, and Hazard, have their work cut out for them before they find some kind of happily ever after.
I must stress to new readers that there is so much more to Hazard than meets the eye. Please remember when you experience this angry and hurt man, that there is a mountain of characterization Gregory has only hinted at if you carefully read along. Consider Hazard to be an iceberg. You can't see what's under the water in Book 1, but it's there. Good God, there is so much there. Hazard is a fascinating character because he is painted in such an honest light. He comes with a lot of neutral and negative aspects, and readers have to accept him not as a fictional hero, or even an antihero, but as a human. That's impressive storytelling. Gregory has brought some incredible skill to the gay mystery genre and I am living for everything he gives us!
I'm also desperately in love with his prose, if I can be quite honest. I don't usually highlight while I read, but some of his word choices and twists of the English language were gorgeous. Very blunt and rough and unvarnished in delivery. I adore authors who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, and that's really the best way to describe his narrative. I highly recommend this book, and the rest of the Hazard and Somerset series, by Gregory Ashe.