Review: Absolutely Five Stars!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 5, 2014
For anyone who has followed this wonderful series from Rhys Ford, you absolutely HAVE to read this one.There's nothing all that new and earthshaking in this installment, but it does a wonderful job of tying up threads from the preceding novels.It's the continuing story of Cole and Jae. Cole is a former policeman, a gay man whose lover was killed by his police partner in a shooting spree that almost killed Cole, too. Because the LAPD well knew that the partner, Ben, was having mental difficulties and forced him into therapy - but did not take him off the street, Cole took the very generous settlement they offered and handed in his badge.He set himself up as a private investigator, and on one of his early investigations, the door he knocked on was opened by the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen. This boy, Jae, the black-sheep of his Korean family (because he's gay) has more than enough of his own baggage, so much that Cole really should just move on. But he can't. Jae is the only one who can heal him, give him his heart and soul back after his terrible losses.Thus starts this brilliantly-written action-adventure series, of which Dirty Deeds is the latest installment.In this book, Cole once again encounters his partner's wife, who had shot Jae after her husband had killed Cole's lover, tried to kill Cole and then killed himself. Somehow, she was trying, in her drug-addled fashion, to punish Cole in the same way she was convinced she had been punished. But she's out-and-around, a wasted meth addict working for a Korean crew that holds young transsexuals captive for the sex trade, while pushing bad drugs, big time. People start dying. As usual, Cole seems to always be there when bodies turn up, ending with him getting arrested, regularly, and then released when it becomes obvious he had no part in the killings.You'll have to read the book for the rest of the story. Trust me, it will be well-worth it, because Ms. Ford is simply a brilliant writer. But, if you haven't read any of the Cole McGinnis Mysteries, do yourself a favor and go back and start with the first one. I promise you, the journey through the whole series will be as seamless as it is rewarding.There are some things that Ms. Ford has accomplished that are rarely seen in Gay (or any other kind of) fiction. First, she literally "wrote the book" on inclusion. Her characters include caucasians, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Cole's assistant, who has become his stand-in "momma" is the matriarch of a huge African-American family who have adopted him. Within his own family, his younger and older brothers are both Asian, and his brother, Mike, is married to a remarkable woman who lost both legs, but gets around (better than most of us) on a pair of blades. Most remarkably, none of this seems forced or self-conscious. It's just a view into the world as it should be.She had one particular moment in this book that pretty much brought me to tears. At one point, the hard-boiled lady detective, who used to be Cole's nemesis, asks if Jae is his husband. I'm a gay man whose been out since the 1960's, and this is the first time it struck me like a ton of bricks - the absolute matter-of-factness with which this question was asked. It was a subtle moment, but in the hands of this master-writer, it pretty much summed up all the decades of progress that, ultimately, resulted in that simple, everyday question being asked of an out gay man. Just a simple moment that bears the weight of decades of hope and centuries of hate in such a poignant, yet everyday remark.As the icing on the cake, the last line in this book is, perhaps, the greatest last line of any book I've ever read. I won't spoil it, with even a hint, but it is nothing less than perfect! Don't read ahead to check it out, either, or you'll lose the pure joy of encountering it, unexpected and in-context.Thank you Ms. Ford, for the many hours of pure joy (and occasional tears) your writing has brought to us.Do I recommend this book, and the others by Ms. Ford? With all my heart and soul!