Review: 2 (Bad) Soap Operas in 1 Book
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 2, 2012
In "Private Eye (Liaisons) by S. E. Culpepper (a woman author), we read 2 thin story lines, even more thinly linked together though the occupations of the novel's two main characters, gay Rafe (the Private Eye) and straight-to-begin-with Jeremy (apparently the Liaison), who realizes (duh!) at about page 40 that he, too, is gay.Story 1 is the main story - a M/M gay romance between Jeremy and Rafe, both of whom bring considerable psychological-and-failed-relationship baggage with them. Their encounters are characterized by an unlikely (and often unreadable) mix of lust, graphic male/male sex, tons of misunderstanding, teeny bopper emotions, and worst of all totally ridiculous arguments and door-slamming exits. Their love story is volatile and weak. While the reader roots for them to work it out, they sabotage such wishes time and time again. Thus, the story is at best a "B" TV daytime soap opera.Story 2 is a police/detective missing person mystery, a case handled by P.I. Rafe, who seems in no hurry to find the missing 17 year-old Hispanic girl. This story is so weak, forced and simple that it could be summarized in about 25 words. Parental sexual abuse is at the core of the girl's disappearance - which is poignant enough. But the novel's denouement is so laughable (in-home hostage standoff; people getting killed, Rafe in the hospital, OMG!)that its comic book quality demeans the seriousness of the crime of child abuse. One almost expects Daniel Craig as 007 to enter the final scene to fix it all.For creativity, the author gets a 1; for writing a 2; for character development a 2.25; for reducing relationships to arguments a 0.25. It's full of shopworn stereotype stick figures. There is nothing remarkable or memorable about this book. Culpepper wrote a 2-fer-1 soap opera, and, as such it barely qualifies as a "novel."It's a 2 (or worse) on Amazon's rating scale.