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Alex Reynolds #2
Federal Fag
After spotting an old college flame starring in a rented porn film, Alex Reynolds tracks him down to an L.A. address-only to find him murdered on his apartment floor. Suddenly, his occasional CIA contact is very interested, and the odd spy team of Alex, his lover, and his mother, Jean, must scour the gay porn industry to find the murderer.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 11, 2015
Alex discovers that Patrick his ex boyfriend from college is a porn star. Troubled by the thought that his ex boyfriend may be in trouble Alex seeks Patrick out only to find that he is fine and enjoying his fame as a porn star but is he?
Alex, his mother and his husband Peter are thrust into a mystery when Patrick is shot and killed. The mystery gathers pace when another porn star is murdered in front of them in what appears to be a mob hit or is it?
As the three sleuths poke around they escape attacks and begin to discover that somehow even the US Govt maybe implicated in the murders and that there are dangers all around!
Just like book one this book was simply great fun. The mystery with all the usual twists and turns was very good and kept me guessing like a good mystery should.
The characters - Alex, Peter and Mrs Reynolds are great as a team of amateur sleuths/CIA agents. Their dialogue is witty and the way they investigate is entertaining but realistic as they track down the murderers boldly going into places that they shouldn't have gone into in the first place.
This was published in 1999 and is part of St Martin's Press Stonewall In Mysteries imprint. I have come across some really fab stories from this publisher many of which are not even ebooks, just paperbacks and really nice and cheap on AMZ. It has been like discovering a gold mine with really solid and first class writing, great characters, substantial mysteries and also realistic romance and very few sex scenes which in a way has been refreshing.
These are stories with substance and I am determined to read them all starting with this series.
Alex, his mother and his husband Peter are thrust into a mystery when Patrick is shot and killed. The mystery gathers pace when another porn star is murdered in front of them in what appears to be a mob hit or is it?
As the three sleuths poke around they escape attacks and begin to discover that somehow even the US Govt maybe implicated in the murders and that there are dangers all around!
Just like book one this book was simply great fun. The mystery with all the usual twists and turns was very good and kept me guessing like a good mystery should.
The characters - Alex, Peter and Mrs Reynolds are great as a team of amateur sleuths/CIA agents. Their dialogue is witty and the way they investigate is entertaining but realistic as they track down the murderers boldly going into places that they shouldn't have gone into in the first place.
This was published in 1999 and is part of St Martin's Press Stonewall In Mysteries imprint. I have come across some really fab stories from this publisher many of which are not even ebooks, just paperbacks and really nice and cheap on AMZ. It has been like discovering a gold mine with really solid and first class writing, great characters, substantial mysteries and also realistic romance and very few sex scenes which in a way has been refreshing.
These are stories with substance and I am determined to read them all starting with this series.
December 14, 2022
Condescension. That's what came through to me with this book. Condescension and a dismissive attitude toward the porn industry as well as sex workers in general. Through the characters Alex and Patrick, Hunter is expressing an uncompromising and rigid disdain for the sex industry as well as for those gays who are more openminded.
Such an attitude might have worked had Hunter created an arc for the characters to shift their points of view from a puritanical one to a more empathetic one, perhaps even one that accommodates others and expresses a truly live and let live perspective. But no. Every character involved in the porn industry in this book had zero redeeming qualities, and those characters who expressed interest in porn (it's not porno, that is so out-of-date) only do so with extreme embarrassment and even outward expressions of guilt. The key antagonist's character was suitably negative, rightfully portrayed as self-absorbed, conniving, and indifferent to the needs of others to the point of being murderous. But such a broad brush did Hunter use, portraying all those within the book involved in the porn industry as either being self-absorbed narcissists, or feeble characters easily manipulated in the most stereotypical fashion.
That's not to say that no such people work in the industry, or that criminal activity including murder hasn't happened. It's just that such a story line is very low-hanging fruit. Either Hunter knows no one in the industry, or if he did interview people in the industry, it was a very small and biased sample. I'm hoping the next one in this series, Capitol Queers, will be much better.
Such an attitude might have worked had Hunter created an arc for the characters to shift their points of view from a puritanical one to a more empathetic one, perhaps even one that accommodates others and expresses a truly live and let live perspective. But no. Every character involved in the porn industry in this book had zero redeeming qualities, and those characters who expressed interest in porn (it's not porno, that is so out-of-date) only do so with extreme embarrassment and even outward expressions of guilt. The key antagonist's character was suitably negative, rightfully portrayed as self-absorbed, conniving, and indifferent to the needs of others to the point of being murderous. But such a broad brush did Hunter use, portraying all those within the book involved in the porn industry as either being self-absorbed narcissists, or feeble characters easily manipulated in the most stereotypical fashion.
That's not to say that no such people work in the industry, or that criminal activity including murder hasn't happened. It's just that such a story line is very low-hanging fruit. Either Hunter knows no one in the industry, or if he did interview people in the industry, it was a very small and biased sample. I'm hoping the next one in this series, Capitol Queers, will be much better.
June 25, 2007
When the mother of the lead character gets more lines and better ones something is definitely not right. I like this series. I like Alex and I like Jean. But... you knew there was a but... I could get into the dynamic in the first book but I couldn't suspend my disbelief by the end of this one. Either have Alex and Peter just be secondary characters and give the lead to Jean or have them grow a spine and some... well... balls. The settings was interesting, I liked the beginning but as soon as Jean appeared out of nowhere in the apartment next to the murdered porn star I just threw the book away. It took me days to come back to it and finish it. Yeah, I'm one of those readers. I have to finish the book even if I have to suffer thru some pain. The ending was relatively silly. It will take a while before I revisit this series.
July 31, 2011
Hmm, well, I didn't enjoy this one as much as Government Gay, but it wasn't bad, just... not as much my cup of tea? I'm not sure what I didn't like about this book... Yeah.
April 5, 2015
Cute story.
Making porn movies.
Old friend is killed and cops aren't interested in solving murder.
So, Peter, Alex and mom do.
Making porn movies.
Old friend is killed and cops aren't interested in solving murder.
So, Peter, Alex and mom do.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews