What do you think?
Rate this book
A Mike King Mystery #2
Dying for a Thrill by Mark Zubro
Sleuth Mike King in the midst of international intrigue, blinding snow, and bitter cold. Detective Mike King finds himself investigating international intrigue while the worst blizzard in Chicago history rages outside. A group of gay computer hackers desperately asks for his help and protection. As Mike King and his cohorts deal with the usual apocalyptic folderol of spies, plots, and fear, they have to blast their way, or trudge their way through building mountains of snow. A dead body, no one can find, plots against various characters and governments and individuals around the world become centered on a group of gay self-proclaimed Robin Hoods. It's up to Mike King to sort it out before the world caves in on them or himself.
Unknown Binding
2 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 30, 2016
(Originally reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews with a copy provided by the author / publisher for an honest review.)
I’m going to have to start out by saying I didn’t like this installment in the Mike King Mystery series as much as the first one. Let me explain why. If I hadn’t read the first one, I pretty much would have been clueless as to who Duncan, Jerry and Georgia De’Jungle were. There isn’t even much description/background on Mike King himself. I felt if you picked this one up as a standalone, you would miss those details.
So let’s talk about the story. In this installment Mike and his crew are off on a new mystery. When a skinny wet geek named Jamie Vincek shows up at Mike’s office in the middle of the worst blizzard to hit Chicago in years…with his glasses broken…and then passes out as soon as he walks in the door, the mystery is on. When we learn that the young man is actually part of a secret gay underground group that has been robbing from the rich bigots and giving to the gays, as well as uncovering and publicizing misdeeds by everyone from ultra-right wing religious groups...to actual Middle Eastern terrorists...to the CIA, FBI, MI6, and all the other secret government groups, you know you’re in for a story.
I liked the story. It was fairly fast moving, with lots of players, and with lots of interwoven storylines and plots. I think Mr. Zubro did a very good job with the story. It is very well written and as always with his books, expertly edited. I didn’t like that again, like in the previous installment, the sex was fade to black. I also found it a little implausible that every single man that Mike came in contact with from the other agencies, terrorist networks, etc., seemed to have an instant hard-on for him. Well, except for the biker gang/religious right group. It just seemed a little overdone, in my humble opinion.
Because it is well written and I really liked the story overall, I’m going to recommend this book to anyone that likes a mystery, particularly anyone who likes one that ties in some real life events, mixes them up with some poetic license, and leaves you guessing right up until the last page. I would highly recommend you read the previous book in the series, Dying to Play, first, before you read this one for the background on the characters.
I’m going to have to start out by saying I didn’t like this installment in the Mike King Mystery series as much as the first one. Let me explain why. If I hadn’t read the first one, I pretty much would have been clueless as to who Duncan, Jerry and Georgia De’Jungle were. There isn’t even much description/background on Mike King himself. I felt if you picked this one up as a standalone, you would miss those details.
So let’s talk about the story. In this installment Mike and his crew are off on a new mystery. When a skinny wet geek named Jamie Vincek shows up at Mike’s office in the middle of the worst blizzard to hit Chicago in years…with his glasses broken…and then passes out as soon as he walks in the door, the mystery is on. When we learn that the young man is actually part of a secret gay underground group that has been robbing from the rich bigots and giving to the gays, as well as uncovering and publicizing misdeeds by everyone from ultra-right wing religious groups...to actual Middle Eastern terrorists...to the CIA, FBI, MI6, and all the other secret government groups, you know you’re in for a story.
I liked the story. It was fairly fast moving, with lots of players, and with lots of interwoven storylines and plots. I think Mr. Zubro did a very good job with the story. It is very well written and as always with his books, expertly edited. I didn’t like that again, like in the previous installment, the sex was fade to black. I also found it a little implausible that every single man that Mike came in contact with from the other agencies, terrorist networks, etc., seemed to have an instant hard-on for him. Well, except for the biker gang/religious right group. It just seemed a little overdone, in my humble opinion.
Because it is well written and I really liked the story overall, I’m going to recommend this book to anyone that likes a mystery, particularly anyone who likes one that ties in some real life events, mixes them up with some poetic license, and leaves you guessing right up until the last page. I would highly recommend you read the previous book in the series, Dying to Play, first, before you read this one for the background on the characters.
February 17, 2019
Dying for a Thrill (A Mike King Mystery)
By Mark Zubro
MLR Press, 2016
Four stars
“There isn’t enough blizzard to cover this much stupidity.”
Wow. This is so different from the other Mike King mystery, “Dying to Play.” We still have Mike King, a sort of Chicago-bound James Bond. Unlike Marshall Thornton’s epic 1980s Chicago private eye Nick Nowak, Mike King is very much of today, and has made a success of his career. He lives in a world complicated in ways that Nick Nowak hasn’t even anticipated (and that’s saying something). Mike has a Picasso in his office, which isn’t as random as it might seem. Plus, he has a crew of badass gay employees, who are tech savvy and tough as nails.
Mike’s well-ordered operation is thrown into a tailspin with the appearance of a blood-smeared computer nerd in a yellow hoodie. Dazed and panicky, the ginger-haired kid sputters out an unbelievable tale of international hackers, rogue government agents and terrorism. To complicate things even further, Chicago is slammed with the worst snowstorm in its history, filling the city’s streets with howling wind and whirling snow.
With this as a backdrop, Mike and his team begin using their varied skills to try to unravel the case, not entirely sure if anything they’re being told by anyone is in fact the truth. Duncan, quiet and meticulous, does research and takes notes. Jerry, talks dreamily about his husband as he muscles his way through snowdrifts and bad guys. Georgia changes his/her look as needed and opens doors that nobody else in Chicago could access. Mike just slogs along, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Along the way, Mike it hit on repeatedly by hot men who may or may not be on the side of justice. For all the temptation, Mike is justly peeved at the notion that all gay men think with their willies, so he mostly resists. His disastrous love-life is a running joke in the office, but clearly Mike yearns for what both Duncan and Jerry have at home.
“I wasn’t saving myself for anyone in particular. And did f**king James Bond ever say no?”
Mike is tough, but he’s not a tough guy. He’s a good detective, and a lonely man who exchanges domestic bliss for an exciting job. Beneath the James Bond façade, Mike is simply a good man who wants to believe that the world makes sense. This case is a real challenge to that belief.
Zubro has been writing for a long time, and it’s impressive to see his recent work so full of interesting characters and a rich sense of place. He’s a pro, and I got thoroughly caught up in the swirling mess of literal sturm und drang that makes this book so entertaining. If I didn’t give it five stars, it’s because the whole story was so confusing, I could never quite shake it off. To be honest, Mike feels that way himself most of the time. “Dying for a Thrill” presents a world that I hope doesn’t really exist, but presents it with a lot of style and excitement.
By Mark Zubro
MLR Press, 2016
Four stars
“There isn’t enough blizzard to cover this much stupidity.”
Wow. This is so different from the other Mike King mystery, “Dying to Play.” We still have Mike King, a sort of Chicago-bound James Bond. Unlike Marshall Thornton’s epic 1980s Chicago private eye Nick Nowak, Mike King is very much of today, and has made a success of his career. He lives in a world complicated in ways that Nick Nowak hasn’t even anticipated (and that’s saying something). Mike has a Picasso in his office, which isn’t as random as it might seem. Plus, he has a crew of badass gay employees, who are tech savvy and tough as nails.
Mike’s well-ordered operation is thrown into a tailspin with the appearance of a blood-smeared computer nerd in a yellow hoodie. Dazed and panicky, the ginger-haired kid sputters out an unbelievable tale of international hackers, rogue government agents and terrorism. To complicate things even further, Chicago is slammed with the worst snowstorm in its history, filling the city’s streets with howling wind and whirling snow.
With this as a backdrop, Mike and his team begin using their varied skills to try to unravel the case, not entirely sure if anything they’re being told by anyone is in fact the truth. Duncan, quiet and meticulous, does research and takes notes. Jerry, talks dreamily about his husband as he muscles his way through snowdrifts and bad guys. Georgia changes his/her look as needed and opens doors that nobody else in Chicago could access. Mike just slogs along, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Along the way, Mike it hit on repeatedly by hot men who may or may not be on the side of justice. For all the temptation, Mike is justly peeved at the notion that all gay men think with their willies, so he mostly resists. His disastrous love-life is a running joke in the office, but clearly Mike yearns for what both Duncan and Jerry have at home.
“I wasn’t saving myself for anyone in particular. And did f**king James Bond ever say no?”
Mike is tough, but he’s not a tough guy. He’s a good detective, and a lonely man who exchanges domestic bliss for an exciting job. Beneath the James Bond façade, Mike is simply a good man who wants to believe that the world makes sense. This case is a real challenge to that belief.
Zubro has been writing for a long time, and it’s impressive to see his recent work so full of interesting characters and a rich sense of place. He’s a pro, and I got thoroughly caught up in the swirling mess of literal sturm und drang that makes this book so entertaining. If I didn’t give it five stars, it’s because the whole story was so confusing, I could never quite shake it off. To be honest, Mike feels that way himself most of the time. “Dying for a Thrill” presents a world that I hope doesn’t really exist, but presents it with a lot of style and excitement.
August 11, 2020
This is a hard story to review because for most of the book I didn't have a clue about what was going on. Like most of the characters, TBH :P
But the story is fascinating and thrilling. It deals with greys and shadowed people, and with what are you willing to do to make your corner of the world a little better.
The main theme is captivating and the characters are all interesting and very layered. Did I like the gay geeks? I'm not sure. Personally, I did not, but their cause? that's different. I want to say that I won't support violence and illegality, but... Vincek has a point. More than one, if I'm going to be honest. As I said, shades of grey.
What I do know is that I will read more by this author.
But the story is fascinating and thrilling. It deals with greys and shadowed people, and with what are you willing to do to make your corner of the world a little better.
The main theme is captivating and the characters are all interesting and very layered. Did I like the gay geeks? I'm not sure. Personally, I did not, but their cause? that's different. I want to say that I won't support violence and illegality, but... Vincek has a point. More than one, if I'm going to be honest. As I said, shades of grey.
What I do know is that I will read more by this author.
June 29, 2017
I tend to love Zubro's work, and have a collection of nearly everything he's published. This one was a little harder for me to go through, but the last 15% of the book was a great push to the end - - I couldn't stop until it was over.
June 24, 2016
Not quite sure what is wrong exactly with this book, it's verbose and confusing but the story is good. Maybe a "peep behind the curtain" of the mystery would have helped because this nearly ended up on my DNF pile but being determined to find out what the heck was happening I sat and ploughed my way to the finish. Yes I have read other Mark Zubro books and really enjoyed them but this seemed an odd one really in its style and presentation.
2 Stars
2 Stars
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews