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A Mike King Mystery #1
Dying To Play
Gay PI saves the team.
Gay PI Mike King is called upon to investigate what is happening to a minor league baseball team. He follows the trail of drugs, death, and destruction through the deadly dangers he finds in the rural community. Through the lives of the hot studs involved in baseball, he has to navigate to find the truth about what is happening to them and their dreams.
Gay PI Mike King is called upon to investigate what is happening to a minor league baseball team. He follows the trail of drugs, death, and destruction through the deadly dangers he finds in the rural community. Through the lives of the hot studs involved in baseball, he has to navigate to find the truth about what is happening to them and their dreams.
- GenresMysteryM M RomanceGay
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 2, 2015
5 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 31, 2015
Almost a year ago I commented that I didn't know if I'd eaten too many potatoes for lunch or if this book was just confusing. After finishing it, I'd say that it's not that it's confusing, but the events and characters all seem distant. Like maybe I had a potato lodged in my ear and I wasn't quite getting everything. WHAT?! YOU NEED TO SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS FINGERLING IN MY EAR CANAL.
The story centers around Mike King, a successful Chicago PI. Mike drives a Porsche (or some kind of sports car-maybe a red one?), has a Picasso on his office wall and has three employees. There's the guy from Australia, who at the beginning of the book is undercover with some home grown terrorists and who Mike would like to fuck, but doesn't. For reasons. There's the gender fluid character, the master/mistress of disguise, who at the beginning is off with her cycling boyfriend at the Tour de France. Okay. And then there's Mike's assistant, a grad student. No word on whether Mike wants to screw around with the last two. Oh! And Mike has a dog. Nice.
The plot centers around baseball and small town politics. There's a baseball stadium, some people don't like that it's been built there by some rich dude. A few of the players are being harassed and Mike goes undercover as a baseball player to figure out what's going on. Cue murder.
My problem with it is that I just didn't care. I didn't care about any of the characters, or the murders, and I especially didn't care about Mike King. Lemme tell you something--I was 71% of the way through the book and I ran across the word, "I." And I thought to myself, who's "I"? Who's talking right now? The book is in first person from Mike King's perspective and I still couldn't remember who he was. I dunno, this book has everything I usually enjoy -- hot guys, murder, a jaded main character who always gets his man, but never gets his man (cuz he's unlucky in love, geddit?) -- but it didn't give me an emotional reason to connect to Mike or any of the other characters.
I mean, how did Mike King become so successful as a PI? That's not a vocation I imagine people go into for the money. How is it he has an international clientele? Is he independently wealthy? Does he love his mommy? His friends/employees continuously give him a hard time for falling for the wrong men--is there a specific relationship that Mike mourns? Who was the guy? What happened? GIVE ME SOMETHING TO LATCH ONTO, PLEASE.
It's odd that I remember it so well even a year later. But it continues to bother me that I didn't like the book. Mark Zubro is a good writer and I've enjoyed his books in the past, but this one is going on the "ugh" pile.
January 27, 2015
Dying to Play
By Mark Zubro
Four stars
In the vein of two of my favorites, Marshall Thornton and Neil Plakcy, Mark Zubro brings us Mike King, a cool gay private-eye who solves interesting mysteries.
This book is more about the mystery to be solved than the private eye’s private life—although that serves as a savory background note to the story. What matters is not that Mike King is not a romantic kind of guy, but that he wants to be, with a notorious lack of success. By the end of the book, you want him to be, too. While never letting up on his cool, Mike manages to make it clear that he’s a good guy. He’s good with dogs and babies and defends nerds and anyone else oppressed or put down. Ya gotta love him. I sure did.
Mike has a sort of Charlie’s Angels posse who are all gay and all as cool as he is. There’s Jerry, a tough James Bondian stud with an off-screen boyfriend he adores. Then there’s Georgia D’Jungle, the world’s most awesome drag queen who can do anything and be anyone (including Mike King’s lawyer). Finally, there’s the ever-patient and uber-efficient Duncan, who has a boyfriend named Andy and takes care of his boss’s basset hound, Caesar, when the boss is on the road.
On the road this time means Butterfield, Wisconsin, where small-town life means age-old feuds and present-day factions that lead to murder. Hired by a locally-born billionaire who is trying to run a minor-league baseball franchise in his hometown, Mike King is caught up in the Peyton Place stew of rivalries and resentment that rule Butterfield.
Zubro gives us a plot worthy of Miss Marple, and a hero for whom being gay is just another angle he uses to figure out what the hell is going on.
I hope there will be more Mike King books coming soon, because Mr. Zubro is onto something on par with Plakcy’s Kimo Kanapa’aka and Thornton’s Nick Nowak.
By Mark Zubro
Four stars
In the vein of two of my favorites, Marshall Thornton and Neil Plakcy, Mark Zubro brings us Mike King, a cool gay private-eye who solves interesting mysteries.
This book is more about the mystery to be solved than the private eye’s private life—although that serves as a savory background note to the story. What matters is not that Mike King is not a romantic kind of guy, but that he wants to be, with a notorious lack of success. By the end of the book, you want him to be, too. While never letting up on his cool, Mike manages to make it clear that he’s a good guy. He’s good with dogs and babies and defends nerds and anyone else oppressed or put down. Ya gotta love him. I sure did.
Mike has a sort of Charlie’s Angels posse who are all gay and all as cool as he is. There’s Jerry, a tough James Bondian stud with an off-screen boyfriend he adores. Then there’s Georgia D’Jungle, the world’s most awesome drag queen who can do anything and be anyone (including Mike King’s lawyer). Finally, there’s the ever-patient and uber-efficient Duncan, who has a boyfriend named Andy and takes care of his boss’s basset hound, Caesar, when the boss is on the road.
On the road this time means Butterfield, Wisconsin, where small-town life means age-old feuds and present-day factions that lead to murder. Hired by a locally-born billionaire who is trying to run a minor-league baseball franchise in his hometown, Mike King is caught up in the Peyton Place stew of rivalries and resentment that rule Butterfield.
Zubro gives us a plot worthy of Miss Marple, and a hero for whom being gay is just another angle he uses to figure out what the hell is going on.
I hope there will be more Mike King books coming soon, because Mr. Zubro is onto something on par with Plakcy’s Kimo Kanapa’aka and Thornton’s Nick Nowak.
January 19, 2015
Having read all of the Paul Turner and the Tom and Scott books I was very interested in reading this latest offering from Mark Zubro. It took me a little while to get into the new characters but, once there, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The writing is good and I found the mystery to be an interesting one. I liked the setting and I know that I will want to read more about Mike King and his associates.
Looking forward to reading this next book in this series, Mr Zubro.
Looking forward to reading this next book in this series, Mr Zubro.
July 10, 2017
An OK story, some gratitious political comments toward the end that are a common practice with this author. The ending is a letdown.
April 18, 2015
5 heart review by Dan
As many of you who read my reviews might have noticed, I’m getting further and further from the light fluffy, boy meets boy romance books, and venturing instead into m/m mysteries, sci-fi/fantasy and some really dark and twisted stuff. This particular book falls into the m/m mysteries, and I think you will enjoy it.
Dying to Play is the first in a new mystery series about gay PI Mike King. Mike King is portrayed as a big strapping, hot hunk of a detective. A former college baseball player turned private investigator, Mike made a name for himself with several gay related investigations and the rescue of a very wealthy man’s son. For saving the son, he now has an original signed Picasso on his office wall. He also has a penchant for leather bars, which isn’t really addressed in this book. We are teased in this book with a snippet of how Mike met one of his crew, Jerry Hakon, “in the deepest dungeon of the most dangerous gay leather bar in Australia. At the time he’d (Jerry) been fisting the star of Australia’s World Cup soccer team.” Hopefully we’ll get more details of that side of Mike and Jerry in the future?
In Dying to Play, Mike has been approached by the owner of a minor league baseball team in Butterfield, Wisconsin. The players have been getting death threats and someone seems out to sabotage both the team and its owner. They’ve also tried to burn down the new stadium, and no one knows who “they” are.
Mike agrees to go undercover and pose as a new player on the team to find out what is going on. Right from the start things seem strange. There are rumors that some of the players are being paid to help other teams by throwing easy pitches, etc. The has-been player who is playing with the team after a drug use court case, is supposedly using again. And the town is sharply divided between two camps, and have been since the 1800’s!
Mike soon learns that most of the townspeople know exactly who he is, but the club owner insists he stay undercover. It isn’t long before he starts getting death threats, which quickly turn into murder attempts! What is up with this small town and who is trying to kill him?
I loved this mystery. It was a true whodunit all the way until the end of the book. Mark writes an excellent mystery. Of course, there are a couple hot guys who find their way into Mike’s bed, but unfortunately the sex is mostly fade to black and off screen :-( I’d really, really like to see some of the stuff alluded to, i.e. the fisting scene mentioned above, and the guy who liked to be peed on in Montana, actually get some in depth written space in Mark’s books!
But, the light sexual content is more than made up for by the suspense which keeps you reading right up to the last page. I highly recommend this book, and its cast of characters. I still can’t get the old “George, George, George of the Jungle” and “Watch out for that tree” lines out of my head since reading the drag queen’s name of Georgia De’Jungle (with an e)! Even though Mark told me the name was a suggestion of a friend of his…I still think he is a bad, bad man for putting that song in my head! ;-)
I look forward to reading and reviewing more Mark Zubro books in the future! I can’t wait to see the further adventures of Mike, Duncan, Georgia and Jerry!
A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review. Please visit www.lovebytesreviews.com to see this and many more reviews, author interviews, guestposts and giveaways!
As many of you who read my reviews might have noticed, I’m getting further and further from the light fluffy, boy meets boy romance books, and venturing instead into m/m mysteries, sci-fi/fantasy and some really dark and twisted stuff. This particular book falls into the m/m mysteries, and I think you will enjoy it.
Dying to Play is the first in a new mystery series about gay PI Mike King. Mike King is portrayed as a big strapping, hot hunk of a detective. A former college baseball player turned private investigator, Mike made a name for himself with several gay related investigations and the rescue of a very wealthy man’s son. For saving the son, he now has an original signed Picasso on his office wall. He also has a penchant for leather bars, which isn’t really addressed in this book. We are teased in this book with a snippet of how Mike met one of his crew, Jerry Hakon, “in the deepest dungeon of the most dangerous gay leather bar in Australia. At the time he’d (Jerry) been fisting the star of Australia’s World Cup soccer team.” Hopefully we’ll get more details of that side of Mike and Jerry in the future?
In Dying to Play, Mike has been approached by the owner of a minor league baseball team in Butterfield, Wisconsin. The players have been getting death threats and someone seems out to sabotage both the team and its owner. They’ve also tried to burn down the new stadium, and no one knows who “they” are.
Mike agrees to go undercover and pose as a new player on the team to find out what is going on. Right from the start things seem strange. There are rumors that some of the players are being paid to help other teams by throwing easy pitches, etc. The has-been player who is playing with the team after a drug use court case, is supposedly using again. And the town is sharply divided between two camps, and have been since the 1800’s!
Mike soon learns that most of the townspeople know exactly who he is, but the club owner insists he stay undercover. It isn’t long before he starts getting death threats, which quickly turn into murder attempts! What is up with this small town and who is trying to kill him?
I loved this mystery. It was a true whodunit all the way until the end of the book. Mark writes an excellent mystery. Of course, there are a couple hot guys who find their way into Mike’s bed, but unfortunately the sex is mostly fade to black and off screen :-( I’d really, really like to see some of the stuff alluded to, i.e. the fisting scene mentioned above, and the guy who liked to be peed on in Montana, actually get some in depth written space in Mark’s books!
But, the light sexual content is more than made up for by the suspense which keeps you reading right up to the last page. I highly recommend this book, and its cast of characters. I still can’t get the old “George, George, George of the Jungle” and “Watch out for that tree” lines out of my head since reading the drag queen’s name of Georgia De’Jungle (with an e)! Even though Mark told me the name was a suggestion of a friend of his…I still think he is a bad, bad man for putting that song in my head! ;-)
I look forward to reading and reviewing more Mark Zubro books in the future! I can’t wait to see the further adventures of Mike, Duncan, Georgia and Jerry!
A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review. Please visit www.lovebytesreviews.com to see this and many more reviews, author interviews, guestposts and giveaways!
March 6, 2016
Quite a good mystery but be aware the author is very "wordy". It took a while to get into the style of writing favoured by this author but once conquered this book was a very enjoyable read. I must admit the references to baseball left me stumped but that didn't stop me enjoying the story as a whole.
The premise of the book is that a minor league baseball team is receiving threats both to indivisual players and to the team as a whole and private investigator Mike King is called in to investigate and find out who is behind the threats. The story was a bit of a roller coaster at times with plenty of red herrings and mis-directions although it became obvious as the story progressed who some of the "baddies" were. What I did like was the way that passion was dealt with i.e. not in a salacious, pornographic or medical textbook way but casually in a "by the way" sense which added to the story but was not the main "raison d'être" of the book as so many books in this genre are.
For a first read from this author (new to me) I thought it was very good and havedetermined to read more offerings from Mr.Zubro.
Recommended 4 stars
The premise of the book is that a minor league baseball team is receiving threats both to indivisual players and to the team as a whole and private investigator Mike King is called in to investigate and find out who is behind the threats. The story was a bit of a roller coaster at times with plenty of red herrings and mis-directions although it became obvious as the story progressed who some of the "baddies" were. What I did like was the way that passion was dealt with i.e. not in a salacious, pornographic or medical textbook way but casually in a "by the way" sense which added to the story but was not the main "raison d'être" of the book as so many books in this genre are.
For a first read from this author (new to me) I thought it was very good and havedetermined to read more offerings from Mr.Zubro.
Recommended 4 stars
January 12, 2015
Excellent read
Great story and plot line. For a gay romance book sex was mostly alluded to. I pretty much had it figured out at about the 80% point. There was even some intellectual humor.
Great story and plot line. For a gay romance book sex was mostly alluded to. I pretty much had it figured out at about the 80% point. There was even some intellectual humor.
February 6, 2015
Excellent book in this genre. I'm looking forward to more Mike King Mysteries.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews