What do you think?
Rate this book
Boystown #7
Bloodlines
In the latest book in the Boystown Mystery series, Private Investigator Nick Nowak finds himself simultaneously working two cases for his new client, law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby. A suburban dentist has just been convicted of murdering her adulterous husband, Nick is asked to interview witnesses for the penalty phase of the trial—and possibly find the dead man’s mistress. At the same time, he’s becoming involved in protecting Outfit Jimmy English from a task force out to prosecute him for a crime he may not have committed.
253 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2015
57 people are currently reading
387 people want to read
About the author
Marshall Thornton
56 books628 followersThree-time Lambda Award-winning author, Marshall Thornton is best known for the Boystown and Pinx Video mystery series. Other novels include the erotic comedy The Perils of Praline, or the Amorous Adventures of a Southern Gentleman in Hollywood, Desert Run and Full Release. Marshall has an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, where he received the Carl David Memorial Fellowship and was recognized in the Samuel Goldwyn Writing awards.
Member Mystery Writers of America
Sign-up for my newsletter at marshallthorntonauthor.com!
Member Mystery Writers of America
Sign-up for my newsletter at marshallthorntonauthor.com!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
July 17, 2019
4.5 Stars
Tax day fell on a Monday that year, the sixteenth. The sky was full of gray clouds and peoples’ moods were just as colorless. For a change, it wasn’t a bad day for me. In fact, I was in something resembling a good mood.
This book is:
Nick Nowack is one of my favourite characters ever. Marshall created a very intriguing, normal, simple but also complex character. He is very relatable. Reading this series is like coming home. The side characters have become family. Mrs. Harker, Brian, Owen and Terry. The jury is still out on Franklin.
Joseph! Joseph!
The writing is so good and flows from page to page. This series could make an very successful HBO Tv show. I can clearly picture every scene in my head.
The mystery parts gets me every time. GAAAH! There is nothing refreshing like reading a mystery and not getting bored.
The banter is great, Nick's sense of humor is the best thing in this series.
The cause of AIDS is now known (virus), but they still don't know how it is spread. It is still all speculation, trial and error. I have never been happier about
Loved IT!
Tax day fell on a Monday that year, the sixteenth. The sky was full of gray clouds and peoples’ moods were just as colorless. For a change, it wasn’t a bad day for me. In fact, I was in something resembling a good mood.
This book is:
Nick Nowack is one of my favourite characters ever. Marshall created a very intriguing, normal, simple but also complex character. He is very relatable. Reading this series is like coming home. The side characters have become family. Mrs. Harker, Brian, Owen and Terry. The jury is still out on Franklin.
Joseph! Joseph!
The writing is so good and flows from page to page. This series could make an very successful HBO Tv show. I can clearly picture every scene in my head.
The mystery parts gets me every time. GAAAH! There is nothing refreshing like reading a mystery and not getting bored.
The banter is great, Nick's sense of humor is the best thing in this series.
The cause of AIDS is now known (virus), but they still don't know how it is spread. It is still all speculation, trial and error. I have never been happier about
Loved IT!
March 27, 2015
Written March 26, 2015
4.7 Stars - LOVE, Love, love dear old Nick Nowak. Another amazing instalment in a GREAT crime serial
Book #7
Yay, at last was it time for a new book-part about my favorite PI in Chicago again. Part seven...and I like these new stylish bookcovers. Nicely done.
As always afterwards, I'm stunned, impressed and in love (and in a bit whiny mood; it ended already at 87%!!).
How shall I handle an entire year to the next book? I'm already starting to getting awkward Nick Nowak withdrawal symptoms. ~ Like tears, a whiny longing voice and tiny heart pains. ~ Freaking AMAZING read as always!
***********************************************************
Highly recommended series for M/M readers which also loves crime plots.
The Boystown Mysteries series is about gay men in the 1980:s Chicago. There in the big city is this cool, tough, horny gay MC —the unforgetable— private investigator Nick Nowak in the midst of (sexual and..) dangerous exiting adventures.
As we all are doing is Nick struggling with "life".
There are lovely moments, tricky cases, sick friends (this new horrible disease in the 80s), happy funny friends, steamy encounters and day to day problems. You can say a lot about Nick but he has a way to make the best out if life... and the "boys", they just ove him. Irresistible, you just want more from, and about, him.
***********************************************************
Chicago 1984...
This is the seventh book and there has been a lot going on these years from book #1, but in ways is Nick maybe in a "better place" than ever right now.
From the book blurb preview:
"Nick is working two cases for his new client, law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby.
• A suburban dentist has been convicted of murdering her adulterous husband. Nick is asked to interview witnesses for the penalty phase of the trial—and possibly find the dead man’s mistress.
• At the same time, he’s deeply involved in protecting Outfit underboss Jimmy English from a task force out to prosecute him for a crime he may not have committed."
I'm not going to spoil the plot, etc.... Let's stay with that I enjoyed to follow Nick in his daily PI work as always. Two interesting murder investigations and BEST of all: Maybe maybe was here a start to a "true" love affair (a possible future relationship) to look forward to in future bookparts.
I so sincerely, with all my heart, wish to see "my man" happy and intensely loved. Could X be the right man for our dear hero? Is he Nick's HEA and larger-than-life hero? — I hope so and I also got the feeling Nick did as well...a tiny bit at least.
***********************************************************
I LIKE - inconceivably enormous much
**********
~ The Boystown series by Marshall Thornton:
My reviews:
4.7 Stars - LOVE, Love, love dear old Nick Nowak. Another amazing instalment in a GREAT crime serial
Book #7
Yay, at last was it time for a new book-part about my favorite PI in Chicago again. Part seven...and I like these new stylish bookcovers. Nicely done.
* *
‘And from the panting and occasional oh-my-God-ing he did I was pretty sure I was doing a good job.’
...You did great honey. Fan kisses from Sweden.
As always afterwards, I'm stunned, impressed and in love (and in a bit whiny mood; it ended already at 87%!!).
How shall I handle an entire year to the next book? I'm already starting to getting awkward Nick Nowak withdrawal symptoms. ~ Like tears, a whiny longing voice and tiny heart pains. ~ Freaking AMAZING read as always!
***********************************************************
Highly recommended series for M/M readers which also loves crime plots.
The Boystown Mysteries series is about gay men in the 1980:s Chicago. There in the big city is this cool, tough, horny gay MC —the unforgetable— private investigator Nick Nowak in the midst of (sexual and..) dangerous exiting adventures.
As we all are doing is Nick struggling with "life".
There are lovely moments, tricky cases, sick friends (this new horrible disease in the 80s), happy funny friends, steamy encounters and day to day problems. You can say a lot about Nick but he has a way to make the best out if life... and the "boys", they just ove him. Irresistible, you just want more from, and about, him.
‘In my world, the options were sleep with him a few times and move on or, if I liked him enough, not move on. I hadn’t really considered the possibility of seeing him for a while, fooling around, getting to like him, and then getting dumped for God. The whole thing was giving me a lump in my stomach.’
***********************************************************
Chicago 1984...
This is the seventh book and there has been a lot going on these years from book #1, but in ways is Nick maybe in a "better place" than ever right now.
From the book blurb preview:
"Nick is working two cases for his new client, law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby.
• A suburban dentist has been convicted of murdering her adulterous husband. Nick is asked to interview witnesses for the penalty phase of the trial—and possibly find the dead man’s mistress.
• At the same time, he’s deeply involved in protecting Outfit underboss Jimmy English from a task force out to prosecute him for a crime he may not have committed."
“The condom prevents disease. You know, AIDS.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, only fags get AIDS.”
I was momentarily stunned.
“And what are you and I?”
“We’re men. You don’t think you’re a fag, do you? Come on. Fags are little flitty things who talk with a lisp and like to play with girl’s hair. I’m not like that. Neither are you.”
I'm not going to spoil the plot, etc.... Let's stay with that I enjoyed to follow Nick in his daily PI work as always. Two interesting murder investigations and BEST of all: Maybe maybe was here a start to a "true" love affair (a possible future relationship) to look forward to in future bookparts.
I so sincerely, with all my heart, wish to see "my man" happy and intensely loved. Could X be the right man for our dear hero? Is he Nick's HEA and larger-than-life hero? — I hope so and I also got the feeling Nick did as well...a tiny bit at least.
***********************************************************
I LIKE - inconceivably enormous much
**********
~ The Boystown series by Marshall Thornton: My reviews:
March 8, 2015
What can I say?
And why?
And for whom?
It is the 7 th book in the series, and if you came so far, you don't need to read any review.
The only thing you need, REALLY REALLY BADLY is more Nick.
More of Nick's thoughts.
More of Nick's investigations.
More of Nick's attempts to manage his life.
More of Nick's sense of humour.
More of Nick's sexual chaos.
More of Nick's inner monologues and more of Nick's conversations.
Simply MORE Nick.
All you need---> REALLY REALLY BADLY---> is Nick.
And the only HUMAN BEING on this f*g planet, and in the whole universe who can give it to you is Marshall Thornton.
So-->
All you need is MORE of Marshall Thornton.
He is a genius.
And I wish him with all my heart a VERY LONG, healthy and VERY VERY HAPPY life.
Because all I REALLY REALLY BADLY need is a LOT OF Nick.
Okay, just some words to the 7th book:
Mystery-as always-great. You don't know who and why and how. It's SERIOUS stuff. Because it is a very thoughtful mystery and not a ridiculous one that is typical for MM-romance. But it is not a romance. It's Nick. I LOVE Nick's new sweet heart. And I love that is COMPLICATED. A key word -I don't have to add more or? And I love to see Nick's first time on his first date.
Nick in his new parenting role. FUNNY. The presence of Terry gave a special lightness to the story that I pretty enjoyed. The spirit of the 80s...*sigh*...FANTASTIC. It's so authentic and real. LOVE IT. I'm terribly in love with Marshall's writing. I can't even describe it. He is nothing compare with. Read it and you'll understand what I mean. BR with Alona, Mark and Connie
P.S I know, I was a bad read buddy. I should have shown more consideration and concern for my GR friends, but the moment I started the book, I couldn't stop any more! I blame
June 8, 2017
My hopes for Nick in this latest installment were not dashed as I'd feared. Dare I even mention, that wonders of wonders, I actually laughed a few times reading this?
To say the least, Nick is back to work, and he is plenty busy nosing around not one, but two mysteries. He's grudgingly taking steps at getting his shit together, forming or reaffirming relationships he's lost over his self imposed year sabbatical.
This to me, was Nick's conscious decision to move on. He's been through hell and back, forever bearing permanent scars and trauma, but he's alive despite his best efforts at not living - and that must count for something, right? With that revelation, he simply takes it day by day. He doesn't have all the answers; he doesn't really have any answers. It's all about perspective and he knows the wheel will keep on turning no matter what, hesimply has to adapt to all the crazy changes affecting his life and lifestyle.
So in essence, Nick has come to peace with his past, if not forgiven himself. He's made the conscious decision to let go and see where circumstance takes him, for he's now up to the challenge. I for one, can't wait to see what's in store for him.
Thanks to Sofia for helping me catch up! We're now all ready for book 8!! Bring it!
To say the least, Nick is back to work, and he is plenty busy nosing around not one, but two mysteries. He's grudgingly taking steps at getting his shit together, forming or reaffirming relationships he's lost over his self imposed year sabbatical.
This to me, was Nick's conscious decision to move on. He's been through hell and back, forever bearing permanent scars and trauma, but he's alive despite his best efforts at not living - and that must count for something, right? With that revelation, he simply takes it day by day. He doesn't have all the answers; he doesn't really have any answers. It's all about perspective and he knows the wheel will keep on turning no matter what, he
So in essence, Nick has come to peace with his past, if not forgiven himself. He's made the conscious decision to let go and see where circumstance takes him, for he's now up to the challenge. I for one, can't wait to see what's in store for him.
Thanks to Sofia for helping me catch up! We're now all ready for book 8!! Bring it!
March 10, 2015
Awesome.
Just awesome and so good.
After the emotional intensity of Boystown 5: Murder Book and Boystown 6: From the Ashes the comparatively lighter tone of this book is a welcome respite. I may never get over the events of Murder Book, but I love that Nick is...moving on, I guess. Or learning to live with it. (Is there any way I can say that and not sound like I've read too many self-help books? Seems unlikely.)
There's so much to enjoy here--especially Nick. I feel the same sort of affection for him as I do for Harry Bosch. It doesn't matter if he's grocery shopping, sleeping with yet another questionable character or smoking, drinking and listening to jazz while staring moodily out his window--I wanna be there to experience it all.
The biggest problem this book? I HAVE TO WAIT A GODDAMN YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE.
Do you think if I start moping now the year will pass faster?
Yeah, probably not.
November 21, 2015
Nick at peace is a joy to read about especially the very hard earned peace which he paid such a price for. I like MT's explorations under the armour Nick is so fond of.
My admiration for Mrs Harker continues and Nick in an alternate mode with Terry brought smiles to my face.
I liked the progression of the two cases brought forward here more than I liked the hurried wrap up of both of them. I would have preferred a less hurried conclusion as well as I want to see what the future is going to bring. I think it's going to be tricky, with ups and downs.
Disappointed that the book ended at 87% which my friends did warn me about.
3.5 stars
Reading with RA
March 8, 2015
I don't want to write a review now!
I refuse!
All I feel like doing, is throwing one of these well known tantrums, a 3 year old throws when his mother refuse to buy him what he asks for at the supermarket.
I feel like lying on the floor, kicking and screaming: "Give Me More!!! I Want Book 8 NOW!!"
A year??? A freaking YEAR???
I'm on strike!
BR with Lena, Connie and Mark.
I refuse!
All I feel like doing, is throwing one of these well known tantrums, a 3 year old throws when his mother refuse to buy him what he asks for at the supermarket.
I feel like lying on the floor, kicking and screaming: "Give Me More!!! I Want Book 8 NOW!!"
A year??? A freaking YEAR???
I'm on strike!
BR with Lena, Connie and Mark.
March 26, 2015
4.5 stars. This is a great series, especially the last few books. This one is not as intense as the last couple, which is probably a good thing. Nick Nowak, private eye, has come through the worst of his darkness and is making steps forward in building his life.
The looming shadow of AIDS is a faint but omnipresent darkness in these books. At times, the reader in 2015 knows much more than the men in the late 1980's who are facing the onslaught of the virus in their lives and communities. There is a very poignant, painful feeling to watching them struggle forward, as information changes and bigotry interferes. These are the men who will, over the next few years, no doubt see their community cut down in the most agonizing way. We know, better than they, each risk, each sign and wrong turn. That authentic feel of the times is one of the big draws of the series.
The other draw is Nick himself, a gay ex-cop with a lot of gray zones but a core of hope and dogged determination to find justice and answers. The mysteries tangle him up with old friends and the Chicago mob. The answers may not be ones he wants, or safe to find. Secondary characters move through his story, and his casual sex life is changing as the risks become clearer. This is a great ride, and I look forward to the next one.
The looming shadow of AIDS is a faint but omnipresent darkness in these books. At times, the reader in 2015 knows much more than the men in the late 1980's who are facing the onslaught of the virus in their lives and communities. There is a very poignant, painful feeling to watching them struggle forward, as information changes and bigotry interferes. These are the men who will, over the next few years, no doubt see their community cut down in the most agonizing way. We know, better than they, each risk, each sign and wrong turn. That authentic feel of the times is one of the big draws of the series.
The other draw is Nick himself, a gay ex-cop with a lot of gray zones but a core of hope and dogged determination to find justice and answers. The mysteries tangle him up with old friends and the Chicago mob. The answers may not be ones he wants, or safe to find. Secondary characters move through his story, and his casual sex life is changing as the risks become clearer. This is a great ride, and I look forward to the next one.
November 4, 2015
4.5 Stars
Whether family is blood or the people we find and connect with in this world, they hold and share the power to love, support, protect, leave and hurt. Pain and love. Both live and breathe in book 7 of Marshall Thornton’s Boystown series.
We are back in Nick Nowak’s world – on the streets and clubs of Chicago in the 1980s. Reagan, AIDS, beepers, Atari, and more. Nick is back! Moving, working, and living again. Piece by piece trying to put his life back together. I loved the little family that formed between Nick, Brian, Terry, and Mrs. Harker. Brian will always have a warm spot in my heart for giving Nick a home and all the time he needed to heal. Healing and forgiveness take time. Time Nick spends working a couple of cases simultaneously. Watching Nick work a case is one of my favorite parts of this series. The man can go from smart to smart-ass in a snap! Tracking people down by phone or foot. Newspapers, libraries, and phone books all come into play. Waiting and watching. With his gut instinct leading the way, Nick more often than not solves the mystery and sometimes even answers the questions people don’t want answered. I love every step. Every bear claw, drink, and smoke!
Old friends and new drop by– from Mrs. Harker to Jimmy the Mobster. Every single character add a new flavor and layer to Nick’s life. Life has changed. He has changed. You will see it in his life and his decisions. You will feel it. Big emotion and words are not Nick’s style, he feels and expresses himself in his own way. Understated and real. Like not wanting to live with the dip in his mattress because he…”couldn’t face sliding into the dip alone.” *sigh* I’m going to go now before I say too much.
Just know I love the way the man sees the world. I love the way Nick shows his heart.
Read this book.
One of my favorite lines….
”His nose, cheeks, neck, and what I could see of his chest through his open collar, were all spattered with freckles. Freckles that made me think of Jackson Pollack paintings, of constellations and star maps, of unknown geographies I wanted to explore.”
September 14, 2016
If there ever was a hopeful, uplifting, POSITIVE book in this series I would say it was this one.
Instead of thinking the worst Nick thinks about paint. Have you ever thought about paint? I have. I know enough that if you are thinking about paint you are moving on, you are happy or getting there and really, you want what you see to look good.
Go Nick.
The last book was probably my least favorite in the series and this one, well, it turned all those feelings around but of course, gives me pause.
Nothing is easy for Nick, well, except those ham and cheese sandwiches that I covet.
I'll never be prepared for any of these books but I am going to do the best I can.
Fuck I can't believe that the next one is the last one, for now.
Instead of thinking the worst Nick thinks about paint. Have you ever thought about paint? I have. I know enough that if you are thinking about paint you are moving on, you are happy or getting there and really, you want what you see to look good.
Go Nick.
The last book was probably my least favorite in the series and this one, well, it turned all those feelings around but of course, gives me pause.
Nothing is easy for Nick, well, except those ham and cheese sandwiches that I covet.
I'll never be prepared for any of these books but I am going to do the best I can.
Fuck I can't believe that the next one is the last one, for now.
October 9, 2019
*4,5 stars*
I loved it. Nick is changing into a quite different man from the one we met in book 1. Yes, there are remnants, but all in all ... he moves on so much it's amazing to see.
But I think I let the book talk this time:
Okay, biggest spoiler I’ve done. Sorry. 😁
Absolutely adored the thoughts on being gay in the 80s, the deep reflections on God and the Catholic faith, mortified about the ignorance about AIDS (equally relieved Nick is doing the sensible thing though!) and the way people just didn’t know better, but so impressed by Nick and his character development!
Fabulous on every level!
I loved it. Nick is changing into a quite different man from the one we met in book 1. Yes, there are remnants, but all in all ... he moves on so much it's amazing to see.
But I think I let the book talk this time:
Okay, biggest spoiler I’ve done. Sorry. 😁
Absolutely adored the thoughts on being gay in the 80s, the deep reflections on God and the Catholic faith, mortified about the ignorance about AIDS (equally relieved Nick is doing the sensible thing though!) and the way people just didn’t know better, but so impressed by Nick and his character development!
Fabulous on every level!
November 2, 2022
Ahhhh, Nick!
This one had less of a mystery angle than previous installments.
Nick finally gets his own place
Nick received threats
Nick solves a murder mystery
Nick and the priest get it on!
Enjoy!
This one had less of a mystery angle than previous installments.
Nick finally gets his own place
Nick received threats
Nick solves a murder mystery
Nick and the priest get it on!
Enjoy!
April 22, 2019
“I don’t know how to do this,” ........... whispered into my chest.
“No one does. But we do it anyway.”
“No one does. But we do it anyway.”
March 7, 2016
Now I have to WAIT for the next one. Ugh.
August 26, 2019
"I don't know how to do this," Joseph whispered into my chest.
"No one does. But we do it anyway."
"No one does. But we do it anyway."
July 1, 2015
4.5
Whatever I type about this series doesn't seem enough.
Bloodlines is not as heavy or gritty as some of the previous books. The beginning is wonderfully funny. You get to see Nick's parenting skills. Murderers and various crazies didn't make a dent in his armour, but a sixteen year old boy might give him grey hairs. He and Brian have their hands full with him ('...he’d transferred the thinly veiled contempt he had for his real parents to us. Or maybe like most teenagers he was half psychopath.'). I love it how not even once does Nick think to leave Terry on his own.
Both cases he gets are from Owen's law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby.
Jimmy English's every move is under surveillance. The police and the FBI want to pin a double murder on him. The thing is, Nick believes he is not the murderer.
In the second case he has to interview witnesses for the other phase of the trial of a woman who killed her husband. Some of those witnesses don't want to testify at all. Soon it becomes clear that the murder is not as simple as everyone thinks.
Nick's personal life is good. He is still angry, still grieving, but he is also slowly healing.
Whatever I type about this series doesn't seem enough.
Bloodlines is not as heavy or gritty as some of the previous books. The beginning is wonderfully funny. You get to see Nick's parenting skills. Murderers and various crazies didn't make a dent in his armour, but a sixteen year old boy might give him grey hairs. He and Brian have their hands full with him ('...he’d transferred the thinly veiled contempt he had for his real parents to us. Or maybe like most teenagers he was half psychopath.'). I love it how not even once does Nick think to leave Terry on his own.
Both cases he gets are from Owen's law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby.
Jimmy English's every move is under surveillance. The police and the FBI want to pin a double murder on him. The thing is, Nick believes he is not the murderer.
In the second case he has to interview witnesses for the other phase of the trial of a woman who killed her husband. Some of those witnesses don't want to testify at all. Soon it becomes clear that the murder is not as simple as everyone thinks.
Nick's personal life is good. He is still angry, still grieving, but he is also slowly healing.
March 10, 2015
Nick! Nick! How do I love thee????
OK. seriously. It is a love/hate rela I have with this man.
Through 6 books I've yelled "WHY CANT YOU JUST KEEP YOUR DICK IN YOUR PANTS HUH?????????
Book 7... was it a breakthrough? No... LOL
But he's moving on, he's trying to live and I love him.
That is all.
now the endless wait for book 8. GAH
Mare~Slitsread
OK. seriously. It is a love/hate rela I have with this man.
Through 6 books I've yelled "WHY CANT YOU JUST KEEP YOUR DICK IN YOUR PANTS HUH?????????
Book 7... was it a breakthrough? No... LOL
But he's moving on, he's trying to live and I love him.
That is all.
now the endless wait for book 8. GAH
Mare~Slitsread
March 27, 2015
With each succeeding book in the Boystown series, Marshall Thornton’s story of Nick Nowak in the 1980s just gets better.
Thornton’s noir writing style is grounded and sure. He takes us through the now-familiar streets of Chicago as it was 30 years ago, letting us follow Nick’s mind as it moves between the two puzzling jobs he’s been handed to the ongoing grief and guilt he feels over his lover’s death and his killing of a serial killer.
Boystown 7 is really about the emergence of hope in the heart of a new Nick Nowak. We find him at the start couch-surfing in his friend Brian’s apartment, sometimes sleeping with Brian, but also helping him take care of Terry, a precocious and prickly teenager thrown away by his parents for being gay. In the course of the story, Nick realizes that the world is moving on, and that he needs to figure out how to do that himself.
A beautifully handled subtext in the book is the gradually awakening of something in Nick that, if not exactly a sense gay awareness, then a sense of self as a gay man without shame for being a gay man. Various characters who play roles in the story, from socialite Sugar Pilson to Brian’s new, annoying boyfriend Franklin, begin to tweak Nick’s consciousness, slowly making him understand his own place in the world. Nowak has plenty that he thinks he ought to be ashamed of. As the plot progresses, Nick begins to see what the reader has known all along: that he is, more than he knows, a good and kind and generous man.
As his relationships with old friends shift, his relationship with Harker’s mother also continues to evolve. At Easter dinner she hands him a beer, and he wonders to himself: “I’d done something right and Mrs. Harker was thanking me.”
Tied to his evolving relationship with Harker’s mother is another beautifully nuanced plot detail: Mrs. Harker forces Nick to get rid of the neon-green Chevy Nova that mob boss Jimmy English gave him, and gives him the peach-colored Lincoln Versailles that his late lover Harker owned. “The Versailles was an ugly car, and it drove like a waterbed.” The car smells of Harker’s cologne and cigarettes, and while it upsets him, it is also a symbol of Mrs. Harker’s thawing.
AIDS and sex also have their roles to play; indeed the whole series has been cast against the backdrop of the emergence of AIDS in the 1980s and its devastating consequences. I lived through this myself, being about Nick Nowak’s age, and so did the author. Nick’s plight echoes uncomfortably that of every one of us who survived.
Interestingly, while Nick talks quite a bit in the book about the sex he used to have, there are only two incidents of sex in this book. Each serves a distinct and important purpose in Nick’s evolution. They’re too important to spoil by describing here.
“What did Oscar Wilde say about sex? ‘Everything is about sex, except sex, which is about power.’”
Boystown 7: Bloodlines left me emotionally sated and teary-eyed. Something big happened in this book, and it had nothing to do with murder. What ultimately happened is that I came to care deeply about Nick and his future. I so look forward to book 8 in the series, which is underway.
Thornton’s noir writing style is grounded and sure. He takes us through the now-familiar streets of Chicago as it was 30 years ago, letting us follow Nick’s mind as it moves between the two puzzling jobs he’s been handed to the ongoing grief and guilt he feels over his lover’s death and his killing of a serial killer.
Boystown 7 is really about the emergence of hope in the heart of a new Nick Nowak. We find him at the start couch-surfing in his friend Brian’s apartment, sometimes sleeping with Brian, but also helping him take care of Terry, a precocious and prickly teenager thrown away by his parents for being gay. In the course of the story, Nick realizes that the world is moving on, and that he needs to figure out how to do that himself.
A beautifully handled subtext in the book is the gradually awakening of something in Nick that, if not exactly a sense gay awareness, then a sense of self as a gay man without shame for being a gay man. Various characters who play roles in the story, from socialite Sugar Pilson to Brian’s new, annoying boyfriend Franklin, begin to tweak Nick’s consciousness, slowly making him understand his own place in the world. Nowak has plenty that he thinks he ought to be ashamed of. As the plot progresses, Nick begins to see what the reader has known all along: that he is, more than he knows, a good and kind and generous man.
As his relationships with old friends shift, his relationship with Harker’s mother also continues to evolve. At Easter dinner she hands him a beer, and he wonders to himself: “I’d done something right and Mrs. Harker was thanking me.”
Tied to his evolving relationship with Harker’s mother is another beautifully nuanced plot detail: Mrs. Harker forces Nick to get rid of the neon-green Chevy Nova that mob boss Jimmy English gave him, and gives him the peach-colored Lincoln Versailles that his late lover Harker owned. “The Versailles was an ugly car, and it drove like a waterbed.” The car smells of Harker’s cologne and cigarettes, and while it upsets him, it is also a symbol of Mrs. Harker’s thawing.
AIDS and sex also have their roles to play; indeed the whole series has been cast against the backdrop of the emergence of AIDS in the 1980s and its devastating consequences. I lived through this myself, being about Nick Nowak’s age, and so did the author. Nick’s plight echoes uncomfortably that of every one of us who survived.
Interestingly, while Nick talks quite a bit in the book about the sex he used to have, there are only two incidents of sex in this book. Each serves a distinct and important purpose in Nick’s evolution. They’re too important to spoil by describing here.
“What did Oscar Wilde say about sex? ‘Everything is about sex, except sex, which is about power.’”
Boystown 7: Bloodlines left me emotionally sated and teary-eyed. Something big happened in this book, and it had nothing to do with murder. What ultimately happened is that I came to care deeply about Nick and his future. I so look forward to book 8 in the series, which is underway.
May 19, 2015
I love this man and his 1980's Chicago--another great addition to the Nick Nowak mysteries
Highly recommend
Highly recommend
September 29, 2021
Reread in 2021: Even in the second reading of this book, I felt gutpunched - probably residual heartache from Murder Book and watching Nick put his life back together. It's a hard won transformation, but I love how Thornton shows us Nick picking up the pieces, being there for Mrs. Harker, and tentatively dipping his toes into a relationship. And always in the background but rapidly moving to center stage, the AIDS pandemic looms. 5 stars.
Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews
Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews
March 8, 2015
This is an excellent addition to the series.
Nick is my favorite PI, I love his voice. I continue to like the 80s setting. BTDT.
The mystery was good, and I liked the direction of Nick's personal life.
Finally, the secondary characters were all excellent. I care what happens to Mrs. Harker, Brian and Terry.
A well written, tight read.
Nick is my favorite PI, I love his voice. I continue to like the 80s setting. BTDT.
The mystery was good, and I liked the direction of Nick's personal life.
Finally, the secondary characters were all excellent. I care what happens to Mrs. Harker, Brian and Terry.
A well written, tight read.
May 22, 2025
Welcome to the seventh installment of our tour of life in the AIDS era with gay private investigator Nick Nowak, this time 1984.
I won't pretend that judged strictly as a mystery this is all that great, the motive for the murder Nick's investigating for the sentencing phase is telegraphed long before Nick gets a clue, and the Jimmy English thread felt kind of pro forma. But the aspects of the novel about Nick's life and relationships felt far more engaging than it was in earlier installments, and overall this worked really well for me. I think it might be one of the better installments in the series so far.
As a rule, I get kind of annoyed when people refer to stuff about the 80s as "historical" fiction but I am really appreciating how Thornton is handling the AIDS stuff and how the characters are coping with it. It's waking up some sort of retrospective, historical awareness part of my brain that doesn't typically turn on for the 80s.
This is good stuff.
I won't pretend that judged strictly as a mystery this is all that great, the motive for the murder Nick's investigating for the sentencing phase is telegraphed long before Nick gets a clue, and the Jimmy English thread felt kind of pro forma. But the aspects of the novel about Nick's life and relationships felt far more engaging than it was in earlier installments, and overall this worked really well for me. I think it might be one of the better installments in the series so far.
As a rule, I get kind of annoyed when people refer to stuff about the 80s as "historical" fiction but I am really appreciating how Thornton is handling the AIDS stuff and how the characters are coping with it. It's waking up some sort of retrospective, historical awareness part of my brain that doesn't typically turn on for the 80s.
This is good stuff.
February 23, 2017
Another fine edition to the series, plus a love interest for Nick Nowak (finally)!
February 5, 2017
The title makes so much sense.
Quite a jump for our favourite detective. Whereas he was barely getting his feet wet again in Boystown 6: From The Ashes (Boystown Mysteries), in this installment Nick can barely handle the workload he's getting from the law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby. And the title can hint at both cases he was working on:
What drew me the most in this installment were the obvious changes in Nick. He captures your interest by his very existence and be it right or wrong decisions, getting close to people or just following his sex drive, Nick becomes a favourite character you can't let go of.
Quite a jump for our favourite detective. Whereas he was barely getting his feet wet again in Boystown 6: From The Ashes (Boystown Mysteries), in this installment Nick can barely handle the workload he's getting from the law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby. And the title can hint at both cases he was working on:
What drew me the most in this installment were the obvious changes in Nick. He captures your interest by his very existence and be it right or wrong decisions, getting close to people or just following his sex drive, Nick becomes a favourite character you can't let go of.
January 11, 2020
I'm giving this book 5 stars b/c for me it was really amazing and I love Nick since book 5, so I was really happy to see him wanting to move on and wanting a new apartment and being with someone. I felt really sad for him on book 5 and 6 I really want him to be happy as much as he can.
I missed his monologes, i'm starting to feel we'd be best friends, really.
The two cases didn't have much action and I solved in my mind the murder case when Nick saw the husband had lesions on his knees and arms. Nevertheless they were good. This books wasn't much about Nick being an investigator but more of Nick moving on, and I feel okay with that, the past two books were very intense we need the storm to calm a bit, tho I'm foreseeing 8 book to have more action.
_____
Re-read ramble: he's 35 here so that's why the mention of his age on book 12 was nagging at me, he can't be 35 there too.
I missed his monologes, i'm starting to feel we'd be best friends, really.
The two cases didn't have much action and I solved in my mind the murder case when Nick saw the husband had lesions on his knees and arms. Nevertheless they were good. This books wasn't much about Nick being an investigator but more of Nick moving on, and I feel okay with that, the past two books were very intense we need the storm to calm a bit, tho I'm foreseeing 8 book to have more action.
_____
Re-read ramble: he's 35 here so that's why the mention of his age on book 12 was nagging at me, he can't be 35 there too.
September 3, 2015
I love following along with Nick on his day to day work and interactions with others. He's such an interesting guy and it's not hard to care for him and hope he will someday find someone special. I'm seriously addicted to this series.
March 14, 2015
Another excellent read!
February 11, 2024
While this may not be the strongest book in the series, this series as a whole has such momentum that even its weakest moments can carry great power. This finally realized portrait of an era in crisis, filtered through the pulp purity of the private detective novel, is riveting from start to finish.
May 3, 2019
4.5 stars. I wasn't crazy over the dentist's case, but Jimmy English's was great. And I loved the personal storyline.
June 4, 2017
2.5 Stars
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews