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Boystown #9
Lucky Days
In the ninth book of the bestselling mystery series, a young man wakes up covered in blood and no memory of the previous night. When hypnotism doesn’t help, he turns to private investigator Nick Nowak. Meanwhile, the trial of Outfit kingpin Jimmy English begins. Quickly the case begins to unravel when an important witness goes missing and Nick must put his other cases, and his home life, on hold while he goes to Las Vegas to find him.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2017
About the author
Marshall Thornton
58 books635 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 24, 2019
This gets 7 stars. Right up my alley.
This is just Gushing! Oh and Gifs.
Nick: "What had i done."
Me to Marshall:
LIKE REALLY? Why is Joseph not freaking out?
So, with this one, Marshall took the Law and Order route, i freaking loved every single, freaking moment and freaking ate up every word. I mean THREE mysteries in one. "Marshall how did you know?"
Nick! Nick! He is the most complex MC i have ever read. He now tops my list as one of my favourite MCs Like Ever!! Everyone else move over, you have been dethroned. We only get his POV and it is very sufficient, he is one reliable narrator. GAAAAAAH!
NICK!
And I thought, family. This is my family, my love, my heart. Joseph. And Ross. And Brian. And Terry. And Harker. And Daniel. They were all my family. Jimmy English didn’t think ‘my sort’ would understand. Fuck him. Fuck Jimmy English.
Jimmy English! Ugh!
Ok! so Long story! Long! The point is; I LOVED IT!!
This is just Gushing! Oh and Gifs.
Nick: "What had i done."
Me to Marshall:
LIKE REALLY? Why is Joseph not freaking out?
So, with this one, Marshall took the Law and Order route, i freaking loved every single, freaking moment and freaking ate up every word. I mean THREE mysteries in one. "Marshall how did you know?"
Nick! Nick! He is the most complex MC i have ever read. He now tops my list as one of my favourite MCs Like Ever!! Everyone else move over, you have been dethroned. We only get his POV and it is very sufficient, he is one reliable narrator. GAAAAAAH!
NICK!
And I thought, family. This is my family, my love, my heart. Joseph. And Ross. And Brian. And Terry. And Harker. And Daniel. They were all my family. Jimmy English didn’t think ‘my sort’ would understand. Fuck him. Fuck Jimmy English.
Jimmy English! Ugh!
Ok! so Long story! Long! The point is; I LOVED IT!!
January 14, 2017
*** Spoiler-free!***
I think I'll pick an audio book for my next read. It was a reading marathon through the night (with a short pause for a bothersome need like sleeping), my eyes are exhausted - I had a busy working week, the first one after holidays – but...Do I need to explain anything?!
Who wouldn't have done the same?!
It is the book #9 of Boystown series series, FGS! We are entre nous. We know what we want and what we can expect but the most important thing - we know WHY. And I assure you, Lucky Days WAS WORTH THE WAIT.
I have a LOT of feelings about this book, I HIGHLIGHTED a lot, and I promise to do my best not to spoil ANYTHING for you in my review. You'll read this sequel and you'll enjoy it, I just know it. Period.
Lucky Days is for me the most complex installment in the series:
There are 3 cases that Nick are involved into.
There are many secondary characters. (Especially in regard to Jimmy English trail.)
Lucky Days has more than ONE sub-genre.
I don't need to praise the writing(We are entre nous, remember?), we all know that Marshall Thornton is an AMAZING WRITER. With a SPECIAL talent for dialogues (no one can do it better!), but not only. He is the best in writing the best ENDING. You know, the one that leaves you with tears in your eyes (because it is soooo emotional and touching), that doesn't piss you off (because he doesn't do mean cliffhangers), but the one that leaves you craving for more.
Overall, I really loved this book. It has everything I enjoy: a dramatic tension, a very clever mystery, an emotional part and....IT HAS NICK. Marshall Thornton gave me somebody I don't want to live without. He gave me something I want to have AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Marshall Thornton amazes me with his ideas again and again. And I just can't have enough of this series=I just can't have enough of Nick.
*Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
I think I'll pick an audio book for my next read. It was a reading marathon through the night (with a short pause for a bothersome need like sleeping), my eyes are exhausted - I had a busy working week, the first one after holidays – but...Do I need to explain anything?!
Who wouldn't have done the same?!
It is the book #9 of Boystown series series, FGS! We are entre nous. We know what we want and what we can expect but the most important thing - we know WHY. And I assure you, Lucky Days WAS WORTH THE WAIT.
I have a LOT of feelings about this book, I HIGHLIGHTED a lot, and I promise to do my best not to spoil ANYTHING for you in my review. You'll read this sequel and you'll enjoy it, I just know it. Period.
Lucky Days is for me the most complex installment in the series:
There are 3 cases that Nick are involved into.
The main case is Jimmy English trail that starts, it occupies the main part in this book. And even if Nick doesn't make the rules here, he plays one of the main ( if not the main) role here. Let me reveal the precise details - he is NOT amused about it. The second case reminds of Nick's previous cases, a gay customer needs his services as a private investigator and the third one is more of the private nature in that he is involved rather emotionally than factually(and is very tiny from Nick's attention, but it is THERE).
There are many secondary characters. (Especially in regard to Jimmy English trail.)
Don't worry though - the author leads his readers very skillfully through the jungle of names. I have to admit that I didn't know IMMEDIATELY who was who in SOME situations, but before I had decided to pick up the previous sequel to refresh my memories and started to seek for the names, I got my explanation from the author out of the context that followed.
Lucky Days has more than ONE sub-genre.
We have a COURT DRAMA, a RUN-AWAY-ROAD-MOVIE, a crime investigation a là Nick Nowak (you know this typical for Nick ones, we know from previous books, asking questions-> making conclusions), and yes, a GAY ROMANCE(that doesn't take up a lot of space in this book, but it doesn't mean automatically LESS INTENSITY, just the opposite), no I won't add GAY EROTICA, there are not TOO MANY sex scenes, and I LOVE THEM, but SEX is a delicious addition to the plot and not the opposite.
I don't need to praise the writing(We are entre nous, remember?), we all know that Marshall Thornton is an AMAZING WRITER. With a SPECIAL talent for dialogues (no one can do it better!), but not only. He is the best in writing the best ENDING. You know, the one that leaves you with tears in your eyes (because it is soooo emotional and touching), that doesn't piss you off (because he doesn't do mean cliffhangers), but the one that leaves you craving for more.
Overall, I really loved this book. It has everything I enjoy: a dramatic tension, a very clever mystery, an emotional part and....IT HAS NICK. Marshall Thornton gave me somebody I don't want to live without. He gave me something I want to have AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Marshall Thornton amazes me with his ideas again and again. And I just can't have enough of this series=I just can't have enough of Nick.
*Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
March 31, 2017
4 Stars!
Another great installment featuring our favorite 80’s PI!
Nick may be a self proclaimed asshole but his personal sense of justice and what’s morally right, is played upon here. No doubt he’s been through a lot in his 36 years, and he now knows what he can live with and how far he’s willing to compromise. His heartache and past tragedies have definitely shaped these self imposed rules, guiding him, as he does his job and lives his life.
Never fear, Thornton doesn't skimp on the smart writing regarding the mysteries that involve Nick - and boy, this one here is complicated and intricate and books in the making. Of course, Thornton also continues to bring the wit and so much nostalgia for usolder readers, as we’re taken down memory lane. Regardless, since Nick has been forcibly and painfully coerced to carve out a hard won place for himself, he’s finally quite content and happy. He’s earned this reprieve and deserves it too. I can only hope that it continues.
Another great installment featuring our favorite 80’s PI!
Nick may be a self proclaimed asshole but his personal sense of justice and what’s morally right, is played upon here. No doubt he’s been through a lot in his 36 years, and he now knows what he can live with and how far he’s willing to compromise. His heartache and past tragedies have definitely shaped these self imposed rules, guiding him, as he does his job and lives his life.
Never fear, Thornton doesn't skimp on the smart writing regarding the mysteries that involve Nick - and boy, this one here is complicated and intricate and books in the making. Of course, Thornton also continues to bring the wit and so much nostalgia for us
April 23, 2017
Nick Nowak is a great, laconic, character with integrity and dry humor. His depth has been revealed to us slowly, over the span of this series. This installment was an interesting view of Nick as he navigates the jungle of his relationship to crime kingpin Jimmy English, and his family and associates. Part road-trip movie, part court-house drama, with a smidge of an unrelated case in the gay bars of Chicago, this story is complex, but well written enough I kept most of it straight. This was, though, the first time I wished I'd gone back and reread the previous couple of books because I have to say "most" but not all. There were times when I couldn't remember how players or events had come together in the past, to make sense of the developments here.
I also missed Nick's home life in this one. There are shadows and hints about concerns or changes there, that to me were more interesting than the Jimmy English case, but they remained suspended for the most part, as Nick played his role on the bigger stage. I hope that in the next book we'll see more domestic focus again. The case that is mentioned in the blurb - the young man who wakes up with blood on his clothes - is almost a side-note, with a brief but fascinating look at the parallel worlds of being gay and black in Chicago of that era. Perhaps because those players were new in this book, rather than back a couple of volumes in the series, I'd have liked to have seen that part of the story emphasized, to play out in more complex detail.
So for me, perhaps out of laziness for not rereading, this was a very good but not favorite installment in an excellent series. I'm still going to order the next volume as soon as it appears, to follow Nick on his journey through life and mystery.
I also missed Nick's home life in this one. There are shadows and hints about concerns or changes there, that to me were more interesting than the Jimmy English case, but they remained suspended for the most part, as Nick played his role on the bigger stage. I hope that in the next book we'll see more domestic focus again. The case that is mentioned in the blurb - the young man who wakes up with blood on his clothes - is almost a side-note, with a brief but fascinating look at the parallel worlds of being gay and black in Chicago of that era. Perhaps because those players were new in this book, rather than back a couple of volumes in the series, I'd have liked to have seen that part of the story emphasized, to play out in more complex detail.
So for me, perhaps out of laziness for not rereading, this was a very good but not favorite installment in an excellent series. I'm still going to order the next volume as soon as it appears, to follow Nick on his journey through life and mystery.
February 6, 2017
Another Nick book and yes it is totally a Nick book, from his perspective, his thoughts, his doings. Personally I'd like to see the whys and wherefores of other characters, Joseph for example but as I said this is totally Nick. Another stop in his journey. This is not the same Nick we started with, the changes have been gradual but they fit. Sometimes it feels like we are getting the original Nick, whom we do not know, the one before the bashing but with more maturity. Our Nick is in love, and he does not mind saying so, in fact the book is full of 'his boyfriend' which is good to see.
One of the best Thornton's as regards its flow. Marshall Thornton certainly seems to be refining his art with this compact piece, which gave us lots. Thornton's pen is full, heavy on details on surroundings, perfect for affacionadoes of 80's Americana. His descriptions of the political life so evoking of contemporary times.
A great weekend read with R and Ingie and Lena's company
Fits in slot 16. of my book challenge - A book that's published in 2017
February 1, 2017
Lucky Days (Boystown 9)
Marshall Thornton
Kenmore Books, 2017
ASIN: B01N01AUUY
207 pages
Five Stars
Nine books are a lot. I should be leery of these series that go on forever, like a soap opera that lasts for
20 years.
When I read the three novellas that made up the very first Boystown book, I encountered something I hadn’t read in years. Nick Nowak was not a romantic guy, and Chicago in the early 1980s was not the gay-friendly city that gay millennials think of it as. It was also the moment when a mysterious illness began to attack gay men in America’s big cities, in their gay ghettos, where they thought they were safe. (Correction: where we thought we were safe.) All of this made for an unsettling kind of book that, at first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read.
Yet Thornton’s cool journalistic style hooked me. I grew to care about Nick’s surprisingly kind and vulnerable soul, under its veneer of cynical, hard-bitten ex-cop. Thornton wove a double-barreled story intertwining Nick’s professional life and his personal life, mixing murder with emotional turmoil. He’s followed that basic format through the entire series, and what makes it such a success is that Nick has become a very different man than the one we met in the first story.
This ninth episode in the saga of Nick Nowak, “Lucky Days,” finds our hero in, well, a happy place. He talks warmly about his domestic set-up with Joseph, the ex-priest; his friend Ross seems to be doing well on his daily buffet of medications; and the teenaged Terry is also doing well, living with Harker’s mother and spending quality time with his older gay role models in Nick and Joseph’s apartment. Life is good.
But there are dark linings in this silver cloud. Jimmy English, Nick’s sometime employer, who is a bigtime mobster (while pretending not to be), is about to go on trial (bringing together various threads that have run through most of the series). The central plot of the book is Nick having to fly to Las Vegas to bring back a missing witness in Jimmy’s trial. The second mystery is a young gay black man named Nello, who wakes up with blood all over his clothes and wants Nick to find out what happened.
Nello’s mystery is an exploration of gay life in Black Chicago, and the Las Vegas gambit becomes an almost comic caper/road trip. Almost. The whole long relationship between Nick and Jimmy English is put under the microscope in this book, and finally the discomfort every reader must have felt about it all along comes to a head in a rather startling way.
There are other shadows on Nick’s happiness in “Lucky Days.” Nick and Joseph love each other, well and truly; but there are their Friday “cheat-nights,” a term Joseph doesn’t like and with which Nick, interestingly, isn’t entirely comfortable. And then there’s Ross, who despite his improvement, still has AIDS, and everybody knows what that means. All of this is under the shadow of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and the rumored development of an HIV test – so that Nick and Joseph and all their friends can find out whether they have “it” or not. Woo hoo.
I so desperately want Nick to be happy. Not because happy endings are all I want, but because Nick has, by book 9, proven that he deserves happiness. He may dress without much style; he may smoke too much and drink too much; but we love the big lug. He’s our hero.
At nine volumes, we don’t want Nick’s story to end, and Marshall Thornton makes sure we know, on the last page, that it won’t be the last page.
Woo hoo (for real).
Marshall Thornton
Kenmore Books, 2017
ASIN: B01N01AUUY
207 pages
Five Stars
Nine books are a lot. I should be leery of these series that go on forever, like a soap opera that lasts for
20 years.
When I read the three novellas that made up the very first Boystown book, I encountered something I hadn’t read in years. Nick Nowak was not a romantic guy, and Chicago in the early 1980s was not the gay-friendly city that gay millennials think of it as. It was also the moment when a mysterious illness began to attack gay men in America’s big cities, in their gay ghettos, where they thought they were safe. (Correction: where we thought we were safe.) All of this made for an unsettling kind of book that, at first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read.
Yet Thornton’s cool journalistic style hooked me. I grew to care about Nick’s surprisingly kind and vulnerable soul, under its veneer of cynical, hard-bitten ex-cop. Thornton wove a double-barreled story intertwining Nick’s professional life and his personal life, mixing murder with emotional turmoil. He’s followed that basic format through the entire series, and what makes it such a success is that Nick has become a very different man than the one we met in the first story.
This ninth episode in the saga of Nick Nowak, “Lucky Days,” finds our hero in, well, a happy place. He talks warmly about his domestic set-up with Joseph, the ex-priest; his friend Ross seems to be doing well on his daily buffet of medications; and the teenaged Terry is also doing well, living with Harker’s mother and spending quality time with his older gay role models in Nick and Joseph’s apartment. Life is good.
But there are dark linings in this silver cloud. Jimmy English, Nick’s sometime employer, who is a bigtime mobster (while pretending not to be), is about to go on trial (bringing together various threads that have run through most of the series). The central plot of the book is Nick having to fly to Las Vegas to bring back a missing witness in Jimmy’s trial. The second mystery is a young gay black man named Nello, who wakes up with blood all over his clothes and wants Nick to find out what happened.
Nello’s mystery is an exploration of gay life in Black Chicago, and the Las Vegas gambit becomes an almost comic caper/road trip. Almost. The whole long relationship between Nick and Jimmy English is put under the microscope in this book, and finally the discomfort every reader must have felt about it all along comes to a head in a rather startling way.
There are other shadows on Nick’s happiness in “Lucky Days.” Nick and Joseph love each other, well and truly; but there are their Friday “cheat-nights,” a term Joseph doesn’t like and with which Nick, interestingly, isn’t entirely comfortable. And then there’s Ross, who despite his improvement, still has AIDS, and everybody knows what that means. All of this is under the shadow of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and the rumored development of an HIV test – so that Nick and Joseph and all their friends can find out whether they have “it” or not. Woo hoo.
I so desperately want Nick to be happy. Not because happy endings are all I want, but because Nick has, by book 9, proven that he deserves happiness. He may dress without much style; he may smoke too much and drink too much; but we love the big lug. He’s our hero.
At nine volumes, we don’t want Nick’s story to end, and Marshall Thornton makes sure we know, on the last page, that it won’t be the last page.
Woo hoo (for real).
May 8, 2019
And I thought, family. This is my family, my love, my heart. Joseph. And Ross. And Brian. And Terry. And Harker. And Daniel. They were all my family. Jimmy English didn’t think ‘my sort’ would understand. Fuck him. Fuck Jimmy English.
❤️💔❤️💔❤️
❤️💔❤️💔❤️
February 6, 2017
***Possible Spoilers Ahead***
Man, I love this series! Nick is one of my favorite characters to visit and catch up with. And book 9 does not disappoint. Suspense, mystery, court room drama, sex, love, and luck!
Book 9 finds Nick busy as usual with old and new cases. Chasing witnesses, hitting the pavement for leads, and living & loving in Chicago in the 1980s. This time out though we get to see Nick out of Chicago! Haha…And what a treat that was! In Vegas of all places. He was a little lost without his beloved Chicago streets to maneuver, but he found his way. I loved watching Nick try to work his way out of trouble. Trouble that might get him killed. From new twists to old faces. You gotta jump on in to see if Nick is lucky or gets lucky in Sin City.
Luck plays a big part of this story—good and bad. Lucky can mean different things to different people. But in my opinion, Nick is lucky. He’s lucky to have had love and be in love. He’s lucky to be surrounded by so many people who love him. And he’s lucky to have his health. But my favorite Nick trait shines the brightest in Lucky Days.
His loyalty! It’s just one of the many reasons why I love him. His fierce loyalty to Brian, Ross, Mrs. Harker, Harker, Terry, his work, and more stands out in almost everything he does. He will drop anything & everything for a friend or family. You can feel that even in his gruff, grumpy ways. Ways that always steal a smile and giggle out of me. What made me the happiest this time out though was every time he said—
I’ve expressed my love in so many ways for this series already. I don’t know what’s left to say besides—READ IT!
p.s. Favorite meal this time out—scotch, Oreos, and Chinese food! Hehe…That is such a Nick meal. :D
September 11, 2019
What can I say? I just freaking love this series!
And Nick. He's not your perfect, romantic character. He's flawed and he makes mistakes like everyone, even if sometimes all you want is to shake him a bit. But that's why he's so real. And he's matured so much since the first installment. Life does it to you.
It's a great pleasure to watch his growth with each book.
And Nick. He's not your perfect, romantic character. He's flawed and he makes mistakes like everyone, even if sometimes all you want is to shake him a bit. But that's why he's so real. And he's matured so much since the first installment. Life does it to you.
It's a great pleasure to watch his growth with each book.
February 5, 2017
As much as I love Nick Nowak and as much as I love the immersion into the 1980s Chicago setting, this book brought me some frustration. That’s because Nick is too busy working and I sorely missed he and Joseph spending time together. That being said, I believe that was just what the author intended to do to the reader. Like any good series, there were tried and true formulaic bits, but there was also some serious character development in Nick. Also, who knew that streetwise and worldly Nick was a travel virgin.
2017 reading challenge checks the box for 14. A book involving trave. Viva Las Vegas!
2017 reading challenge checks the box for 14. A book involving trave. Viva Las Vegas!
to-read-yes-own
January 30, 2017TO READ NEXT...
Part #9 — the newest in the (in my opinion GREAT) Boystown series by Marshall Thornton.
Books about private investigator Nick Novak. A gay (horny) man and a bunch of friends (and a lot of acquaintances) in the early 1980s "wild & crazy" gay 'Boystown' world of Chicago, US. Maybe to label as gay fiction novels than my favorite genre; (smexy) M/M romances, but always well written, about love, sex, relationships & life, added with intriguing (crime) storylines. Most often also with a heartwrencing twist. A series about ordinary characters I simply love to follow. Every book (one a year) is one of my top ranked favorite picks of that year. — My reviews so far:
*******
Publ: Jan 13. — Jippie Yay, to buddyread with my sweet M/M book buddies Sofia and Are.
Part #9 — the newest in the (in my opinion GREAT) Boystown series by Marshall Thornton.
Books about private investigator Nick Novak. A gay (horny) man and a bunch of friends (and a lot of acquaintances) in the early 1980s "wild & crazy" gay 'Boystown' world of Chicago, US. Maybe to label as gay fiction novels than my favorite genre; (smexy) M/M romances, but always well written, about love, sex, relationships & life, added with intriguing (crime) storylines. Most often also with a heartwrencing twist. A series about ordinary characters I simply love to follow. Every book (one a year) is one of my top ranked favorite picks of that year. — My reviews so far:
*******
Publ: Jan 13. — Jippie Yay, to buddyread with my sweet M/M book buddies Sofia and Are.
January 14, 2017
Another excellent read!
July 9, 2024
There’s not much mystery in this installment, being mostly tied up with the trial of Jimmy English and a related trip to Vegas. Still, it’s a great series and a damn good book.
February 6, 2017
Another great episode
For once, the final sentence in a novel made me happy. Why? Because it indicated a tenth book was a certainty.
In preparation for reading Marshall's latest Nick Nowak novel, I listened to the first six in audiobook again and reread the last two. That ensured that I was up to speed on Nick's private life and his ongoing connection with the mob boss, Jimmy English.
Each book is complete and satisfying, but together they are an outstanding collection of detective fiction.
The characters are well fleshed out as usual, with many of my favourites returning.
Alongside two mystery plot lines (one ongoing, one separate for this book) we get the continued chronological look into how AIDS impacted the lives and love of gay men.
Once again, the city of Chicago itself plays a starring role, permeating every scene whether it be the cold, or in this case, the heat.
We also get a glimpse of Las Vegas through Nick's jet lagged eyes.
His budding relationship with the ex priest, Joseph, continues and this culminated in the loading of a big plot "gun on the wall" which is sure to go off in the next book.
I can't wait.
I thoroughly recommend this series.
For once, the final sentence in a novel made me happy. Why? Because it indicated a tenth book was a certainty.
In preparation for reading Marshall's latest Nick Nowak novel, I listened to the first six in audiobook again and reread the last two. That ensured that I was up to speed on Nick's private life and his ongoing connection with the mob boss, Jimmy English.
Each book is complete and satisfying, but together they are an outstanding collection of detective fiction.
The characters are well fleshed out as usual, with many of my favourites returning.
Alongside two mystery plot lines (one ongoing, one separate for this book) we get the continued chronological look into how AIDS impacted the lives and love of gay men.
Once again, the city of Chicago itself plays a starring role, permeating every scene whether it be the cold, or in this case, the heat.
We also get a glimpse of Las Vegas through Nick's jet lagged eyes.
His budding relationship with the ex priest, Joseph, continues and this culminated in the loading of a big plot "gun on the wall" which is sure to go off in the next book.
I can't wait.
I thoroughly recommend this series.
January 20, 2017
WANT WANT WANT....
WANT WANT...
WANT....
3.5 stars. I love Nick but this instalment made me mad and sad.
WANT WANT...
WANT....
3.5 stars. I love Nick but this instalment made me mad and sad.
January 16, 2017
** 4.5 Stars **
December 31, 2018
SOOO MEAN TO US. Our hearts! Our hearts. How long can we survive like this?! For two dozen more books, I hope!
I was on the edge of my seat through half of this! Nail-biter!
I was on the edge of my seat through half of this! Nail-biter!
June 4, 2023
Much tighter mystery many very good red herrings
March 23, 2017
Binges on this great series
Couldn't stop reading this 9 book series. Can't wait for the next. Well crafted characters and accurate 1980s setting that brings home alot of memories. Some poignant for sure. Highly recommended.
Couldn't stop reading this 9 book series. Can't wait for the next. Well crafted characters and accurate 1980s setting that brings home alot of memories. Some poignant for sure. Highly recommended.
February 11, 2017
An intense action packed book in the Boystown series. Nick Nowak has been working for attorneys representing a mob boss and in this book it comes to a head. He must find a missing witness in time for a trial and finds his life in jeopardy, just to discover that everything he knew was a lie. I really loved the ongoing storyline in this case of Nick's. The romantic in me wants to see him and Joseph commit to each other permanently and end their open relationship. I have no problem with open relationships if it is working for both partners, but knowing one of them wants monogamy, it makes it difficult to see that they aren't truly happy with their lifestyle. The ending of the story is kind of a cliffhanger, only in the fact that you know the main character will be worrying about something and I want to see if he finds relief in the answer. I can't wait for another book in the Nick Nowak series.
January 27, 2017
The ninth book in the excellent Boystown series continues the story of Private Investigator, Nick Nowak and a great cast of supporting characters. The trial of a Chicagoland mobster dominates this installment but we also see some of Nick's private life with his new lover and he takes on a smaller case on the side. It's the fall of 1984 and Reagan is seeking a second term, disco is dead and the specter of AIDS hangs over the story. Nick is dispatched to Las Vegas to collar a runaway witness and bring him back to Chicago to testify in court. As always, Thornton's writing is natural and moves the story along with lots of sharp and witty dialogue. Growing up in the '70's and '80s, I especially enjoyed his references to the technology and popular culture of those times... I chuckled at his nod to the Empire Carpet jingle. As always, it's Nick who is the main attraction of the book... with his ratty corduroy jacket, love of grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, no nonsense approach to sex and unwavering moral code about things that really matter. As the mobster story line draws to a close in this episode, it leaves Nick disillusioned and prompts him to cut ties with some longstanding associates. While I never expect a total HEA in a Boystown story... the ending of 9 has me worried about what may lie ahead for Nick and those he cares for so much.
January 21, 2020
What an excellent book.
While The lies that bind was more personal on Nick's side, this one focus on the continuation of Jimmy English investigation and trial he is part of plus another case Nick is told to investigate. The book sucks you in from the first pages and the suspense with the action makes it impossible to put the book down. I missed Nick a lot, he never fails to amuse me with his humor and in this book he shows more than ever that he's a hero worthy of a happy life.
The 80's setting is on point as always and it was nice to get a glimpse of the black gay scene, i hope to see more of it in the future.
I'm glad we are going to have more Nick Nowak, can't wait for the next book!
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Re-read ramble: Ah...this book it's so so good, specially because this book shows us how righteous Nick is. Also...checkmate!...Nick mentions he's 36 years old here and the book's timeline ends in November 1984.
While The lies that bind was more personal on Nick's side, this one focus on the continuation of Jimmy English investigation and trial he is part of plus another case Nick is told to investigate. The book sucks you in from the first pages and the suspense with the action makes it impossible to put the book down. I missed Nick a lot, he never fails to amuse me with his humor and in this book he shows more than ever that he's a hero worthy of a happy life.
The 80's setting is on point as always and it was nice to get a glimpse of the black gay scene, i hope to see more of it in the future.
I'm glad we are going to have more Nick Nowak, can't wait for the next book!
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Re-read ramble: Ah...this book it's so so good, specially because this book shows us how righteous Nick is. Also...checkmate!...Nick mentions he's 36 years old here and the book's timeline ends in November 1984.
August 28, 2022
I signed up for detective fiction and got found family <3 someday I'd love there to be just a 100% fluff instalment of Boystown, just Nick taking care of Ross and Joseph putting on all the records and Brian coming around with pizza and Franklin being passive-aggressive with everyone. Sadly, with the end of this book, I'm thinking that's less and less likely. The author is a master at drip-feeding hopes of happiness only to snatch them away at the last moment, and I cry. I'm still wondering whether there's going to be more emphasis in any of the later novels on Nick's caregiving for Ross, and what will actually happen regarding Nick and Brian's HIV statuses as testing becomes available. Right now everyone seems stuck in this awful purgatory of 'it's likely but who knows' and trying to reconcile with how to live when there's a big question mark hanging over your head. The emotional aspects of this book and emphasis on male tenderness boost it up to 4*, because I didn't find any of the cases engaging this time around, and I'm not sure how they contributed to the overall themes of the book, compared to when the author did these really well in previous instalments. The book also includes some transphobic comments/attitudes that some readers might find upsetting but as far as I can tell are likely accurate to the time and place.
cw: date rape drugs; implied gang rape; transphobia; general cws of the series apply
absolutely nothing *~*researchy*~* to see here; an ongoing reading list
1. A Study in Scarlet 2.5/5
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles 5/5
3. The Adventure of the Final Problem 4/5
4. Bath Haus 4.5/5
5. The Forest of Stolen Girls 4/5
6. The Red Palace 2/5
7. The Silence of Bones 1/5
8. Lay Your Sleeping Head 4/5
9. Carved in Bone 5/5
10. Lies with Man 3/5
11. Howtown 2/5
12. The Hidden Law 2/5
13. The Death of Friends 3/5
14. The Burning Plain 3.5/5
15. Rag and Bone 4/5
16. Pretty Pretty Boys 2/5
17. Three Nick Nowak Mysteries 5/5
18. Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries 3/5
19. Two Nick Nowak Novellas 4/5
20. A Time For Secrets 5/5
21. Murder Book 5/5
22. From the Ashes 4/5
23. Bloodlines 4/5
24. Lucky Days 4/5
cw: date rape drugs; implied gang rape; transphobia; general cws of the series apply
absolutely nothing *~*researchy*~* to see here; an ongoing reading list
1. A Study in Scarlet 2.5/5
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles 5/5
3. The Adventure of the Final Problem 4/5
4. Bath Haus 4.5/5
5. The Forest of Stolen Girls 4/5
6. The Red Palace 2/5
7. The Silence of Bones 1/5
8. Lay Your Sleeping Head 4/5
9. Carved in Bone 5/5
10. Lies with Man 3/5
11. Howtown 2/5
12. The Hidden Law 2/5
13. The Death of Friends 3/5
14. The Burning Plain 3.5/5
15. Rag and Bone 4/5
16. Pretty Pretty Boys 2/5
17. Three Nick Nowak Mysteries 5/5
18. Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries 3/5
19. Two Nick Nowak Novellas 4/5
20. A Time For Secrets 5/5
21. Murder Book 5/5
22. From the Ashes 4/5
23. Bloodlines 4/5
24. Lucky Days 4/5
January 7, 2018
It's good to see Nick happy again.
He's changed over the years. Life happens, and he's taken some hits. He's realized that tragedies may have changed the course of his life, they have also led him to great friendships and love.
He knows himself better than ever before.
This book has been building up over several books. It got pretty twisty, and was well done.
I only have the one more published work left to read, before I start crying about the wait for the next book. I guess at that point, I'll have to start back at the beginning, as I can't go a year with out Nick. It will be interesting to go back and remember how different Nick's life was, to how it is now.
This is one of my top all time favorite series.
He's changed over the years. Life happens, and he's taken some hits. He's realized that tragedies may have changed the course of his life, they have also led him to great friendships and love.
He knows himself better than ever before.
This book has been building up over several books. It got pretty twisty, and was well done.
I only have the one more published work left to read, before I start crying about the wait for the next book. I guess at that point, I'll have to start back at the beginning, as I can't go a year with out Nick. It will be interesting to go back and remember how different Nick's life was, to how it is now.
This is one of my top all time favorite series.
May 7, 2017
Great continuation from the last few installments The Jimmy English case unravels finally.
It was an interesting plot - with a nice sideline - but I liked the crime part better than Nick's personal life.
I don't know why, but I just didn't really warm up to Joseph. Maybe it is the open relationship he wants to have? It still feels like cheating from Nick's point of view - because it obviously wasn't what he wanted and only accepted it because he loved Joseph.
I guess it is realistic, but it doesn't endear Joseph to me especially. I am all for having fun and testing out things - but in this constellation with a relationship with someon who wants to be exclusive it just feels like a foul compromise.
It was an interesting plot - with a nice sideline - but I liked the crime part better than Nick's personal life.
I don't know why, but I just didn't really warm up to Joseph. Maybe it is the open relationship he wants to have? It still feels like cheating from Nick's point of view - because it obviously wasn't what he wanted and only accepted it because he loved Joseph.
I guess it is realistic, but it doesn't endear Joseph to me especially. I am all for having fun and testing out things - but in this constellation with a relationship with someon who wants to be exclusive it just feels like a foul compromise.
April 26, 2020
This is the 9th Nick Nowak mystery and in this one we find Nick handling 2 mysteries. One mystery is how a gay black young man got blood stains on his pants and shirt during a night he can't remember. He only remembers bits and pieces that also include breaking up with his boyfriend. The other case is finding a missing witness in a murder trial against his Mafioso client. The witness disappeared in Vegas and Nick (who is a flying virgin) has to catch a plane from Chicago to Vegas and try to find him before the trial starts back up on Monday. Also, in a personal note, Nick is trying to find his way in his relationship with Joseph, who he's in love with. This is just a wonderful series that has become one of my favorite.
May 15, 2017
KU
Nick has matured in every book but in this one, the self-centered man has morphed into a caring individual and it's wonderful to see the growth. I love this book and can't wait for the next one. There are no cliffhangers in any of the books in this series but it's better if they're read in order, mainly because of the main character. Reading about the growing awareness of AIDS and how it affected the lives of men of that era is powerful.
There are mysteries in each book but the thing that keeps drawing me in is watching Nick grow.
Nick has matured in every book but in this one, the self-centered man has morphed into a caring individual and it's wonderful to see the growth. I love this book and can't wait for the next one. There are no cliffhangers in any of the books in this series but it's better if they're read in order, mainly because of the main character. Reading about the growing awareness of AIDS and how it affected the lives of men of that era is powerful.
There are mysteries in each book but the thing that keeps drawing me in is watching Nick grow.
July 25, 2017
overall series has been pretty entertaining. cant wait for the next one.
One small observation though is the liberal use of vasaline as lube. Vasaline is an oil based product which erodes latex causing it to become microscopically porous and weak leading to leakage and/or breakages. Condoms and petroleum based vasaline dont mix. Not really sutible if you're trying not to spread disease. or get pregnant. just saying.
Maybe it will be mentioned later 'cause right now they're not doing Nick much good.
One small observation though is the liberal use of vasaline as lube. Vasaline is an oil based product which erodes latex causing it to become microscopically porous and weak leading to leakage and/or breakages. Condoms and petroleum based vasaline dont mix. Not really sutible if you're trying not to spread disease. or get pregnant. just saying.
Maybe it will be mentioned later 'cause right now they're not doing Nick much good.
July 25, 2018
A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
For the full review visit https://wp.me/p220KL-ecZ
From that review: " You know things aren't going to go well in a book titled Lucky Days when the story involves Nick Nowak. And it doesn't.
Lucky for Nick and the people he comes in contact with never has the outcome anyone expects. And the factor of luck? Well, if luck is involved, then the twist maybe one best looked at out of a carnival mirror."
For all our reviews, check out http://scatteredthoghtsandroguewords.com
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
For the full review visit https://wp.me/p220KL-ecZ
From that review: " You know things aren't going to go well in a book titled Lucky Days when the story involves Nick Nowak. And it doesn't.
Lucky for Nick and the people he comes in contact with never has the outcome anyone expects. And the factor of luck? Well, if luck is involved, then the twist maybe one best looked at out of a carnival mirror."
For all our reviews, check out http://scatteredthoghtsandroguewords.com
May 7, 2023
I think this may have been more of a 3.5 star read for me. The mysteries were good but we didn’t spend much time with Nello so that part seemed a bit abrupt. Most of the book centers around Jimmy English’s trial. I’m not a big fan of court room dramas so I skimmed parts of this. Nick’s trip to Las Vegas was fast paced and well done. There were tons of double double crosses and I found it a bit hard to keep things straight.
We don’t get much time with Nick’s personal life but I’m still not convinced his relationship with Joseph is a good idea!
We don’t get much time with Nick’s personal life but I’m still not convinced his relationship with Joseph is a good idea!
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