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A Nick Williams Mystery #6
The Savage Son
Tuesday, December 15, 1953
Ivan Kopek is missing and his parents desperately want Nick's help. Ike, as he's known to his friends, is quickly found once Nick, Carter, and their pals are on the case. Unfortunately, Ike's in jail for a murder he didn't commit. And it was only because he didn't get the chance to do it himself.
Meanwhile, it's almost Christmas. Nick's least favorite time of the year.
But, Carter wants a Christmas tree and Dr. Parnell Williams, Nick's evil bastard of a father, has summoned them both to the mansion on Sacramento Street for Christmas day at 12 noon. And they're not to be late.
In the end, Christmas brings Nick & Carter a number of unexpected and life-changing packages, both big and small.
Ivan Kopek is missing and his parents desperately want Nick's help. Ike, as he's known to his friends, is quickly found once Nick, Carter, and their pals are on the case. Unfortunately, Ike's in jail for a murder he didn't commit. And it was only because he didn't get the chance to do it himself.
Meanwhile, it's almost Christmas. Nick's least favorite time of the year.
But, Carter wants a Christmas tree and Dr. Parnell Williams, Nick's evil bastard of a father, has summoned them both to the mansion on Sacramento Street for Christmas day at 12 noon. And they're not to be late.
In the end, Christmas brings Nick & Carter a number of unexpected and life-changing packages, both big and small.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 26, 2016
21 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Frank W. Butterfield
123 books106 followersFrank W. Butterfield, not an assumed name, loves old movies, wise-cracking smart guys with hearts of gold, and writing for fun.
Although he worships San Francisco, he lives at the beach on another coast.
Born on a windy day in November of 1966, he was elected President of his high school Spanish Club in the spring of 1983.
After moving across these United States like a rapid-fire pinball, he currently makes his home in a hurricane-proof apartment with superior water pressure that was built in 1926.
While he hasn't met any dolphins personally, that invitation is always open.
Although he worships San Francisco, he lives at the beach on another coast.
Born on a windy day in November of 1966, he was elected President of his high school Spanish Club in the spring of 1983.
After moving across these United States like a rapid-fire pinball, he currently makes his home in a hurricane-proof apartment with superior water pressure that was built in 1926.
While he hasn't met any dolphins personally, that invitation is always open.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 15, 2017
This is the 6th book in the Nick Williams mysteries. In this book we find Nick & Carter having a rare argument over Christmas and Nick asking to have Carter's mother visit and Carter wanting to visit Nick's father ( who Carter has been visiting). The two finally kiss and make up . Nick is also asked to investigate the disappearance of his son, who happens to be gay. Nick realizes that the son isn't the good boy he pretends to be for his parents. The young man, who 23 and handsome, is in fact a call boy for older men. There are twist and turns and intrigue and of course a murder. I won't say more, but this is a good read and a good series!
November 8, 2021
Another amazing Nick and Carter mystery. Love this series so much. It’s like hearing from best friends who just happen to live in the 1950’s. So much fun! Already borrowed the next in the series.
November 24, 2018
The series is moving along as we near the end of 1953 and Nick and Carter are investigating another murder, a case with ties to pre-WWII Czechoslovakia. But on the home front, Mrs. Wilson (Marnie's mother) has a mysterious boyfriend, Nick is building a new office building for Consolidated Security, Carter and Nick prepare for Christmas, and their extended family of employees and friends continue to grow. I didn't find the murder especially engrossing, but liked catching up with old friends. 3.5 stars.
December 29, 2016
The Savage Son
By Frank W. Butterfield
By the author, 2016
Five stars
My only problem with this, the sixth book in the Nick Williams series, is that it felt like a finale.
In the Savage Son, Nick Williams takes on the search for a missing young man, Ike Kopek. As in all of the Nick William’s books, twists and turns begin immediately, as the information Ike’s parents give Nick turns out to not quite mesh with the reality Nick discovers.
Every one of these books takes a look at some aspect of gay life in America in the early 1950s, conjuring up a vivid period setting, replete with cars and men’s fashions. We see a world that is long gone, but lives on in Butterfield’s vivid descriptions and spare, no-nonsense prose. We are constantly reminded of the slings and arrows that gay folk suffered in this period, even if they managed to survive and thrive. Nick himself is subjected to treatment that is shocking by today’s standards, in spite of his wealth. I have likened Williams to a gay Batman, but Perry Mason is obviously going to come to mind for any mystery reader (or person my age who watched TV in the 1950s as a kid).
The larger surprise in this book is that we realize that, over the course of these six-plus books, we’ve developed something of a detailed profile on Nick’s own psyche. Rejected by his rich family and haunted by the disappearance of his mother when he was a boy, Nick uses the vast fortune inherited from his notorious great uncle Paul to do good for his gay brothers and sisters. But Nick is never bitter; he loves life, he loves his husband Carter (and dares to call him that), and wants to make the world easier for people like him who have been beaten up (sometimes literally) by a bigoted world. Nick suppresses the pretensions of his privileged upbringing, but never loses the confidence (some might say arrogance) that enables him to think of ways to defeat the Powers that Be in favor of the downtrodden and oppressed.
Aside from the central missing-man-and-murder plot arc of this book, there is a huge amount going on all around, involving Nick’s friends and colleagues. All of this builds to a surprisingly emotional Christmas, which includes wonderful vignettes of shopping in San Francisco during the postwar book of retail. We see in this book how Nick has changed, and how the world is beginning to move toward tolerance one person at a time.
This was my favorite book of the series. I hope it’s not the end of the series, because I love Nick and Carter and Marnie and all the rest.
By Frank W. Butterfield
By the author, 2016
Five stars
My only problem with this, the sixth book in the Nick Williams series, is that it felt like a finale.
In the Savage Son, Nick Williams takes on the search for a missing young man, Ike Kopek. As in all of the Nick William’s books, twists and turns begin immediately, as the information Ike’s parents give Nick turns out to not quite mesh with the reality Nick discovers.
Every one of these books takes a look at some aspect of gay life in America in the early 1950s, conjuring up a vivid period setting, replete with cars and men’s fashions. We see a world that is long gone, but lives on in Butterfield’s vivid descriptions and spare, no-nonsense prose. We are constantly reminded of the slings and arrows that gay folk suffered in this period, even if they managed to survive and thrive. Nick himself is subjected to treatment that is shocking by today’s standards, in spite of his wealth. I have likened Williams to a gay Batman, but Perry Mason is obviously going to come to mind for any mystery reader (or person my age who watched TV in the 1950s as a kid).
The larger surprise in this book is that we realize that, over the course of these six-plus books, we’ve developed something of a detailed profile on Nick’s own psyche. Rejected by his rich family and haunted by the disappearance of his mother when he was a boy, Nick uses the vast fortune inherited from his notorious great uncle Paul to do good for his gay brothers and sisters. But Nick is never bitter; he loves life, he loves his husband Carter (and dares to call him that), and wants to make the world easier for people like him who have been beaten up (sometimes literally) by a bigoted world. Nick suppresses the pretensions of his privileged upbringing, but never loses the confidence (some might say arrogance) that enables him to think of ways to defeat the Powers that Be in favor of the downtrodden and oppressed.
Aside from the central missing-man-and-murder plot arc of this book, there is a huge amount going on all around, involving Nick’s friends and colleagues. All of this builds to a surprisingly emotional Christmas, which includes wonderful vignettes of shopping in San Francisco during the postwar book of retail. We see in this book how Nick has changed, and how the world is beginning to move toward tolerance one person at a time.
This was my favorite book of the series. I hope it’s not the end of the series, because I love Nick and Carter and Marnie and all the rest.
March 21, 2017
Always a delight, and the story of the Christmas tree at Gumps was absolutely marvelous. On to the next one.
August 28, 2017
and we're back
July 5, 2017
So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed every book in the series and this one is no exception. When I first completed it, however, I couldn't think of anything specific to say about it. I thus decided to move on without hardly a break.
Having now completed The Mangled Mobster, which was stellar, I know what to say. First, this book lays foundation for the next. Many of the characters you meet here have steady roles in Mobster. And given that The Mangled Mobster was SO good, read this and then move right into that.
Looking back, they feel very much like one story...and a good one!
Having now completed The Mangled Mobster, which was stellar, I know what to say. First, this book lays foundation for the next. Many of the characters you meet here have steady roles in Mobster. And given that The Mangled Mobster was SO good, read this and then move right into that.
Looking back, they feel very much like one story...and a good one!
September 6, 2017
The best so far
Now that Nick & Carter are firmly established, this detective novel really takes off. The Savage Son is the best of the series to this point.
Now that Nick & Carter are firmly established, this detective novel really takes off. The Savage Son is the best of the series to this point.
July 8, 2024
As it's Xmas in July I was in a holiday reading mood so i skipped ahead a couple of entries and read The Savage Son, the sixth entry in Frank W Butterfield's Nick Williams Mystery series. I want to start by saying as it was when I read #14 The Pitiful Player for my Oscar reads I wasn't lost but I could tell a few things that happened in entries #4 & #5 were still very fresh in Nick and Carter's minds but because of both inner and outer convos I knew enough info for context and yet not enough was retold to spoil going back(which I will over the next few weeks).
Now that I mentioned that, on to The Savage Son.
Carter wants Christmas and all the trimmings, the very things he's went without since meeting Nick as he knew Nick wasn't a fan but this year he wanted it. With some moments of secrecy not often displayed between the couple, Carter gets his Xmas but will it change Nick's thoughts on the holiday? Well I think you all know my answer to that: you have to read to find out😉.
The mystery is so brilliantly weaved throughout with many possible outcomes that before I knew it, the book was over and I was kicking myself for not slowing my pace to make the enjoyment linger. To me that feeling says it all and the epitome of reading greatness. Ivan has gone missing and his parents come to Nick to find him. Sounds simple, sounds straightforward but as we all know in the land of fiction, missing is rarely simple and even rarer to stay at just a missing person. So many twists and turns kept me guessing till nearly the reveal.
Now besides the "main" mystery, there is another unanswered scenario that Nick and Carter find before them. Nick's not-so-favored father, Dr. Parnell Williams, summoning both(and the inclusion of Carter adds even more ??? to the equation) men to his home on Christmas Day at Noon. I can't lie, having read the N&C Holiday short story series I maybe should have picked up on this sooner but I didn't and it knocked me sideways for a moment or two before smacking my head and saying "how did I miss that?".
I don't want to give too much away so I'll end it here but The Savage Son is a brilliant mystery, wonderful established couple romance, with friendships-turned-found-family at every corner, and it somehow manages to embody everything a Christmas tale should: heart. Savage Son may not fit the Hallmark-style holiday fare but it's definitely a delicious holiday treat.
Now that I mentioned that, on to The Savage Son.
Carter wants Christmas and all the trimmings, the very things he's went without since meeting Nick as he knew Nick wasn't a fan but this year he wanted it. With some moments of secrecy not often displayed between the couple, Carter gets his Xmas but will it change Nick's thoughts on the holiday? Well I think you all know my answer to that: you have to read to find out😉.
The mystery is so brilliantly weaved throughout with many possible outcomes that before I knew it, the book was over and I was kicking myself for not slowing my pace to make the enjoyment linger. To me that feeling says it all and the epitome of reading greatness. Ivan has gone missing and his parents come to Nick to find him. Sounds simple, sounds straightforward but as we all know in the land of fiction, missing is rarely simple and even rarer to stay at just a missing person. So many twists and turns kept me guessing till nearly the reveal.
Now besides the "main" mystery, there is another unanswered scenario that Nick and Carter find before them. Nick's not-so-favored father, Dr. Parnell Williams, summoning both(and the inclusion of Carter adds even more ??? to the equation) men to his home on Christmas Day at Noon. I can't lie, having read the N&C Holiday short story series I maybe should have picked up on this sooner but I didn't and it knocked me sideways for a moment or two before smacking my head and saying "how did I miss that?".
I don't want to give too much away so I'll end it here but The Savage Son is a brilliant mystery, wonderful established couple romance, with friendships-turned-found-family at every corner, and it somehow manages to embody everything a Christmas tale should: heart. Savage Son may not fit the Hallmark-style holiday fare but it's definitely a delicious holiday treat.
August 29, 2021
Nick had a real case this time! And an interesting one.
So glad they Nick found out why his mother left. That was a touching development.
Nick’s father on the other hand I couldn’t care less about. He’s an asshole for all of Nick’s life and for six books and is rewarded with a ‘happy families’ scene?! No. I’m gonna keep hating him. Wait, he kept that letter for an extra ten years before giving it to Nick?!?! I’ll also keep thinking Marnie’s mother is a big ass busybody. I don’t care for her or about her either.
That whole Christmas scene with Nick’s dad, Marnie and her mother didn’t tug at my heart strings like it was supposed to. 🤮😴 Glad Nick got some answers though.
Poor Mike. I keep a couples list (and recurring character’s list) for this series in my notes app - time to back space over Bud. 😬
Ike and Sam are different. Not every couple in this series needs to be perfect. At least Ike hasn’t molested/raped anyone (looking at you Andy) so he’s way ahead there. I like Mrs Kopek. She’s a good addition.
Ok, on to the next.
So glad they Nick found out why his mother left. That was a touching development.
Nick’s father on the other hand I couldn’t care less about. He’s an asshole for all of Nick’s life and for six books and is rewarded with a ‘happy families’ scene?! No. I’m gonna keep hating him. Wait, he kept that letter for an extra ten years before giving it to Nick?!?! I’ll also keep thinking Marnie’s mother is a big ass busybody. I don’t care for her or about her either.
That whole Christmas scene with Nick’s dad, Marnie and her mother didn’t tug at my heart strings like it was supposed to. 🤮😴 Glad Nick got some answers though.
Poor Mike. I keep a couples list (and recurring character’s list) for this series in my notes app - time to back space over Bud. 😬
Ike and Sam are different. Not every couple in this series needs to be perfect. At least Ike hasn’t molested/raped anyone (looking at you Andy) so he’s way ahead there. I like Mrs Kopek. She’s a good addition.
Ok, on to the next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2019
My fave book in the series
Each book just gets better and better. Lol. It seems “better and better” has become my mantra for this series.
Although there was still a mystery to be solved, the setting for this book took place during the Christmas season which made me get in the holiday spirit even though it’s July! Nick and Carter’s love gets stronger and more amazing with each book. Nick finds out things about his past that kinda explains why he is the way he is which made my heart melt and brought tears to my eyes. Happy tears. In fact, love is in the air with not only them but with.....oops, almost spilled the beans. No can do! You must buy the book, in fact, buy the whole series. You will not regret it.
Each book just gets better and better. Lol. It seems “better and better” has become my mantra for this series.
Although there was still a mystery to be solved, the setting for this book took place during the Christmas season which made me get in the holiday spirit even though it’s July! Nick and Carter’s love gets stronger and more amazing with each book. Nick finds out things about his past that kinda explains why he is the way he is which made my heart melt and brought tears to my eyes. Happy tears. In fact, love is in the air with not only them but with.....oops, almost spilled the beans. No can do! You must buy the book, in fact, buy the whole series. You will not regret it.
May 27, 2023
Great read with a vivid sense of time and place
Another absorbing entry in the Nick Williams saga. Like Greek theater, all the (sex) action takes place off stage, which is fine by me. The plot lines are plausible, and the characters are believable.
Another absorbing entry in the Nick Williams saga. Like Greek theater, all the (sex) action takes place off stage, which is fine by me. The plot lines are plausible, and the characters are believable.
August 24, 2017
always a solid read. I love these books.
August 18, 2018
Another great Nick & Carter Mystery. I am loving these guys. Well written with well developed characters.
September 4, 2018
Yet another good read with a lot of San Francisco ambiance and a bit of historical background as well.
October 15, 2018
I was not a fan of Ike but his mother is a gem. And such surprising changes in Nick's family dynamics. So much happening, especially the love.
August 25, 2021
Pure charm
March 22, 2019
Different cover image
Christmas 1953 - not Nick's favourite season but events conspire to alter his view. There is an investigation (missing person/murder/hints of espionage) but possibly more important are the things that will change his mind about a number of things. Some new characters are introduced; old ones reappear - and the epilogue has Nick and Carter in Rio seeing in the New Year.
Christmas 1953 - not Nick's favourite season but events conspire to alter his view. There is an investigation (missing person/murder/hints of espionage) but possibly more important are the things that will change his mind about a number of things. Some new characters are introduced; old ones reappear - and the epilogue has Nick and Carter in Rio seeing in the New Year.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews