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Boystown #11
Heart's Desire
It’s February 1985. Nick struggles to recover from a gunshot wound, while taking on the case of a woman with a mental illness, who may or may not have witnessed a murder. As he attempts to determine exactly what the woman saw and how much danger she may be in, he juggles the approaching DeCarlo trial, an ill Mrs. Harker, and the sexually precocious Terry. Valentine’s Day with boyfriend Joseph produces some big changes in their relationship. Life is evolving, but there’s no guarantee it’s for the better.
202 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 10, 2018
61 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Marshall Thornton
57 books631 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 39 reviews
May 28, 2021
Re-read May 2021
Bumped to 4.5 stars
********************************************
4.25 stars
-Another solid story in this series.
-The writing is great as always.
-The mystery was good and clever.
-Nick's chosen family is just the best.
-Terry got issues on top of issues.
-Mrs. Harker.......
Bumped to 4.5 stars
********************************************
4.25 stars
-Another solid story in this series.
-The writing is great as always.
-The mystery was good and clever.
-Nick's chosen family is just the best.
-Terry got issues on top of issues.
-Mrs. Harker.......
May 13, 2023
4 Stars
Eleven books in and I still find this angsty realistic historical series still compelling. Maybe it’s the 80’s nostalgia - one wonders how we ever survived without our current tech. I shudder in horror as I can hardly fathom it. Lol. Regardless, Nick always does his due diligence.
This is a more subdued installment. Nick is healing from a gunshot wound and mentally going stir crazy while he’s convalescing. Here, he tackles a couple of side investigations that aren’t necessarily cut and dry. All the while, this is still Nick’s story as he continues to navigate his relationship with ex-priest Joseph, and juggling each member of his found family as they grapple with their own heartbreaking situations.
Admittedly, this series was put on the back burner by me for quite awhile since this is not an escape but a plunge into harsh cold reality. However, this revisit still showed its staying power, and I’m thinking the next read won’t be too far off!
Eleven books in and I still find this angsty realistic historical series still compelling. Maybe it’s the 80’s nostalgia - one wonders how we ever survived without our current tech. I shudder in horror as I can hardly fathom it. Lol. Regardless, Nick always does his due diligence.
This is a more subdued installment. Nick is healing from a gunshot wound and mentally going stir crazy while he’s convalescing. Here, he tackles a couple of side investigations that aren’t necessarily cut and dry. All the while, this is still Nick’s story as he continues to navigate his relationship with ex-priest Joseph, and juggling each member of his found family as they grapple with their own heartbreaking situations.
Admittedly, this series was put on the back burner by me for quite awhile since this is not an escape but a plunge into harsh cold reality. However, this revisit still showed its staying power, and I’m thinking the next read won’t be too far off!
October 9, 2023
Life feels so permanent. It just keeps going day after day. Yeah, we know that someday it will end. And yet we don’t know. Not really. We’re lulled into a false sense of safety. The idea that we’ll wake up tomorrow morning seems reasonable because we’ve done it so many times. But then one day we’ll wake for the last time. And on that day something will stop us; an illness, a heart attack, a speeding car, a bullet. We will stop and never wake again.
while i don’t consider these books as emotionally traumatizing as Henry Rios, that doesn’t mean the heavily matter-of-fact & somber atmosphere hasn’t been draining my reserves in its own right. Nick keeps running in circles, and i keep fighting back the nerves. i‘m somewhat in disbelief that there are only two books left of Nick’s journey for me to read.
for future Alyssa’s reference,
August 23, 2018
Have you had any dead John Does show up recently?”
“It’s fucking Chicago. What do you think?”
Yes!!! We're back for another visit to Chicago with Nick!
Heart’s Desire is book 11 of Marshall Thornton’s Boystown series. A series filled with mystery, friends, sex, and family. The kind of self-made families joined together to love, laugh, support, and grieve. I’ve loved this series at first sight, so every new book makes me happy. Like jump over and buy and then read as soon as possible kind of happy. Following Nick around Chicago in all kinds of weather, never fails to entertain and make me snicker and smile. Have you met the man yet?
Nick Nowak is a PI living and working in Chicago in the 1980s. Nick always says most of his job is paperwork, but he tends to get into way too much trouble to believe that line. The big guy is still healing from a gunshot wound in this tale, but he takes a case anyway because that’s what he does. This maybe murder/maybe not a murder case turns into more of a headache than Nick bargained for though. The case didn't live up to all my hopes and dreams, but I still enjoyed watching Nick work through it. Hell, I’d watch Nick read the phone book…Ha!….now that I think about it I believe I have watched Nick read through a phone book for a case. It’s the 80s after all! :D And boy-o-boy do the 80s shine on the pages of this book and every other Nick story—from greed to the battle with AIDS to Dynasty shout outs. It’s all in here.
My favorite part of this series is the tight knit band of friends that have become Nick’s family though. At first glance, you would never peg these guys as being friends. Different ages and jobs and backgrounds. BUT when they are all together, supporting each other—you’ll feel the strength of it. The bond has been tested again and again with passion, loss, and fear. Nick and And then we have Mrs. Harker. A relationship and connection that continues to dazzle me. Their connection provides layers and layers of emotion and depth to Nick’s story. It holds history, pain, and love and just keeps on giving. I can see Nick’s loyalty and love so clearly when he visits Mrs. Harker. Even through all the changes along the way with Nick’s relationships and sex life, that core part of him still feels the same to me--his stubbornness and loyalty and pure skill at expressing himself in so few words. The fierce loyalty holds this crew together in tough times. And he still keeps things so locked up and unsaid for the most part. But when Nick does let his emotions fly…it’s usually just in the nick of time, heart wrenching, or just sweet as hell.
I’ll follow Nick anywhere.
Read this series. It continues to give and grow. Please keep ‘em coming, Mr. Thornton.
Another Favorite Line:
“He was young; he didn’t yet know the hold the past could have over us.”
July 8, 2019
I had to stop missing things. I was still here, I needed to do everything. I needed to know everything. I needed to do it all while there was time.
March 29, 2019
31st Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalist
This sequel feels different. And while every encounter with Nick makes my day (or some days considering my current reading speed), his transformation is something I really first have to get used to.
There are 9 years between the first book in the series, Three Nick Nowak Mysteries, and the book 11, Heart's Desire, but the series covers the period of only 4 years, from the early 1980s up to the February 1985.
Could a character perform such a full conversion in such a short time?
The answer is YES, because it is the period of time when the HIV/AIDS epidemic has begun to be the awful reality. It is the time of radical rethinking of sexual behavior. And even if we just forget that Nick is also in love, it is well understandable that he is not more a slutty Nick from former times(installments) who did not omit any opportunity of having sex. The question is also, could I, as a reader, accept this enormous change of a character image within such short period of time? I must. But my emotions live their separate life, outside my rational thinking, and the moment I reached the last page of this book, I realized that I simply missed the previous Nick and his different first person POV. Maybe I should re-read the first sequels, just to become this Boystown’s feeling again or at least how I remember it: dark, emotional, very sultry, and just different:
I think it is the first time when I finished a Boystown sequel and don’t want immediately to read the next one. I am just afraid to find out what will happen next, because if Marshall Thornton decided to postpone some events, some things are just inevitable. It is maybe the reason why we spend more time with Nick, his lovers and his friends, Mrs.Harker, and less with Nick completely occupied with his current case. It is a quiet farewell to the old world that begins inexorably to change before our eyes- and those people who were the essential part of Nick’s life.
Let us enjoy these insightful moments...
What didn’t change: a fantastic time feeling of the 1980s, the greatest possible care and attention to detail, excellent knowledge of Chicago, a simple-but-ingenious writing style and a great ending.
***Copy provided kindly by the author in exchange for an honest review***
This sequel feels different. And while every encounter with Nick makes my day (or some days considering my current reading speed), his transformation is something I really first have to get used to.
There are 9 years between the first book in the series, Three Nick Nowak Mysteries, and the book 11, Heart's Desire, but the series covers the period of only 4 years, from the early 1980s up to the February 1985.
Could a character perform such a full conversion in such a short time?
The answer is YES, because it is the period of time when the HIV/AIDS epidemic has begun to be the awful reality. It is the time of radical rethinking of sexual behavior. And even if we just forget that Nick is also in love, it is well understandable that he is not more a slutty Nick from former times(installments) who did not omit any opportunity of having sex. The question is also, could I, as a reader, accept this enormous change of a character image within such short period of time? I must. But my emotions live their separate life, outside my rational thinking, and the moment I reached the last page of this book, I realized that I simply missed the previous Nick and his different first person POV. Maybe I should re-read the first sequels, just to become this Boystown’s feeling again or at least how I remember it: dark, emotional, very sultry, and just different:
I think it is the first time when I finished a Boystown sequel and don’t want immediately to read the next one. I am just afraid to find out what will happen next, because if Marshall Thornton decided to postpone some events, some things are just inevitable. It is maybe the reason why we spend more time with Nick, his lovers and his friends, Mrs.Harker, and less with Nick completely occupied with his current case. It is a quiet farewell to the old world that begins inexorably to change before our eyes- and those people who were the essential part of Nick’s life.
Let us enjoy these insightful moments...
What didn’t change: a fantastic time feeling of the 1980s, the greatest possible care and attention to detail, excellent knowledge of Chicago, a simple-but-ingenious writing style and a great ending.
***Copy provided kindly by the author in exchange for an honest review***
October 5, 2018
Heart’s Desire (Boystown 11)
By Marshall Thornton
Published by Kenmore Books, 2018
Five stars
Nick Nowak has come a long way. I didn’t like him for quite a while, although I guess I felt for him right from the start. Nick, you see, is only six years older than I am. In our generation, however, those six years make a big difference. Nick and I came from (and came out in) very different places. From the very start of Marshall Thornton’s landmark series about a gay ex-cop in Chicago in the 1980s, the reader has been challenged to accept Nick Nowak as he is. Sometimes, it wasn’t easy. With each book, though, Thornton has moved Nick along – moved him forward; and he’s moved his readers right along with him.
This is, in retrospect, one of the lowest-key mysteries Nick has had to deal with. There is a possible murder, possibly witnessed by a manic-depressive woman (we say bipolar now, but this was 1985). In spite of its nebulousness, this mystery is ultimately pretty riveting, and finally more shocking than one expects.
But the point is that the mysterious maybe-murder is not really the main course. It is the central plot arc, but it is simply the stem from which all the interlaced tendrils of Nick’s daily life grow. Nick’s relationship with Joseph continues to change. Terry Winkler, the sexually abused gay teenager, is still living with Nick’s late lover’s mother, who is still dying of ovarian cancer. Nick’s longtime friend and onetime lover Ross is still living – which is to say dying slowly - in the tiny high-rise apartment on Lakeshore Drive that Nick shares with Joseph. AIDS is there, named but still untreatable in the face of President Reagan’s stonewalling (ironic term) research funding for the “gay plague.” Nick isn’t even supposed to be working, as his recovery from a gunshot wound has taken longer and hurt more than either he or Joseph anticipated. So, if the central murder story isn’t such a big deal, everything else along with it adds up to a complicated life through which Nick must make his way.
The Nick Nowak we met in the first Boystown story couldn’t have coped. The Nick we know now maneuvers the rocky shoals of his life with remarkable gentleness and wisdom, in spite of the pain – physical and emotional – that he feels nearly all the time. This is not the Nick we knew back when.
I love Nick now. He’s a rock, although he doesn’t quite realize it.
Wry humor fills the book, provoking a smile or a chuckle at some particularly dry throwaway line. If not actually funny, the craziness of Nick’s world provokes eye-rolls and snickers of disbelief. For all the troubles, it’s not deadly serious. Nick is afraid, and Nick is angry. But he is not oblivious to irony. There is one moment that finds Nick reading “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” in the laundry room of his apartment building. The thought is hilarious. Younger readers won’t get it, perhaps, but it just struck me as wonderfully absurd, embodying the contradictions and changes that fill his life.
Near the end of the book Nick thinks about a performer he saw on the Ed Sullivan Show on TV as a kid: an act where a man keeps a bunch of dinner plates spinning atop tall bamboo poles. Nick thinks that his life is like that – “exhilarating because they kept spinning; terrifying because they might fall.” I saw that same Ed Sullivan Show as a child, and I have image in my own head all the time as I contemplate my own life in the twenty-first century.
I want Nick to be happy; but I don’t know where Marshall Thornton will take him next. I know there will be tears. I just hope all the plates don’t fall.
By Marshall Thornton
Published by Kenmore Books, 2018
Five stars
Nick Nowak has come a long way. I didn’t like him for quite a while, although I guess I felt for him right from the start. Nick, you see, is only six years older than I am. In our generation, however, those six years make a big difference. Nick and I came from (and came out in) very different places. From the very start of Marshall Thornton’s landmark series about a gay ex-cop in Chicago in the 1980s, the reader has been challenged to accept Nick Nowak as he is. Sometimes, it wasn’t easy. With each book, though, Thornton has moved Nick along – moved him forward; and he’s moved his readers right along with him.
This is, in retrospect, one of the lowest-key mysteries Nick has had to deal with. There is a possible murder, possibly witnessed by a manic-depressive woman (we say bipolar now, but this was 1985). In spite of its nebulousness, this mystery is ultimately pretty riveting, and finally more shocking than one expects.
But the point is that the mysterious maybe-murder is not really the main course. It is the central plot arc, but it is simply the stem from which all the interlaced tendrils of Nick’s daily life grow. Nick’s relationship with Joseph continues to change. Terry Winkler, the sexually abused gay teenager, is still living with Nick’s late lover’s mother, who is still dying of ovarian cancer. Nick’s longtime friend and onetime lover Ross is still living – which is to say dying slowly - in the tiny high-rise apartment on Lakeshore Drive that Nick shares with Joseph. AIDS is there, named but still untreatable in the face of President Reagan’s stonewalling (ironic term) research funding for the “gay plague.” Nick isn’t even supposed to be working, as his recovery from a gunshot wound has taken longer and hurt more than either he or Joseph anticipated. So, if the central murder story isn’t such a big deal, everything else along with it adds up to a complicated life through which Nick must make his way.
The Nick Nowak we met in the first Boystown story couldn’t have coped. The Nick we know now maneuvers the rocky shoals of his life with remarkable gentleness and wisdom, in spite of the pain – physical and emotional – that he feels nearly all the time. This is not the Nick we knew back when.
I love Nick now. He’s a rock, although he doesn’t quite realize it.
Wry humor fills the book, provoking a smile or a chuckle at some particularly dry throwaway line. If not actually funny, the craziness of Nick’s world provokes eye-rolls and snickers of disbelief. For all the troubles, it’s not deadly serious. Nick is afraid, and Nick is angry. But he is not oblivious to irony. There is one moment that finds Nick reading “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” in the laundry room of his apartment building. The thought is hilarious. Younger readers won’t get it, perhaps, but it just struck me as wonderfully absurd, embodying the contradictions and changes that fill his life.
Near the end of the book Nick thinks about a performer he saw on the Ed Sullivan Show on TV as a kid: an act where a man keeps a bunch of dinner plates spinning atop tall bamboo poles. Nick thinks that his life is like that – “exhilarating because they kept spinning; terrifying because they might fall.” I saw that same Ed Sullivan Show as a child, and I have image in my own head all the time as I contemplate my own life in the twenty-first century.
I want Nick to be happy; but I don’t know where Marshall Thornton will take him next. I know there will be tears. I just hope all the plates don’t fall.
January 9, 2020
4.5 stars
Another great read from Marshall! He's definitely become one of my fav authors.
This installment feels "quieter" than the previous ones and it's more focused on Nick and his family-by-choice than on the criminal puzzle, although I must admit, its solution surprised me a lot. I did not expect that at all.
Nick has matured so much since the first book. He's more serious, more open to communication and relations.
Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the quiet tone in Heart's Desire is like the calm before the storm and soon we'll be facing some inevitable loss and grief.
Marshall is really great at conveying the 80s atmosphere, an era in which AIDS took its death toll.
I was eleven when back in 1986 I first heard about this strange and deadly disease. I can't remember if anyone even dared to say its name. Everyone was whispering to each other and mainly drug addicts were blamed for spreading disease. Imagine Poland from those times, a country in Europe behind an iron curtain, where shelves in stores were empty and food and other items could be bought for food stamps. Where there were no disposable syringes and doctors had no idea how to help.
I can't imagine living my life knowing that everyone around me, my friends, my family is dying and I can be next.
Those were really dark and dreadful times, may they never come back.
Another great read from Marshall! He's definitely become one of my fav authors.
This installment feels "quieter" than the previous ones and it's more focused on Nick and his family-by-choice than on the criminal puzzle, although I must admit, its solution surprised me a lot. I did not expect that at all.
Nick has matured so much since the first book. He's more serious, more open to communication and relations.
Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the quiet tone in Heart's Desire is like the calm before the storm and soon we'll be facing some inevitable loss and grief.
Marshall is really great at conveying the 80s atmosphere, an era in which AIDS took its death toll.
I was eleven when back in 1986 I first heard about this strange and deadly disease. I can't remember if anyone even dared to say its name. Everyone was whispering to each other and mainly drug addicts were blamed for spreading disease. Imagine Poland from those times, a country in Europe behind an iron curtain, where shelves in stores were empty and food and other items could be bought for food stamps. Where there were no disposable syringes and doctors had no idea how to help.
I can't imagine living my life knowing that everyone around me, my friends, my family is dying and I can be next.
Those were really dark and dreadful times, may they never come back.
November 6, 2022
loved it!
One if the reasons I like this series so much is that they aren’t fluffy.
They are city, gritty, dirty at times & feel like the ‘80’s. Chicago itself feels like a character in all of these stories and that lends it an air of reality that I miss in most MM romance—not that this is really a romance. First and for most it’s a mystery with romance tangled within, in all of its pretty and ugly forms.
One if the reasons I like this series so much is that they aren’t fluffy.
They are city, gritty, dirty at times & feel like the ‘80’s. Chicago itself feels like a character in all of these stories and that lends it an air of reality that I miss in most MM romance—not that this is really a romance. First and for most it’s a mystery with romance tangled within, in all of its pretty and ugly forms.
September 23, 2018
The pace of the timeline for this series has slowed down. Mrs. Harker and Ross are both quite sick. Nick is physically debilitated. To test or not to test, that is the question. The 80s were a very rough time.
January 22, 2020
“I had to stop missing things. I was still here, I needed to do everything. I needed to know everything. I needed to do it all while there was time.”
Oh, Nick.
This book was near perfection for me. I feel like the events in this series are happening to my own friends. Nick Nowak makes me laugh, he makes me cry and he makes me grind my teeth in frustration in every instalment of this amazing series.
Oh, Nick.
This book was near perfection for me. I feel like the events in this series are happening to my own friends. Nick Nowak makes me laugh, he makes me cry and he makes me grind my teeth in frustration in every instalment of this amazing series.
May 30, 2025
Dramatic events on the personal side compensate for a lackluster mystery. Probably one you need to be deeply invested in the series for, but then that doesn't seem odd for book 11 in a 13 book series.
June 21, 2021
Always good to visit Nick and friends—
December 2, 2019
This book felt like eye of a hurricane, Nick trying to solve a mystery that didn't involve something big while also dealing with his personal life trying to protect everyone he loves but realizing sometimes it's futile or you can do ever so much.
I forgot these books are roughly 250 pages so I was left wanting more, but honestly? It's the right length
I forgot these books are roughly 250 pages so I was left wanting more, but honestly? It's the right length
Want to read
August 7, 2018
2 more days?!!! I need this!
November 2, 2018
I have loved every book in this series but this one I think is my favorite. And the saddest for me. The issues that were going on in the 80s were extremely hard, but felt worse when it is someone you love. The transformations in these characters have been amazing. The maturity levels, the compassion. Things have definitely changed and I'm for one loving it. My only beef is the somewhat cliffhanger lol. You guys are killing me with them.
When I first met Nick, I liked him but man did i want to smack him or shake him. Something. He was so arrogant and didn't think of consequences. He flew through life like he didn't care almost. Of course, with all he had went through at first, I can kind of understand. But now, to see the changes he has made. To see how much he has grown and matured. I adore him so much. Sometimes I still wanna shake him lol. But ah well.
In this book, he gets a case that is a little strange. Well, the woman is strange to a point. Dealing with a mental illness isn't no pretty picture. But what makes this harder on Nick, is he is still healing from his gunshot wound. And all the turmoil in his personal life is getting to him. He's losing friends and family, his relationship is changing, and life is meaning different things to him now. He looks at things different. He's trying to be better. And my heart breaks for him because of the doubts he carries that things could have been different. Or because they are changing.
Working this case as well as trying to get justice for an old one plus seeing another about kids is pulling him apart. Why people prey on innocent children is beyond him. (And me too). And the more he digs into this case, the more disgusted is by some things. The cover-ups are really ticking him off, even when it comes to the one who shot him. The church, the people, the lawyers. All to keep a certain appearance. Sad to say it's seems to be worse today. But the one that is really throwing him off is the woman's sister he's working for. Being manic is no joke, but this woman is devious in her own way as well. And the results were horrific at what he found. Using a rape case to help your cause? Yeah, not cool in Nick’s book. Hell, it shouldn't be in anyone's.
I am still reeling from this book. This one hit me right in the feels and I just want to hug Nick. *Shew* This is such a good one. I hope you guys have been reading this series. If you have, you're in for some surprises and shocks in this one. But it's so damn good. If you haven't read this series, you need to. The writing in this series is exceptional. I can't put them down. And with all the reveals in this book, I really hope the next one is coming VERY soon. Please? 😁
http://lovebytesreviews.com
When I first met Nick, I liked him but man did i want to smack him or shake him. Something. He was so arrogant and didn't think of consequences. He flew through life like he didn't care almost. Of course, with all he had went through at first, I can kind of understand. But now, to see the changes he has made. To see how much he has grown and matured. I adore him so much. Sometimes I still wanna shake him lol. But ah well.
In this book, he gets a case that is a little strange. Well, the woman is strange to a point. Dealing with a mental illness isn't no pretty picture. But what makes this harder on Nick, is he is still healing from his gunshot wound. And all the turmoil in his personal life is getting to him. He's losing friends and family, his relationship is changing, and life is meaning different things to him now. He looks at things different. He's trying to be better. And my heart breaks for him because of the doubts he carries that things could have been different. Or because they are changing.
Working this case as well as trying to get justice for an old one plus seeing another about kids is pulling him apart. Why people prey on innocent children is beyond him. (And me too). And the more he digs into this case, the more disgusted is by some things. The cover-ups are really ticking him off, even when it comes to the one who shot him. The church, the people, the lawyers. All to keep a certain appearance. Sad to say it's seems to be worse today. But the one that is really throwing him off is the woman's sister he's working for. Being manic is no joke, but this woman is devious in her own way as well. And the results were horrific at what he found. Using a rape case to help your cause? Yeah, not cool in Nick’s book. Hell, it shouldn't be in anyone's.
I am still reeling from this book. This one hit me right in the feels and I just want to hug Nick. *Shew* This is such a good one. I hope you guys have been reading this series. If you have, you're in for some surprises and shocks in this one. But it's so damn good. If you haven't read this series, you need to. The writing in this series is exceptional. I can't put them down. And with all the reveals in this book, I really hope the next one is coming VERY soon. Please? 😁
http://lovebytesreviews.com
September 13, 2018
A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review
Rating: 5 stars out 5
For the full review, visit https://wp.me/p220KL-eEZ
From that review: " But with Heart's Desire (Boystown #11), the latest in this incredible series, the struggle gets darker, heavier for many around him, including his mother in law (sort of), his friend with HIV, even his building super. Oh, and himself, still fighting to recover from being shot It's going very slowly.And Nick can't understand why he's physically not himself, including no sexual relations with his boyfriend."
For all our reviews, visit http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords...
Rating: 5 stars out 5
For the full review, visit https://wp.me/p220KL-eEZ
From that review: " But with Heart's Desire (Boystown #11), the latest in this incredible series, the struggle gets darker, heavier for many around him, including his mother in law (sort of), his friend with HIV, even his building super. Oh, and himself, still fighting to recover from being shot It's going very slowly.And Nick can't understand why he's physically not himself, including no sexual relations with his boyfriend."
For all our reviews, visit http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords...
August 11, 2018
Wonderful series.
Nick just keeps moving forward. I love this series, but I start each book feeling a little worried about what he will have to endure next. This installment wasn’t as agonizing as the last book, but it reminds us that change happens. I like that the author includes bit of actual news from that time, it gives me perspective. The stories are honest and real; it makes me impatient for the next book.
Nick just keeps moving forward. I love this series, but I start each book feeling a little worried about what he will have to endure next. This installment wasn’t as agonizing as the last book, but it reminds us that change happens. I like that the author includes bit of actual news from that time, it gives me perspective. The stories are honest and real; it makes me impatient for the next book.
September 2, 2018
Beauty
Thornton finds beauty in this hard world. This novel is filled with character moments that reveals the growing clarity in his understanding of the loving relationships in the book.
Thornton finds beauty in this hard world. This novel is filled with character moments that reveals the growing clarity in his understanding of the loving relationships in the book.
April 23, 2019
Another excellently rendered tale set in a time gone by- these stories evoke Boystown in Chicago during the AIDS epidemic. Nick Nowak, the former CPD officer turned PI, solves mysteries as he muddles through his own complicated life with the ragtag family he has made. Although each story stands alone, it is best to read them in order because you get to see Nick's evolution from a closeted gay cop to a man grappling with being rejected by his family and friends; finding a new profession; and sex, drugs, and love during Boystown's heyday.
In the 11th book in the series, we find Nick recovering from a gunshot wound while caring for Mrs. Harker, his former lover's mother who has end stage cancer and Ross, a close friend in the latter stages of AIDS. He is also continuing to navigate the relationship with his current lover, Joseph, the ex-priest. meanwhile, he is drawn into a new case featuring a mentally ill woman who claims someone was killed in her apartment while wrapping up the case of the church member who sexually abused his precocious ward, Terry.
As always, Marshall Thornton tells an engrossing story where Boystown and the history of the AIDS epidemic in Chicago are central characters. I can't wait for Book 12.
In the 11th book in the series, we find Nick recovering from a gunshot wound while caring for Mrs. Harker, his former lover's mother who has end stage cancer and Ross, a close friend in the latter stages of AIDS. He is also continuing to navigate the relationship with his current lover, Joseph, the ex-priest. meanwhile, he is drawn into a new case featuring a mentally ill woman who claims someone was killed in her apartment while wrapping up the case of the church member who sexually abused his precocious ward, Terry.
As always, Marshall Thornton tells an engrossing story where Boystown and the history of the AIDS epidemic in Chicago are central characters. I can't wait for Book 12.
August 31, 2018
The crime plot was almost not existent, but this is a noir, not a crime book
Slowly, Mr Thornton is carrying us toward many sad goodbyes
Mrs Harker, Ross, maybe Brian, maybe even Nick
I loved the vibe, sad and joyful at the same time. There's death at the door, but there are friendship and love (many kinds of love) too.
Boystown books are the eulogy of an era. From book 1, when Nick was carefree like everyone around him, now, at book 11, AIDS is a crude reality that destroys lives. And nothing will ever be the same.
Wild days are gone.
August 20, 2018
Good. Somewhat surreal. A few questions left from previous books are answered, but some issues are still hanging fire and some new questions are raised. Nick is more aware of national and international issues now, where in the first couple of books, he was pretty apolitical, if I remember right. Joseph is coming into his own. The AIDS crisis is sweeping along. Nick is more open to communication than he was.
August 27, 2018
Great book by an extremely talented writer. I think it is the best book in the series. I like that the book transported me in time to 1980's Chicago. I simultaneously did not want to put it down and did not want it to end.
August 29, 2022
Disappointingly stereotypical portrayal of a mentally ill woman lying about being sexually abused as a child in order to scam her father. Lazy, clichéd, dangerously outdated. This instalment hasn't aged well. Nick and Joseph's interactions were great and I really like how we're seeing more of Nick's constant denial/burying his head in the sand, which makes me concerned for their endgame. But I can't get past all the errors of judgement in Irene's storyline.
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
25. Gifts Given 5/5
26. Heart's Desire 1/5
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
25. Gifts Given 5/5
26. Heart's Desire 1/5
January 3, 2019
#SpoilerWarrior
I saw today that there are only two more books in the series, and honestly, I can’t decide really where it’s going or how it’s going to end and it kind of freaks me out.
Running thoughts:
A small part of me wants Joseph and Nick to break up so that Nick could go back to doing everything that moves. It also since he’s probably positive, I’m glad that he doesn’t do that anymore. Also I like Joseph. Usually. Sometimes.
When Eva dies at least Nick can have a condo. That was bad to say. But it’d almost be like he could have a bit of Harker back.
I really wouldn’t be able to handle having this many dying people around me.
Hahahahaha. Yas.
There are some typing errors in this book that are driving me crazy.
Hmm. These books always leave me feeling sad and in need of a pick me up.
I saw today that there are only two more books in the series, and honestly, I can’t decide really where it’s going or how it’s going to end and it kind of freaks me out.
Running thoughts:
A small part of me wants Joseph and Nick to break up so that Nick could go back to doing everything that moves. It also since he’s probably positive, I’m glad that he doesn’t do that anymore. Also I like Joseph. Usually. Sometimes.
When Eva dies at least Nick can have a condo. That was bad to say. But it’d almost be like he could have a bit of Harker back.
I really wouldn’t be able to handle having this many dying people around me.
Hahahahaha. Yas.
There are some typing errors in this book that are driving me crazy.
Hmm. These books always leave me feeling sad and in need of a pick me up.
August 14, 2018
Just okay......
Nick and Joe are getting closer in ways Nick isn't comfortable with or knows how to handle. He also finds himself in several very stressful end of life situations with a parent figure and an ex-lover, both of whom he has constant contact. Lots of internal angsty, anxiety driven scenes he uses his usual snark to cope. The author has effectively captured the timeperiod effectively well. He doesn't however do a very good job of identifying who is speaking these plot points. There are several pages of dialogue without ever identifying who is speaking. Big deduction of stars for that unforgivably sloppy bit of editing. No real grammar or spelling mistakes. Not his best work, but still a good read if you've been following this saga.
Nick and Joe are getting closer in ways Nick isn't comfortable with or knows how to handle. He also finds himself in several very stressful end of life situations with a parent figure and an ex-lover, both of whom he has constant contact. Lots of internal angsty, anxiety driven scenes he uses his usual snark to cope. The author has effectively captured the timeperiod effectively well. He doesn't however do a very good job of identifying who is speaking these plot points. There are several pages of dialogue without ever identifying who is speaking. Big deduction of stars for that unforgivably sloppy bit of editing. No real grammar or spelling mistakes. Not his best work, but still a good read if you've been following this saga.
November 23, 2023
This series is going to end, and I really dont want it to. The end of book 11 has the ring of misery to come about it..... I'm not sure I want to know, but I cant stop reading. Nick seems to get battered and beaten no matter what he does. This come in the form of death of a loved one, and being 'played' by another. Always taking on the burden of guilt himself, he feels all the failures - real or not. His friends are being pro-active about their health and Nick wants to bury his head. With only 2 books to go....... aarrrgghhh - hope its all HEA's....
February 14, 2019
Finally got to read this and it has a different feel to the previous books in the series. This story made me sad. Sad for Nick actually because death is around the corner for a couple of his people and I think in the next installment, these people won't be around anymore. He feels like life is spinning out of his control and when death threatens again and it will and it will be closer this time and Idk, just thinking about it makes me sad.
July 4, 2023
Perfect
I don’t think I can praise this series anymore than I already have in the last 11 reviews (including the prequel). It is just perfect. It combines all the elements that I crave in a book into one perfect series. Sadly it’s coming to an end (just two more books!) and I have a feeling something bad is going to happen to these beloved characters. I hope I’m wrong. Please prove me wrong.
I don’t think I can praise this series anymore than I already have in the last 11 reviews (including the prequel). It is just perfect. It combines all the elements that I crave in a book into one perfect series. Sadly it’s coming to an end (just two more books!) and I have a feeling something bad is going to happen to these beloved characters. I hope I’m wrong. Please prove me wrong.
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