Pipe

Red Doors of New Orleans Mystery #1

by Wade Lake

A couple's first house. Whispers dripping from the rusty showerhead. Can this relationship be saved?

Mack and Chase dreamed of owning a house together. They've finally done it: a four-room fixer-upper in New Orleans' historic Tremé neighborhood. The neglected address lies on a popular parade route. An enormous live oak shades the front stoop. Tangled strands of Mardi Gras beads swing from the oak's mossy branches. The property looks both festive and haunted.

Mack and Chase are blue-collar gays. Mack's a plumber. Chase, an electrician. If they work together, they can turn this tiny house into their forever home. But the work is overwhelming. Their alpha personalities lock horns. Their sex life screeches to an unceremonious halt. Suddenly Chase prefers reading romance mysteries to making love. And why the hell is he getting so friendly with the nosy neighbors?

Mack hasn't had a good night's sleep since they moved into this money pit. His heart aches. His muscles ache. His balls ache. Not only is Mack sex-starved and exhausted, but now he swears he can hear a disembodied voice leaking from the showerhead.

What if what it says is true?

Mack would risk everything to win back Chase's affections. The house was Mack's plan to mend their relationship. Unfortunately, it seems the house has a plan of its own.

Mack suspects something very bad happened here ...or it's about to.


Pipe is a suspense novel told through a MM romance with a hint of the paranormal.
Pipe is a stand-alone story.
Pipe is approximately 240 pages.
Pipe contains strong sexual content and brief violence.

Pipe is the first release of Wade Lake's Red Doors of New Orleans Mystery Series. This series interweaves the sights and sounds of New Orleans with urban legends and contemporary mysteries. Each is a stand-alone story with no cliffhangers. Some characters appear in multiple stories. Enjoy.

Genres: LGBT, Paranormal, Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, M M Romance

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 29, 2020

About the author

Wade Lake owns and manages a small art gallery and gift shop on a street popular with tourists from around the world. He enjoys conversations with strangers, challenging hikes, and occasional skinny dipping.

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Wade Lake constructs his narratives with one mystery on the page and a second underneath or between the lines. The story on top is suspenseful, romantic, and darkly whimsical. The story underneath is far more mischievous. He likes surprise endings.

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"Keep an eye on my website for new book release dates, previews / sneak peeks and fun book trailers. Thanks!" - Wade

About Pipe:

A couple's first house. Whispers dripping from the rusty showerhead. Can this relationship be saved?

Mack and Chase dreamed of owning a house together. They've finally done it: a four-room fixer-upper in New Orleans' historic Tremé neighborhood. The neglected address lies on a popular parade route. An enormous live oak shades the front stoop. Tangled strands of Mardi Gras beads swing from the oak's mossy branches. The property looks both festive and haunted.

Mack's a plumber. Chase, an electrician. If they work together, they can turn this tiny house into their forever home. But the work is overwhelming. Their personalities lock horns. Suddenly Chase prefers reading MM romance mysteries to making love. And Mack is hearing a voice leaking from the showerhead.

What if what it says is true?

Mack suspects something very bad happened here ...or it's about to.

Pipe is a suspense novel told through a MM romance with a hint of the paranormal.
Pipe is a stand-alone story.
Pipe is a dark.
Pipe is a steamy.
Pipe contains strong sexual content and brief violence.

Pipe is the first release of Wade Lake's Red Doors of New Orleans Mystery Series. This series interweaves the sights and sounds of New Orleans with urban legends and contemporary mysteries.

Wade Lake's Red Doors of New Orleans Mystery Series. features present-day gay male protagonists living conventional lives in historic neighborhoods. Many are members of the New Orleans law enforcement and emergency services communities. Each story in this series is a stand-alone with no cliffhangers. Some characters appear in multiple stories, often "between the lines."

Enjoy

Reviews

[Tina Loves To Read]

This is the 1st book in the Red Door of New Orleans Mystery series. I won a kindle edition of this book from a goodreads giveaway, and I will post a honest review as soon as I read this book.

[Ottilee B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a problem in the beginning as one of the MCs was an as*hole of the first order, hands down. But the story was funny, so I couldn't just leave it. I, too, hear voices in my pipes sometimes and they say intelligent things. TRUE things. So I had to keep reading. And, no, the ass wasn't the one listening to the pipes. (He's an electrician.) After I got into the story, I franticly began turning pages to see how it ends. I was shocked, surprised, tickled PINK at the ending!!! Mr. Lake, you have a new fan that can hardly wait for the next!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful book, a great blend of menace and humour that had me hooked from start to finish. It has delights of New Orleansiana and gay sensibility that I loved. The sort of book that makes you look forward to more like it. Apparently there is the promise of just that, and I can't wait.

[Susan A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down. A surprising finish. Looking forward to the next book.

[PaperMoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel there's a parallel process in the plot, whereby the physical redo/renovation of the MC's new house is tracked by the deconstruction and redefinition of their marriage relationship. The advertised 'spook' factor proved not all that spooky, but did forebode 'deeper troubles ahead' for Mack and Chase as they are forced to negotiate and navigate the trials of pouring money, time and energy into the 'money-pit' known as home. Neither MC (or any of the characters actually) were particularly likeable IMO.

Early on in the read, I did imagine Mack was falling into a rabbit-hole of his own thoughts (shades of Donnie Darko) but despite the escalated 'Hitchcock-like' paranoia and suspicions, the author took the plot (and ending) to an unexpected place altogether. One final point - a lot of other reviewers mention finding 'humor' in their reading - something I did not experience whatsoever (although I did burst out laughing at the typo in the phrase "the end is neigh"). 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Breaks the lines of genres with LGBTQ, mystery and psychological thriller elements. I COULD NOT put this down. Wade Lake hypnotizes you with his storytelling, and keeps his hold on you beyond the last page. I'll be fascinated to see where he goes with the next book in this series.

I received this book through the Goodreads giveaway program.

[Karen Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great twisting story

Didn’t realize that this was a mystery until over half way through book which was a pleasant surprise! When I started reading didn’t know where the author was going with this story but after continued reading I couldnt put it down! Great mystery love story for all!

[Yvonne M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all of the different directions this story went into. I can’t wait for the next one. Great read!

[Linda.. aka Ahsoka]

Omg..

This is truly a unique book... I don't know how to explain what I just read without spoiling anything.. But I am baffled in the best kind of way...

[Julian Cheek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book deliciously disturbing. A haunting story of lies, deception & obsession with just the right amount of paranormal intrigue. I was riveted & read the novel in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down!

[Turnip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

I couldn’t put this down from the first page. I really thought this story was going another direction and boy did it throw me for a loop. Very well written and if you like a few mysteries in one story this is the book for you!

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

I need time to parse my feelings other than to say f*ck me sideways that was incredible! Just go read, go in blind and enjoy the absolute rollercoaster that is this book!

[Aziza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very rarely review or even rate books. But this book was just wowed me. I couldn't help but fall into Mack's head space. The twist at the end was mind blowing. I hope to read more from this author.

[Meghannf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really really don't know what to think about that book AND that's a first one!
I couldn't put the book down for the first half of it.

I liked Mack as a character, he was well crafted emotionally wise. Nevertheless, his husband, Chase I didn't like him since the beginning! He was the typical character that you hate according to the things he said. The perfect antipathy.
Clearly there was a big problem of communication between that couple. I like we get to see the struggles for Mack, the back and forth and how he dealt with it.

For the plot, I enjoyed the mystery. It was entertaining. Now, the ending I absolutelyyyyy hate it!! What ending is that?! That's different for sure but I have no word to say that it shook me with frustration (funny when we know "the last page" in a mystery novel is a point mentioned in the book). It ruined the book for me. Disappointed.
So *spoiler* Mack decides to stay with Chase even if he knows he is a cheater and worst of all a murderer ?!! Whaaaaat?! Maybe I missed something but just because he managed to make Chase loses one month or more of memory doesn't solve anything. I need to process that ending.

2 stars only for the first half. I'm not interested to read the rest of the series, I want to avoid further disappointment.

[KC]

Difficult to rate. Having read some of the reviews beforehand, I expected it to be fun, and with some humor. But, pretty much from the beginning, it became clear that's not what this is (at least for me). The first part made me anxious, and I found the dysfunctional relationship depressing. I disliked one of the MCs right away, and that got worse the more the other MC told us about him. I also deeply disliked their neighbors. I do enjoy well-written noir (though this isn't exactly noir, there are definitely aspects thereof), but the way it's done here just didn't work for me at all. Maybe because it starts with a kind of fallacious premise by an unreliable narrator. And yet...the psychological part was well done. It is thought-provoking. It does defy expectations. So I guess the best way is to go into it without assumptions or expectations.
(Also, there are quite a few name typos, which distracted from the story.)

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting, not because it was that great, but because I wanted to see where this story was going. I did give it three stars because it was written well, but I did not care for the MC or his man. The MC needed a backbone and his husband wasn't worth the trouble. I get the mystery and it was kind of interesting how it tied in, but once again I really didn't care for any of the characters.

[Philip · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thoroughly depressing tale with even sadder ending.