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Gay Youth Chronicles Complete Chronology #27
Someone Is Killing the Gay Boys of Verona
Someone is killing the gay boys of Verona, Indiana, and only one gay youth stands in the way. He finds himself pitted against powerful foes, but finds allies in places he did not expect. A brutal murder. Gay ghosts. A Haunted Victorian-Mansion. A cult of hate. A hundred year old ax murder. All this, and more, await sixteen-year-old Sean as he delves into the supernatural and races to discover the murderer before he strikes again. Someone is Killing the Gay Boys of Verona is a supernatural murder mystery that goes where no gay novel has set foot before. It is a tale of love, hate, friendship, and revenge.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2000
About the author
Mark A. Roeder
100 books214 followersMark A. Roeder grew up in southern Indiana - near a small town similar to those that appear in his novels.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 13, 2011
This was my first Mark Roeder book, chosen for the YA Saves reading challenge, but I'm interested enough to want to read the entire series.
One part spine-tingling murder mystery/ghost story, one part preachy. That preachiness aspect seemed so out of character for a teenage gay male, which is sad because Sean, the protagonist, is such a wonderful character. He's like any typical teenage boy obsessed with sex (in his case his own), his self-esteem and just high school life in general. He's out but still wandering that wilderness of just what being gay means for him. What ruined his voice is the author preaching to the choir, so to speak. We get it--homophobia is bad.
As the title suggests, someone IS killing the gay boys of the fictional small town of Verona, and the ones being murdered just so happen to be Sean's friends. It's up to him and a rather interesting cast of characters, including two ghosts, to solve a deadly mystery and save his own life in the process.
One thing that made me face-palm was Sean's parents, who were conspicuously absent the last half of the book. They just seemed to have plunked their son in a haunted house and leave him to his own devices. Not sure how realistic that is, but oh well. I also hope in subsequent books that there is more diversity as far as characters are concerned. Sorry, but all-white towns no matter how small, just don't seem realistic at all, especially for a modern setting.
One part spine-tingling murder mystery/ghost story, one part preachy. That preachiness aspect seemed so out of character for a teenage gay male, which is sad because Sean, the protagonist, is such a wonderful character. He's like any typical teenage boy obsessed with sex (in his case his own), his self-esteem and just high school life in general. He's out but still wandering that wilderness of just what being gay means for him. What ruined his voice is the author preaching to the choir, so to speak. We get it--homophobia is bad.
As the title suggests, someone IS killing the gay boys of the fictional small town of Verona, and the ones being murdered just so happen to be Sean's friends. It's up to him and a rather interesting cast of characters, including two ghosts, to solve a deadly mystery and save his own life in the process.
One thing that made me face-palm was Sean's parents, who were conspicuously absent the last half of the book. They just seemed to have plunked their son in a haunted house and leave him to his own devices. Not sure how realistic that is, but oh well. I also hope in subsequent books that there is more diversity as far as characters are concerned. Sorry, but all-white towns no matter how small, just don't seem realistic at all, especially for a modern setting.
May 28, 2017
good read
April 16, 2021
As always, a great read from Mark Roeder. This one had it all, mystery, horror, romance and adventure. Probably one of the best of Mark's early books.
August 26, 2013
End of the original trilogy, it rounds out the story of Mark and Taylor as well as that of Ethan and Nathan. It also establishes the supernatural element. It is a mystery with a very surprising ending that satisfied my desire to know what happened to a peripheral, but critical character from the whoe 1980's series. Roeder walks a careful line around the whole life after life issue and gives an answer that is true to his vision.
February 20, 2012
Roeder wanted too much in one single book. There is a wild mixture of love, sexuality, detectives, supernatural phenomenas... Sometimes less is more. Secondly, the introduction of new characthers is awful, since it is obvious from the second they are added what their part of the book they will have.
February 15, 2023
Trashy horror/slasher novel -but gay. And just what I needed to read at the time. The author is very prolific, and I can see why - the book definitely hasn't been edited. There's a lot of repetition and dodgy sentence structure everywhere. But I give it a high rating just because of that right-place-right-time factor.
November 23, 2010
I loved the suspense that this book had. And the glimpses into the past were great. I hope to see more of them in the next book.
I always seem to figure out the bad guy the chapter before it's stated. Something I find amusing.
I always seem to figure out the bad guy the chapter before it's stated. Something I find amusing.
May 25, 2012
I got to see Mark & Taylor again, so I loved it, and the fact that they're happy was the icing on the cake.
April 2, 2017
After the letdown of "Devon" the series is back on track.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews