Rainbow Awards: Best Gay Mystery / Thriller
And the Rainbow Award goes to:
1) Geoffrey Knight - The Riddle of the Sands (Cleis Press)
Geoffrey has created a fascinating novel! I found this to be a superb and fast-paced book to read. It could conceivably become a James Bond or another Indiana Jones movie, but with sexy, male-to-male sexy relationships. I could not put this book down! I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more books by the author! --Byron
I enjoyed this book. It ended up being my favorite of the five I read. --Ken
This is the second in the Fathom Five Adventure series-the previous book being The Cross of Sins. This book picks up where the other leaves off, and once again Knight delivers and exciting erotic tale filled with action and suspense. Some may feel that the things get repetitious at times, but then consider what someone who picks up this book wants from it. This is not literature (as such) but it delivers the goods in a respectable way. Fans of Knight will be delighted. The cover of course will motivate many to pick it up (smart move), but those who actually pick it up to read it will get what they want and more. Cleis is again a publisher you can count on. --Robert
Hot gay tomb raiders. Blackmailed by Jake's nemesis-the vengeful Pierre Perron-Professor Fathom's team of gay adventure-hunters is sent on a seemingly impossible mission. Will they uncover the legendary Riddle of the Sands in time to save one of their own from a rare and deadly poison? Is the Riddle a myth, a mirage, or the greatest engineering feat in the history of ancient Egypt?
2) P.A. Brown - L.A. Boneyard (MLR Press)
From a shallow grave in Griffith Park, to the bucolic streets of West Hollywood into the dark heart of the gang-infested streets of East L.A, evil is pursued in this dark story of passion and redemption. Detective David Eric Laine is no stranger to violence and brutality, but even he is taken aback at the sheer viciousness of the murder of two pregnant Ukrainian women. This is just the beginning of a baffling case which leads from their shallow grave to a bungalow community in West Hollywood, tree-lined and tranquil, on to the heart of the gang-infested streets of East Los Angeles, and points in between. And what of Jairo Hernandez, David's new, young partner? The attraction between them was immediate and intense and growing by the day. Would this be a threat to David's settled life?
3) Anthony Bidulka - Date with a Sheesha (Insomniac Press)
Easily the best book of the bunch. The author laid out a well planned mystery with interesting themes and settings. The characters were a bit "over the top" at times, but it all worked well to create an identifiable style that was enjoyable. --Will
Lovers of the Russell Quant Mystery series will surely be eager to get there hands on this one. This is the seventh in the series, and once again Bidulka does not disappoint his readers. The premise is a good one, and one of the highlights of the book the descriptions of the culture and peoples of Dubai. Personally, I find the writing a bit too chatty-witty at times... it can be and does get tiresome at times. But, who can quibble with success. --Robert
Neil Gupta went to the Middle East looking for antique carpets. He found something equally timeless: murder. When Neil is found stabbed to death in Dubai's spice souk, his distraught father wants revenge. He hires private investigator Russell Quant to catch the killer. In his greatest case to date, Quant goes undercover to match wits with a wily museum curator, shifty souk merchants, corrupt carpet experts, and the denizens of an underground club for "fabulous" men. From the flamboyant glitz of Dubai to the scorching sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, Quant risks his life as he wades further and further into the shadows cast by the desert sun. As Russell's spicy international adventure heats up, he learns a valuable lesson about love, life, and learning to seize the moment...before it's gone. On the verge of making the biggest personal decision of his life, Russell discovers that endings sometimes come before beginnings.
Honorable Mention:
4-tie) Greg Herren - Vieux Carre Voodoo (Bold Strokes Books)
Josh Aterovis - All Lost Things (P.D. Publishing)
6) Dorien Grey - The Secret Keeper (Zumaya Publications)
7) P.A. Brown - L.A. Bytes (MLR Press)
8-tie) Clare London - Blinded by Our Eyes (Carina Press)
J.S. Cook - Because You Despise Me (MLR Press)
Mark Abramson - Snowman (Lethe Press)