Best Gay Contemporary General Fiction: Dex in Blue by Amy Lane
In the same series of Chase in Shadown, Dex in Blue follows the life of two other Johnnies (a gay-for-pay porn movie company), factotum Dex (and I mean “totum”, in front and behind the camera) and stud Kane. As many of the other Johnnies, both Dex and Kane arrived to the company posing/believing as straight men who needed easy money; the only difference with many other porn company, is that Johnnies accept candidates only if they are comfortable with being gay-for-pay, i.e. they have to be very near the gay/bisexual end of the Kinsey scale.
Dex actually is a gay in the closet, for most of his college years he had a series of girlfriends, and actually it was one of them that suggested he did porn to raise enough money to pay for his tuition. But Dex was running away from home, Montana, after his first and only male lover, died in a car accident soon after they had the courage to come out to each other. So Dex is well aware he is gay, and that is the starting point of his story in this novel.
Kane instead arrives from a string of bad relationships (if you want to call them that, they were probably more one-time encounter) where girls used him; he is basically trash, a Latino guy with a nice face and body, but not enough money to be a good partner. He joins Johnnies since he needs money to pay for his niece’s hospital bills, and to a 18 years old, sex is sex, and considering he gave it for free until the day before, he doesn’t see why he couldn’t make money instead.
Dex and Kane end up together for convenience, Dex needs support after a very bad break-up, and Kane needs a place to stay. Considering what I told before, that for Kane sex is sex, there is no reason why they shouldn’t share a bed: Kane likes Dex, and Dex needs the comfort of a friendly body. This is for sure a friends with benefits story, and as commonly happens, friendship turns to love in a very natural way. There is no sudden realization for Kane that he is actually gay and in love with Dex, there is simply the realization that he feels good with Dex, living and loving him, and so why bothers that Dex is a man?
I liked this story, I liked the author didn’t underestimate the side effects of being in the porn industry for these young guys; I liked also that she wasn’t too much dramatic, and that she put obstacles on their path, but nothing overwhelming. Maybe there is one point that didn’t ring completely truth to my ears (but you should also consider I’m not really an expert): how can a 18 to 20 years old boy doing porn for a small-independent local firm raising enough money to pay heavy hospital bills, buy a 4 bedroom house and an expensive car? Sure gay-for-pay “pays”, but my idea is that it doesn’t pay so much (but I can be wrong…)
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3251
Amazon: Dex in Blue
Amazon Kindle: Dex in Blue
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1623800102
ISBN-13: 978-1623800109
Series:
1) Chase in Shadow: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1556308.html
2) Dex in Blue
Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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