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Midland Club
A knotted tale of corruption, lies and murder in a midwestern town. Only one man is willing to reveal the truth--at the risk of his own life. from Midland Club What could I prove? I asked myself as I looked into a pile of trash next to my bed. And from that trash, glistening like some mysterious jewel, I spotted the invitation to Garland's birthday party. Was I too late? Had it already passed. I grabbed the invitation and reread it. I was not too late. The party was Saturday. Three days away. It was my only chance to see Garland Sousley face to face. Should I go? It would mean facing a hundred Uncle Buds: a room full of midwestern men of my father's generation who knew me, who knew my life story, men who had judged me not like Uncle Bud but like W. T. Sousley. These men hated me. Could I walk into their midst to question the oldest and most respected of them as to his associations with an old queer Negro.
128 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2016
About the author
Mark Spano
2 books5 followersMark Spano’s feature documentary “Sicily: Land of Love and Strife” recently aired on KCPT Public Television and has had a limited theatrical release in the US and Canada. It was warmly received at the Toronto Italian Film Festival and has aired on selected public television stations and in E.U. markets. He has also published a companion book to his film. Both are available on Amazon.com.
He is presently developing two programs, one on the participation of African-American soldiers in the Civil War and another on Sicilian wines.
Mark’s novel, a page-turning murder mystery entitled Midland Club, was recently published by Thunderfoot Press. Midland Club has received two awards and significant critical acclaim. The book is available on Amazon.com.
In January 2018, he adapted Midland Club for the screen at an artist’s residency in Seaside, Florida. He is presently putting together a development team for the film “Midland Club.”
Mark is also is a contributing editor for the online magazine Times of Sicily. His fiction and reviews frequently appear in Ovunque Siamo.
A current list of all the short fiction, nonfiction articles, and book reviews that Mark has had published is available on his website under the title Short Works.
For more than 12 years, he has operated his own business, Mark Spano Communications, Inc., through which he produced “Carolina Countryside,” a weekly public television series. After airing across North Carolina, Discovery Home and Leisure picked up the series for national broadcast.
Mark Spano also produced, directed, and written the following television programs:
• “The Quality of Light: A Biography of Claude Howell,” as part of a television series in cooperation with Preservation North Carolina. Narrated by Charlie Rose.
• Several successful pledge specials for public television.
• Live events for television,
• Corporate marketing videos,
• A variety of television and radio spots for retail advertising, political candidates, and public service announcements.
For the greater portion of his career, Spano has been actively engaged in securing funding for film, television, community, and art projects.
He holds advanced degrees from Marymount University of Virginia and the American University in Washington, D.C. He now resides in rural Orange County, North Carolina.
He is presently developing two programs, one on the participation of African-American soldiers in the Civil War and another on Sicilian wines.
Mark’s novel, a page-turning murder mystery entitled Midland Club, was recently published by Thunderfoot Press. Midland Club has received two awards and significant critical acclaim. The book is available on Amazon.com.
In January 2018, he adapted Midland Club for the screen at an artist’s residency in Seaside, Florida. He is presently putting together a development team for the film “Midland Club.”
Mark is also is a contributing editor for the online magazine Times of Sicily. His fiction and reviews frequently appear in Ovunque Siamo.
A current list of all the short fiction, nonfiction articles, and book reviews that Mark has had published is available on his website under the title Short Works.
For more than 12 years, he has operated his own business, Mark Spano Communications, Inc., through which he produced “Carolina Countryside,” a weekly public television series. After airing across North Carolina, Discovery Home and Leisure picked up the series for national broadcast.
Mark Spano also produced, directed, and written the following television programs:
• “The Quality of Light: A Biography of Claude Howell,” as part of a television series in cooperation with Preservation North Carolina. Narrated by Charlie Rose.
• Several successful pledge specials for public television.
• Live events for television,
• Corporate marketing videos,
• A variety of television and radio spots for retail advertising, political candidates, and public service announcements.
For the greater portion of his career, Spano has been actively engaged in securing funding for film, television, community, and art projects.
He holds advanced degrees from Marymount University of Virginia and the American University in Washington, D.C. He now resides in rural Orange County, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 9, 2017
4,5 stars
This novel is a small jewel. It is like a hidden pearl that you won't see until you opened a shell. Maybe it is the reason why it stays unnoticed and unknown for the target audience. No I don't speak here about a broad audience, gay literary fiction as a genre doesn't have it, unfortunately.
I'm really surprised to find such beautifully and such unusually told historical mystery novel by a totally new for me author. I hope to see more fictional books from Mark Spano in the future.
Richard St.Pierre belongs to one of the wealthiest families of the Midwest, and 6 years ago he was also a member of the Midland Club, that meant that he was still part of his family and the city. But it was before the police raided the Miss Otis, a place where gays met. As a result - he lost his job, his family abandoned him and he never saw and talked to his father until his death. Now he lives in a black neighborhood, in a cheap apartment and spends most of his money on phonograph records, concerts, liquor and the pursuit of sex.
When Puce, the only black waiter at the Midland Club whom Richard knows since he was a boy, is found dead, the cops says it is suicide. But it is not what Richard believes, and as he tries to find the truth, he comes across the secrets that put his life in danger.
The best in this novel is not the story itself, and not the mystery, though I have to praise the author for a very accurate historical atmosphere he created - but HOW it is told. Midland Club is melancholic, lyric, flawlessly smooth and realistic.
I always emphasized that I'm a first person POV junkie. There are books that not necessarily have to be told from the first person pov. But it is impossible not to do it in Midland Club and Mark Spano does it masterfully. Richard doesn't ONLY try to reveal the truth at the risk of his own life, he tells about his family's history, about himself, people from the past and people around him, he shares his feelings, thoughts and memories and as the result we have an excellent piece of gay fiction of exceptional quality.
Highly recommended!
***ARC provided to Gay Book Reviews by the author in exchange for an honest review.***
This novel is a small jewel. It is like a hidden pearl that you won't see until you opened a shell. Maybe it is the reason why it stays unnoticed and unknown for the target audience. No I don't speak here about a broad audience, gay literary fiction as a genre doesn't have it, unfortunately.
I'm really surprised to find such beautifully and such unusually told historical mystery novel by a totally new for me author. I hope to see more fictional books from Mark Spano in the future.
Richard St.Pierre belongs to one of the wealthiest families of the Midwest, and 6 years ago he was also a member of the Midland Club, that meant that he was still part of his family and the city. But it was before the police raided the Miss Otis, a place where gays met. As a result - he lost his job, his family abandoned him and he never saw and talked to his father until his death. Now he lives in a black neighborhood, in a cheap apartment and spends most of his money on phonograph records, concerts, liquor and the pursuit of sex.
When Puce, the only black waiter at the Midland Club whom Richard knows since he was a boy, is found dead, the cops says it is suicide. But it is not what Richard believes, and as he tries to find the truth, he comes across the secrets that put his life in danger.
The best in this novel is not the story itself, and not the mystery, though I have to praise the author for a very accurate historical atmosphere he created - but HOW it is told. Midland Club is melancholic, lyric, flawlessly smooth and realistic.
I always emphasized that I'm a first person POV junkie. There are books that not necessarily have to be told from the first person pov. But it is impossible not to do it in Midland Club and Mark Spano does it masterfully. Richard doesn't ONLY try to reveal the truth at the risk of his own life, he tells about his family's history, about himself, people from the past and people around him, he shares his feelings, thoughts and memories and as the result we have an excellent piece of gay fiction of exceptional quality.
Highly recommended!
***ARC provided to Gay Book Reviews by the author in exchange for an honest review.***
December 16, 2016
Set in 1958 in Kansas City, "Midland Club" is a dark and cynical tale that reads like a film noir classic.
Rick St. Pierre comes from a "wealthy tribe of lawyers" who belong to the exclusive Midland Club, whose members are among the upper echelon of Kansas City society, until Rick is arrested one night in a police raid of the club Miss Otis Regrets - "a gathering place for homosexuals of whom I was no exception." When Rick learns of the mysterious death of Puce Bordeaux, the only Negro waiter at the Midland Club, Rick sets aside his on and off career as a bail bondsman and digs through the wreckage of his past to find the truth about Puce's death.
The beauty of Midland Club is the telling of the tale, rather than the answer to the mystery. Along the way we meet jazz singers, Italian gangsters, priests, a queer antique dealer, a psychic bordello owner, and learn stories of great love and love that died too soon. There's a bit of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" amidst the melancholy and I highly recommend this book.
I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Review also posted at Gay Book Reviews - check it out!
June 18, 2018
A trip down a Kansas City memory lane.
A nice plot with interesting characters. The best part for me is the author's encyclopedic knowledge of Kansas City neighborhoods to weave his story together using these geographies to set the story's pace.
A nice plot with interesting characters. The best part for me is the author's encyclopedic knowledge of Kansas City neighborhoods to weave his story together using these geographies to set the story's pace.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews