Murder Book (Boystown #5) in Ask Marshall Thornton

Apr 28, 2014 Otila rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites-mm, top-10

Re-read as audiobook March 2-5, 2015

OH. MY. GOD. Thornton broke me with this one. It's shocking, compelling, emotional and heart wrenching .

I still don't know how to review this book without spoilers so instead I'll just talk about the audiobooks.

The audiobooks for this series are fantastic! Admittedly, it took me till book 2 to really appreciate Brad Langer, the narrater, as Nick. Not because he's not good. On the contrary, he's got the Chicago accent down and the rough voice that a smoker lik ...more

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Apr 14, 2014 LenaRibka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-suspence-thriller, the-1980s, marshall-thornton, lambda-literary-award-finalists, detective-cops-pi, favourite-read-2014, all-time-favourite

OUTSTANDING.

Murder Book is the 5th book in the Boystown series and the second full length novel in it. And it is probably the best one.

I.AM.OVER.THE.MOON.

In one of the interviews, that Marshall Thornton had given before starting the 5th book, he said:

"I’m planning something very shocking for the first page."

I can assure you, he did it!!! AND HOW!!!
He grabbed you from the very first page and didn't let you go.

I don't want to babble a lot, it is not the first book in the series, and if you ...more

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Jun 16, 2014 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, favorite-reads-of-2014

Murder Book, book 5 in Marshall Thornton’s Boystown series, is impossible for me to review and discuss without spoilers. So I have to hang up the Caution Spoilers Ahead sign. Spoilers may be in the text and behind tags.

****Spoiler Alert****Spoilers Ahead****

Marshall Thornton had me at book one. His direct, honest, gritty style and look at the world around him is captivating. And Nick! PI Nick Nowak has become one of my all-time favorite characters. A voice you have to listen to and follow. Gru ...more

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Aug 26, 2013 Rosa, really rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mm-gay-fiction, own-read, reread, read-2013, mm-favorites, series, historical, crime-mystery-thriller, cops-or-pi, alpha-male

I wasn't going to write a review for this book. (I was feeling lazy, I suppose, or waiting for some kind of review genius to hit me.)

But then I saw a review on Amazon that stated this book is not as compelling as the previous installments.

What the what?!?

Leaving aside that everyone has a right to their opinion and I am completely against trolls slamming other reviewers for any reviews of their favorite authors that contain any hint of criticism -- that said -- and with all due respect -- I stro ...more

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Aug 18, 2014 KatieMc rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, mm-not-exactly-romance, gumshoe

My favorite so far. In addition to being sexy private-eye stories, the Nick Nowak books are historical in a time and place with which I have very a personal connection. Book 5 really hit home for me, I am talking late summer of 1982 and Tylenol. The first death occurred in my home town, a suburb of Chicago and as soon as the Tylenol was implicated, cops were driving up and down the streets in their cruisers shouting in their bullhorns "DO NOT TAKE TYLENOL". It was primitive but effective. Keep i ...more

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Apr 30, 2014 Sofia rated it it was amazing

Grabbed me from the first word and hauled me through to the end in a huge ball of emotion. Why this was so when it is just a common tale of loss is witness to the book itself.

Thornton’s spare, no frills, writing appeals to me. He makes me feel without forcing or urging me to and this I appreciate. I also like how Thornton writes women. Unlike some writers who write women terribly, Thornton writes women as they are, just like he writes his men; no embellishments or exclamations. Examples of thi ...more

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May 28, 2014 Irina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gay, series-to-finish, historical, adult, mystery, suspense, contemporary, erotica, 5-stars, marshall-thornton

First thing I'd like to point out, THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE! Those expecting a love story, may be left disappointed and unfulfilled.

However, even for a romance-junkie like me, it became an all-time favorite series. I don't find myself in such a whirlwind of emotions very often, but here they kept creeping up on me and catching me unaware.

“Emotions came in waves. But not like the lake, where the waves could be gentle and healing. No, these were shock waves. Electric and jolting.”

Marshall Thornt First thing I'd like to point out, THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE! Those expecting a love story, may be left disappointed and unfulfilled.

However, even for a romance-junkie like me, it became an all-time favorite series. I don't find myself in such a whirlwind of emotions very often, but here they kept creeping up on me and catching me unaware.

“Emotions came in waves. But not like the lake, where the waves could be gentle and healing. No, these were shock waves. Electric and jolting.”

Marshall Thornton is an exceptional writer. With very precise and effortless observations and descriptions he shows rather than tells the story. It's so easy to get transported into Nick's world and see it through his eyes. A truly amazing experience.

“I could have gotten on the El and been home in twenty minutes or so. But I couldn’t stand the idea of being that still, that patient, that close to people. So I walked. I walked by a couple of construction sites, by a row of brick townhouses one after another, by a Bible college that promised all the answers and delivered none. I walked and walked and walked. I couldn’t tell you if it was cold or warm. The sky was gray but downright sunny compared to my mood.”

I liked that Nick is portrayed as a real person with all his faults, doubts, mistakes and fears. It's easy to dispise his actions but impossible to hold a grudge for long. The guy is simply irresistible. He knows it and he doesn't hesitate to use it, sometimes hurting people in the process. But that only makes him human.

“You’re young, you don’t get it. So let me explain something to you. When a guy lets you suck him off and he doesn’t return the favor, the way I just didn’t return the favor, that means he doesn’t like you all that much.”
Sorry, couldn't resist this quote :)

I thought it was quite enlightening to read about the problems gay men faced and dealt with at the early 80s. I'd like to believe the world has evolved considerably since then, and can't help but compare.

The mystery is very intense and expertly thought out. Some time during the last few chapters, I kept holding my breath and felt my hair raising. The case of the book 5 has been slowly built throughout the series and gained a painfully personal twist to it, so it became an obsession for me to find out as soon as possible who did what. I couldn't read fast enough.

Boystown series exceeded my expectations by far. To me, each instalment was better than its predecessor and I was consistently being kept on my toes. I guess, I still am, because I can't wait to start the next book and be a part of Nick's world again. ...more

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Jun 30, 2014 Joy rated it it was amazing

"Grieving is like being set afire. Except when you try to put out the flames they disappear; when you try to salve your wounds you find your skin unblemished. You take a breath, thinking the worst has passed, and then grief bursts into flames anew. It rages, it roars, it smolders, all at its own unfathomable whim. You can't shake it; you have no choice but to burn."

I was trying so hard not to cry towards the end of the story--- when I read the above quote I lost my battle--this is such a great s ...more

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May 15, 2014 Alona rated it it was amazing

Shelves: part-of-a-series, cried-like-a-baby

5++++

If I will find it in me to write something that will be able to transfer what I feel, I will, but I doubt that I will!
Can I just, in a more personal note say:
Thank you mr Thornton for an amazing ride (and -please write faster?)
And, thank you Lena! Can I catch a flight and give you a hug?

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May 27, 2013 Jon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-gay-series, favorite-gay-mysteries

When I was much younger, I could always tell how much I enjoyed a book by my reaction upon finishing; did the story stay with me long after completion? Was I impacted by the lives of the characters spread throughout hundreds of pages? Had the ending forced some outward emotion I might otherwise deny if asked? A good example of this happened in my early twenties when I read the classic novel, Good Times/Bad Times, by James Kirkwood. My reaction toward the end was to fling the well-worn, dog-eared When I was much younger, I could always tell how much I enjoyed a book by my reaction upon finishing; did the story stay with me long after completion? Was I impacted by the lives of the characters spread throughout hundreds of pages? Had the ending forced some outward emotion I might otherwise deny if asked? A good example of this happened in my early twenties when I read the classic novel, Good Times/Bad Times, by James Kirkwood. My reaction toward the end was to fling the well-worn, dog-eared paperback across the room in tears. I am mentioning this because I had the same reaction to Marshall Thornton’s, Boystown 5: Murder Book, the fifth release in the Nick Nowak mystery novels, and the second full-length novel in the series. I did, however, refrain from tossing the novel since I was listening to the audiobook on my iPhone and doing so would not have been a smart move. But, I wanted to throw the book after reading just the first few sentences! The story impacted me that much.

To share more detail would be to spoil the reading (or listening) experience of the latest novel featuring the enigmatic Nick Nowak, by far the strongest offering to the Nowak gay mystery series to date. The disclosure within the first few lines of prose is the catalyst that drives the former Chicago cop-turned private investigator through a professional, yet very personal struggle to hunt down the infamous Bughouse Slasher, a serial killer which his lover, Bert Harker, has been tracking since the second Nick Nowak novel.

Boystown 5: Murder Book reminds me of some of the great gay mystery series I’ve read over the years; many that have become classics of gay mystery fiction genre since their initial release; novels such as Michael Nava’s Rag and Bone, which culminated the conclusion of the Henry Rios mysteries or John Morgan Wilson’s Spider Season, that ended the Benjamin Justice series. These series-ending novels, like Marshall Thornton’s Murder Book, force the protagonists experiencing similar personal, emotional and life-altering experiences to reexamine their pasts, their faults and what they have contributed. How they can ultimately move forward.

Marshall’s fifth installment, Boystown 5: Murder Book is first and foremost a solid mystery, chocked full of great leads and dead-ends, with just enough red herrings to keep this fan plunging through; a tedious investigative thriller not to be put down and sure to keep even the most traditionalist reader scrolling quickly through the pages to learn if our hero protagonist can catch the bad guy and avenge the killer’s victims. Not to be ignored are the time and setting of the early 80s in Chicago as one cannot escape the merging plot elements and corresponding emotions following the emergence of the gay killer disease, AIDS, which would ultimately define a significant part of history for gay men and women for decades to come. Thornton cleverly interweaves the early days of the pandemic within the story by revealing the sexual prowess of his protagonist, Nick Nowak, and the often naiveté of the main character and those like him; hence the gay male of the times of open casual sex, self-exploration and sometimes shameless sexual relations with numerous partners.

Thornton’s Boystown 5: Murder Book is a finalist in the Gay Mystery category for the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards to be held in New York City next month and it’s easy to see why the novel has made the cut. However, unlike the earlier mentioned final novels in gay mystery series, I’ve learned Mr. Thornton has finished writing Boystown 6: From The Ashes, which is set for release from MLR Press on May 23rd, 2014.

I for one will be first in line to purchase.
...more

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May 25, 2014 Limor Moyal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mm, suspense-mystery, cops-fbi-pi-assassins

Funny that the only thing that cause Nick to low down his sexual explorations was the death of his partner, him being loyal after his partner no longer require it from him is kinda sad, make you think about Nick in a complete different way.
I feel like this is the end for me, as much as I love nick and his mysteries this story doesn't seem to come to any climax anytime soon and I'm tired of the very long foreplay. Lost interest , it could of been different if only there were less mystery and mor ...more

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