From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Wicked Gentlemen

Ginn Hale

Start date: October 1, 2011

Finish date: October 31, 2011

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

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Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Aug 25, 2008 Josh rated it it was amazing

It's a long time since I've relished a book this much -- or had that sense of having lost myself in another world. Hale's marvellous creation of a Barrie-esque AU England and her wonderful characters held me spell-bound for an entire evening. I was very sorry when it ended as I could have followed the adventures of Captain Harper and Belimai Sykes very contentedly for another 300 pages. ...more

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Feb 16, 2010 Wren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: m-m, fantasy, paranormal, mystery, cats-pajamas

Wow. And Wow again.

This was a terrific read. I was caught up immediately and couldn’t let go. It’s sort of a steampunk combined with paranormal story. The world-building is incredible, and this story seems as if it is just a small part of a world that the author knows in alarming detail. Belimai Sykes is a Prodigal, which in this world means demon. William Harper is a Captain with the Inquisition, which is a sort of religious-based policing and governing body that uses torture to get what it w ...more

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Sep 20, 2011 K.Z. Snow rated it it was amazing

Anybody who doesn't read this is missing out on one hell of a trip (and some gorgeous writing, too). ...more

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Mar 28, 2010 ttg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: m-m, reviews, challenge-read

4.5 stars – An excellent fantasy mystery about Belimai Sykes, a demon whose self-imposed isolation after surviving harsh torture by the government's inquisition is interrupted by William Harper, an Inquisition Captain who seeks Belimai's aid in finding his missing sister as well as why the sudden rise in demon murders.

Hale is a gifted writer who makes world building and characterization look easy, and I always come away from her writing feeling awed. She always paints her scenes and characters s 4.5 stars – An excellent fantasy mystery about Belimai Sykes, a demon whose self-imposed isolation after surviving harsh torture by the government's inquisition is interrupted by William Harper, an Inquisition Captain who seeks Belimai's aid in finding his missing sister as well as why the sudden rise in demon murders.

Hale is a gifted writer who makes world building and characterization look easy, and I always come away from her writing feeling awed. She always paints her scenes and characters so richly, that I feel a very strong sense of the rooms and the flawed people walking through them, but I never feel overburdened by unnecessary details or dialogue.

And Belimai and Harper are indeed flawed "wicked" gentlemen, but also it's easy to sympathize and follow them on the two mysteries that build this book. The first, Harper's sister's disappearance, is seen through Belimai's POV, and the second, a lord's niece murder, is seen through Harper's view. Both men are very reticent about their thoughts and feelings (most elusive are the ones growing for each other), but this split POV gives the reader a nice glimpse into both their heads.

The romance is there, but very underlying and subdued, mostly because the characters hold themselves so carefully. (This is a very safe book to read on a crowded plane—-no pages of explicit sex to feel awkward about as the flight attendants peer over your shoulder to hand you a drink.)

This book is often qualified as "steampunk" for its gaslight nature and strange devices that fill this world. Hale's writing style reminded me of something like Sherlock Holmes-—very clever, but restrained, which leads to lots of loaded dialogue between the characters as they carefully dance around the deeper meanings they wish to either evade or allude to.

This was a great read, and it was a real pleasure to visit the worlds and characters that Hale so adeptly builds. If you're looking for a more "emotional" romance though, I would recommend her Lord of the White Hell 1&2. It will you give you a little bit more of the warmth that Belimai and Harper so carefully hide behind cynicism and arched eyebrows.

(I did love the running joke though of Belimai hiding Harper's clothes, and I appreciated that it carried across both mysteries. Those small details just added to the joy of reading this.) ...more

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