The Art of Dying (Partners in Crime #4) in Q&A with Josh Lanyon

Jan 27, 2011 Emanuela ~plastic duck~ rated it really liked it

Shelves: rainbow-gay, glbt, anthology-short-stories-collection, action-crime-suspense

Very good.

Lovers and Other Strangers by Josh Lanyon.

After three years in New York, Finn goes back to the island where he grew up to heal after a car accident. He meets Con, the lover who broke his heart, but where is Fitch, his twin, responsible for that heart breaking and his flight from home?

The story was great. Finn is an artist from an artistic family. He grew up sheltered on an island, where he also met and fall in love with an older and fascinating man. He has a sensitive soul, but he's al Very good.

Lovers and Other Strangers by Josh Lanyon.

After three years in New York, Finn goes back to the island where he grew up to heal after a car accident. He meets Con, the lover who broke his heart, but where is Fitch, his twin, responsible for that heart breaking and his flight from home?

The story was great. Finn is an artist from an artistic family. He grew up sheltered on an island, where he also met and fall in love with an older and fascinating man. He has a sensitive soul, but he's also easily hurt. It's clear that he isn't over the end of his story with Con and both men need a sort of closure that Finn's hasty departure didn't allow. When Finn discovers that no one has seen his twin brother, Fitch, for three years, he begins to assume the worst. No one seems to have seen Fitch leave the island, no one seems to want to talk about him and investigate his disappearance.

I rarely doubt everyone in a mystery as I did in this book, and it was a great achievement in such a short story, but Fitch's disappearance was like a black hole that sucked all my attention into it. I felt so sorry for him and I didn't buy for one second that he was such a bad guy. Being the least talented of the two twins, he probably amped up the charm, but felt hollow inside. The relationship between the two brothers, of which we only saw a few sketches in Finn's recollections, wasn't spelled out, it was only suggested and still it left me with a feeling of regret for what we weren't seeing. I think Lanyon built such a great character in absentia and it unbalanced the story, for me it took away the charm from the romantic part of it and it made me detach from the main character. It was a powerful effect, but I ended up resenting even Finn. I like to think that some of Finn's guesses especially about the reason why Fitch went to the top of the tower were the right ones. I don't remember when I got so invested in a character who might have been a real jerk. Read it for yourself!

Body Art by Jordan Castillo Price

This story had more suspense than mystery, and it was very enjoyable. Ray is a tattoo artist who lost everything after meeting a guy who basically ruined him with his drug habits. His last chance is to become the driver - and muscle man - of a rich couple living on an island. Mr White has Alzheimer and his wife takes care of him, together with the other two people in the household, a cook and a maiden. On the island Ray meets the strange, weird, peculiar, bizarre artist Anton, who seems to live a life and a time and a world of his own. The only problem is that the White's drivers seem to disappear a little too often.

The story has all the trade marks of JCP's stories: protagonists with a weird sense of humor, unsettling circumstances, hot sex. There are also interesting views about life and art in general and I liked the delicacy with which Mr White's condition was handled, even in the most unpleasant aspects of it. Ray and Anton seemed a prototype for the couple in Hemovore. Anyway, it made me laugh out loud a few times. It's so liberating. ...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Yuri Aoi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m

大好きな作家さん二人の作品が１冊に、ワオ！
１話目、フルコースを堪能して、もうお腹いっぱーい。
と、そこへ大盛りデザートの２話目。こちらも別腹で堪能。大満足でした。
Two works of my favorite authors in one book, great! It was like I had a full-course meal at the first story, and I'm quite satisfied. Then a big dessert was served as the second story and I was able to enjoy it to the gills! ...more

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