From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Fadeout (Dave Brandstetter, #1)

Joseph Hansen

Start date: August 1, 2013

Finish date: August 31, 2013

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Jun 24, 2014 Irina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars, gay, historical, adult, mystery, books-i-can-read-again-and-again, classics, series-to-finish, favourite, joseph-hansen

I've always loved libraries. Even after discovering and converting to the e-books, I have a special place in my heart for a paperback. There's just something therapeutic and comforting about physically holding a book in your hands and turning its pages. So I try to preserve and expand my library, mainly by collecting paperbacks of the e-books that impressed me the most, my keepers.

Fadeout is definitely a book I'd like to add to my collection. And I have a feeling all Joseph Hansen's works will end up on my shelves, too. Because he is an exceptional writer, the kind you want to recommend to everyone around you.

Reading J. Hansen felt like listening to music. It starts gentle and subtle, then climbs up and down, culminates and recedes in waves, crashing you with its honesty, tugging at you with its sadness and loss as if it were your own. Soulful and lyrical, it touches the furthest corners of your heart.

“Maybe now I regret that. I'm not sure I could have done any differently if I'd tried. But I'm sorry. Because I'm beginning to get the picture. One lifetime's not enough. A man wants another chance. And he's not going to get it. Unless he has children. And grandchildren. They're his second chance.”

(Note here, Dave didn't have children..)

Have you ever noticed that if the music alone is so good, it raises goosebumps on your skin, you sometimes don't even listen to the words? I think, I wouldn't have even cared about the story much, as long as I had Hansen's writing. And I don't ever remember feeling this way about any other book before. Honest truth.

So it was a great bonus to have it all. The mystery is flawless, if a little bit sad, the characters are very well-drawn out, the world they live in, is beautifully described. I really felt being a part of it. But most of all, I admired Dave. His wisdom, kindness and humanity won me over from the first pages.

“Do you know these lines, Madge? 'The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction, the weight, the weight we carry is love. . . .'”

I'm so happy to have discovered this author and the series. It truly is a MUST READ. And I'm glad it's just the beginning of a journey for me. I know I'll devour it all and advice everyone who would listen to do the same!
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9 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2013 Deanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, classics

Hanson's descriptive phrases bring the scenes and people alive in the mind of the reader. His MC Dave Brandstetter is cut in the mold of Dashiell Hammett's detectives. He is tough. He is smart. He is determined. He is relentless. He is more. He has money. He is gay at a time when he could still be arrested for nothing more than loving another. He is a intriguing character and unforgettable. This is a wonderfully written mystery that is still worth reading 40 years later.

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4 likes · Like · see review