Rick R. Reed, Chaser

[Ulysses]

Chaser

By Rick R. Reed

Four stars


Part of me wants to knock “Chaser” down to three stars (still not a bad rating in my system), but I want to encourage people to read this enjoyable romance novel; and I want to encourage Rick R. Reed to continue writing.

I wanted to love this book, only the second by Rick R. Reed that I’ve bought. I want gay male writers to keep writing romances. I want them to find customers. I want gay men to read these books.

There is much to like in this novel, set in Chicago, a city I love. Even as a nearly sixty-year-old gay man, the realities of gay life in a big city are not so different now than they were decades ago. History—or at least the behavior of gay men—repeats itself endlessly. Reed writes well, he creates a vivid sense of place, and he anchors his narrative in what must apparently be reality.

Importantly, he gives us two characters that we can care about. And one that we can hate readily enough.

Here we have Caden, a handsome, lean, athletic thirty-year-old Italian boy from Pittsburgh, pondering with his very amusing therapist why he’s turned on to heavy guys. Then we have Kevin, the handsome, heavy-set guy that catches Caden’s eye one night and very soon thereafter catches his heart.

It’s a great set up, and even the sort of eye-rolling “Gift of the Magi” plot twist (look it up it you have to) was looking OK for me.

I won’t give away any details, but I will admit to a strong sense of disappointment. And, being a pretentious French major in college, I’ll note that the French word for disappointment is déception. Reed makes this book seem like it’s going to be about accepting gay guys who don’t look like porn stars or fashion models (and there is Bobby in the book, who looks and act likes both). But, in the end, the moral of the story still seems to be: fat guys can find love, but it’s still a lot better to be buff and have a big dick.

Really?

And who the heck uses the word “manly?” Ever. “Butch” is one thing, but “manly” smacks of 1950s conformist psychology. I have never once heard a gay man describe another gay man as manly, except in a campy ironic way.

Just getting that off my chest.

To be fair, there was no way out once Reed had unveiled his plot twist; no way he could make it right without compounding the error. I was just very sad that he could not give us a plump, bear-ish gay man who was comfortable in his skin and loved himself the way he was.

Was that too much to ask? Or are gay men still that shallow? I dearly hope not.