REC: Josh Lanyon books
Jul. 5th, 2012 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mysidThanks to my Nook, and the ability to immediately download the books I want, I just read the entire Adrien English mystery series by Josh Lanyon. Not satisfied, I then read another Josh Lanyon title, Fair Game. I will soon begin reading even more of his books, and I recommend that you read his books too.
I love reading mysteries, and the idea of reading mysteries with a m/m romance was a definite plus, but I wouldn't have read past the first book if I hadn't loved it.
One aspect I loved about the five book Adrien English series is that as much as they are mysteries--and the mysteries do keep you turning the pages--the series is also about the development of Adrien's relationship(s) with his lover(s). (I'm going to try to be vague enough not to spoil anything.)
I recently read somewhere--I can't remember where--that the key to good stories is that the main characters have to change enough to deserve the rewards they get at the end, that they became capable of gaining the rewards at the end. That's what Josh Lanyon does over the course of the series with his protaganist, Adrien English, and with Adrien's lover(s).
I think the fourth and fifth books in the series, Death of a Pirate King and The Dark Tide, were my favorite of the group. Death of a Pirate King brings to a head issues that have building through the entire series (remember, I'm trying to stay spoiler-free) and makes those issues indivisible from solving the mystery. As the mystery in The Dark Tide centers around a fifty year old murder, the investigation lacks the urgency of previous stories, but that just puts more of the focus on the relationship issues at play, and this time, it's primarily Adrien who has some changing to do. And when the mystery is finally solved, well, let's just say that reflecting on the motives dovetails well with the issues that have been at play in earlier novels.
Fair Game is the same way, but concentrated into just one novel rather than spread over the course of a five novel series. Solving the crime will require the protagonist to deal with the man with whom he had a bad break-up in the recent past. And the more we learn of that break-up, the more we realize that both men may have some changes to make if they're to deserve a second chance--and stop a serial killer.
(Note: Josh Lanyon is a LJ-er. I first "met" him as a member of the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
maryrenaultfics community. We were having a chapter by chapter discussion of Renault's novel The Charioteer. Josh obviously loves that novel as much as I do, as his pen name is taken from The Charioteer character Ralph Lanyon.
I must admit I found myself wondering if Fair Game protagonist, Elliot Mills, would enjoy reading The Charioteer as he and The Charioteer protagonist, Laurie Odell, are dealing with similar injuries and resulting issues.)
I love reading mysteries, and the idea of reading mysteries with a m/m romance was a definite plus, but I wouldn't have read past the first book if I hadn't loved it.
One aspect I loved about the five book Adrien English series is that as much as they are mysteries--and the mysteries do keep you turning the pages--the series is also about the development of Adrien's relationship(s) with his lover(s). (I'm going to try to be vague enough not to spoil anything.)
I recently read somewhere--I can't remember where--that the key to good stories is that the main characters have to change enough to deserve the rewards they get at the end, that they became capable of gaining the rewards at the end. That's what Josh Lanyon does over the course of the series with his protaganist, Adrien English, and with Adrien's lover(s).
I think the fourth and fifth books in the series, Death of a Pirate King and The Dark Tide, were my favorite of the group. Death of a Pirate King brings to a head issues that have building through the entire series (remember, I'm trying to stay spoiler-free) and makes those issues indivisible from solving the mystery. As the mystery in The Dark Tide centers around a fifty year old murder, the investigation lacks the urgency of previous stories, but that just puts more of the focus on the relationship issues at play, and this time, it's primarily Adrien who has some changing to do. And when the mystery is finally solved, well, let's just say that reflecting on the motives dovetails well with the issues that have been at play in earlier novels.
Fair Game is the same way, but concentrated into just one novel rather than spread over the course of a five novel series. Solving the crime will require the protagonist to deal with the man with whom he had a bad break-up in the recent past. And the more we learn of that break-up, the more we realize that both men may have some changes to make if they're to deserve a second chance--and stop a serial killer.
(Note: Josh Lanyon is a LJ-er. I first "met" him as a member of the
maryrenaultfics community. We were having a chapter by chapter discussion of Renault's novel The Charioteer. Josh obviously loves that novel as much as I do, as his pen name is taken from The Charioteer character Ralph Lanyon.I must admit I found myself wondering if Fair Game protagonist, Elliot Mills, would enjoy reading The Charioteer as he and The Charioteer protagonist, Laurie Odell, are dealing with similar injuries and resulting issues.)