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dandanil's review against another edition
4.0
hopefully nick goes back and fucks the priest in the future
a_reader_obsessed's review against another edition
4.0
Nick has been limping along over the past year, trying to forget his former life and actually, succeeding. When he least expects it, from the last person on earth he'd thought would come to him, he's drawn back into detecting. And by golly he's still good at it. He's tenacious, resourceful, and shockingly, not all of his brain cells have been killed by Johnny Walker Red.
Despite his return from anonymity, Nick is still mourning. He still doubts his morality and is still so, so bitter. However, he's got a case to solve and he's a bit surprised that his sense of right and wrong, his need for justice to prevail, has not left him.
Ever present and looming in the background is the AIDS epidemic. It pushes its way into Nick's life, has affected so many people he knows, knew, loved, loves. Everywhere he turns, its cold reality touches on who he meets, and interferes with his very lifestyle and decisions. As always, this is starkly realistic, horribly enlightening, and devastating in showcasing loss. But you know what?? I'm kinda getting my hopes up.
Seriously.
Am I wrong to get my hopes up? Am I jumping the gun?? Is my optimism going to ultimately disappoint and depress me??
Probably.
Despite future books potentially ripping out my heart again (yeah I'm pointing at you, [b:Murder Book|24806206|Murder Book (Boystown #5)|Marshall Thornton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422899681s/24806206.jpg|24923416]) that won't hold me back, no matter the threat it poses to my mental well being.
Despite his return from anonymity, Nick is still mourning. He still doubts his morality and is still so, so bitter. However, he's got a case to solve and he's a bit surprised that his sense of right and wrong, his need for justice to prevail, has not left him.
Ever present and looming in the background is the AIDS epidemic. It pushes its way into Nick's life, has affected so many people he knows, knew, loved, loves. Everywhere he turns, its cold reality touches on who he meets, and interferes with his very lifestyle and decisions. As always, this is starkly realistic, horribly enlightening, and devastating in showcasing loss. But you know what?? I'm kinda getting my hopes up.
Seriously.
Am I wrong to get my hopes up? Am I jumping the gun?? Is my optimism going to ultimately disappoint and depress me??
Probably.
Despite future books potentially ripping out my heart again (yeah I'm pointing at you, [b:Murder Book|24806206|Murder Book (Boystown #5)|Marshall Thornton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422899681s/24806206.jpg|24923416]) that won't hold me back, no matter the threat it poses to my mental well being.
shan198025's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Poor Nick. His life is in the crapper. I feel bad that he wasn't around for Ross and Brian.
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
5.0
Well, after the previous book, I was a little afraid about what would happen to Nick. Strangely, he found himself with a reluctant mother. And it's credible!
She closed the album, and said, so quietly I wasn't sure I heard her at first, "I miss him."
"I miss him, too."
I love the way in which Nick is grieving. Because he's angry, angry at Harker, who stole from him the time they could have had together, angry that there was a part of his lover that he didn't know and allowed this to happen. It feels real, that anger, that bewilderment.
And he's also doubting himself. He killed a man. He can't trust himself anymore. So he leaves everything behind: his identity as PI, his home, his work. He survives, but he's not living.
Until Mrs Harker bullies him into taking a case. I never thought I'd say this but I loved her here. She might have not known it, but she saved Nick.
And the case! The case was fantastic, intriguing, convoluted in a good way, and with a quite surprising ending.
And, God! Brian! Yes, please! Condoms! Thank you! It finally came and I really hope that Nick will hear what his friend is telling him.
Because AIDS isn't a looming shadow anymore: it's right there, breaking havoc in his and his friends' lives.
But Nick is who he is, so he chooses life.
And now it seemed to me that in the face of this sickness, in the face of possibly dying, the brave thing to do was to go ahead and have a life anyway.
And the ending is beautiful. Moving and hopeful.
I really loved this book.
moshimoshimoon's review
4.0
Somehow this one hurt even more than the last. I never knew I wanted to know so much about the gay scene in 80's Chicago but here I am.
+plus cover being less weird as fuck. I'm thankful.
+plus cover being less weird as fuck. I'm thankful.
lilyrooke's review
4.0
Following the events of the previous two novels, Nick Nowak's life has fallen to pieces. Hiding from his friends, his life, and the world, Nick is subsumed by grief and numbness until Bert's mother comes to ask for his help in investigating a suspicious death.
This instalment of the Boystown Mysteries is quite emotionally complex because it's not the grief/vengeance book, and it's not the healing book, it's the stage that comes in between. It's the awkward stage, where numbness has settled into every aspect of Nick's existence, and he isn't ready yet to pick himself back up, but he's past the initial despair and anger over everything that went down. In some ways it's a quiet book, introducing a new potential love interest that I can actually see working well for Nick, as well as developing Brian into an adoptive father figure and such a good friend. There are some incredibly sad moments involving Nick and Bert's mother quietly grieving together over photo albums, and Nick's old friend Ross fading in more ways than one from AIDS. Then there are moving moments like Bert's mother somehow becoming a maternal figure for Nick, even after everything they've gone through. This series has got under my skin and it's so powerful.
cw: rape of a minor; religious abuse; familial rejection; homophobia
absolutely nothing *~*researchy*~* to see here; an ongoing reading list
1. A Study in Scarlet 2.5/5
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles 5/5
3. The Adventure of the Final Problem 4/5
4. Bath Haus 4.5/5
5. The Forest of Stolen Girls 4/5
6. The Red Palace 2/5
7. The Silence of Bones 1/5
8. Lay Your Sleeping Head 4/5
9. Carved in Bone 5/5
10. Lies with Man 3/5
11. Howtown 2/5
12. The Hidden Law 2/5
13. The Death of Friends 3/5
14. The Burning Plain 3.5/5
15. Rag and Bone 4/5
16. Pretty Pretty Boys 2/5
17. Three Nick Nowak Mysteries 5/5
18. Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries 3/5
19. Two Nick Nowak Novellas 4/5
20. A Time For Secrets 5/5
21. Murder Book 5/5
22. From the Ashes 4/5
This instalment of the Boystown Mysteries is quite emotionally complex because it's not the grief/vengeance book, and it's not the healing book, it's the stage that comes in between. It's the awkward stage, where numbness has settled into every aspect of Nick's existence, and he isn't ready yet to pick himself back up, but he's past the initial despair and anger over everything that went down. In some ways it's a quiet book, introducing a new potential love interest that I can actually see working well for Nick, as well as developing Brian into an adoptive father figure and such a good friend. There are some incredibly sad moments involving Nick and Bert's mother quietly grieving together over photo albums, and Nick's old friend Ross fading in more ways than one from AIDS. Then there are moving moments like Bert's mother somehow becoming a maternal figure for Nick, even after everything they've gone through. This series has got under my skin and it's so powerful.
cw: rape of a minor; religious abuse; familial rejection; homophobia
absolutely nothing *~*researchy*~* to see here; an ongoing reading list
1. A Study in Scarlet 2.5/5
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles 5/5
3. The Adventure of the Final Problem 4/5
4. Bath Haus 4.5/5
5. The Forest of Stolen Girls 4/5
6. The Red Palace 2/5
7. The Silence of Bones 1/5
8. Lay Your Sleeping Head 4/5
9. Carved in Bone 5/5
10. Lies with Man 3/5
11. Howtown 2/5
12. The Hidden Law 2/5
13. The Death of Friends 3/5
14. The Burning Plain 3.5/5
15. Rag and Bone 4/5
16. Pretty Pretty Boys 2/5
17. Three Nick Nowak Mysteries 5/5
18. Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries 3/5
19. Two Nick Nowak Novellas 4/5
20. A Time For Secrets 5/5
21. Murder Book 5/5
22. From the Ashes 4/5
shile87's review
5.0
5++++++ stars
Some people are like orchids: delicate, easily bruised, wilted by a chill breeze. Others are more like weeds: stubborn, hard to dig out, impossible to kill. Most people don’t know which they are until life starts to kick them around. Early in 1984, I found out which I am. I’m a weed.
And now i need some fluff.
"I went back to watching the videos. A boy, who sang like a girl, told me not to stop believing—though what I wasn’t supposed to stop believing was a bit elusive."
Some people are like orchids: delicate, easily bruised, wilted by a chill breeze. Others are more like weeds: stubborn, hard to dig out, impossible to kill. Most people don’t know which they are until life starts to kick them around. Early in 1984, I found out which I am. I’m a weed.
And now i need some fluff.
"I went back to watching the videos. A boy, who sang like a girl, told me not to stop believing—though what I wasn’t supposed to stop believing was a bit elusive."
iguana_mama's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kaje_harper's review
5.0
As this book opens, Nick is seen coping, or not coping, with the realities of what he did and what happened in the last installment. This is a shaken Nick, changed, searching. But as time goes by, you see a hint of the old, intelligent and curious PI emerging. The title is apt, and the positive arc of this story is welcome.
One of the most poignant parts of this is reading about the varying reactions of the gay men around Nick to the still-perplexing onslaught of AIDS. At that time, no one really knew what caused the disease. Theories ran from kissing to sex to poppers, to poisoning and conspiracy, to a judgment by the Almighty. Men who became ill reacted in various different ways, and watching Ross, Daniel and other familiar friends try to find their path is painful in a myriad of ways. But despite that, this book ends positively for Nick, as he rises from his own ashes to reach for a little of the confident, diligent investigator he once was. Much of his life path still remains in doubt, waiting for the next installment. As I am...
One of the most poignant parts of this is reading about the varying reactions of the gay men around Nick to the still-perplexing onslaught of AIDS. At that time, no one really knew what caused the disease. Theories ran from kissing to sex to poppers, to poisoning and conspiracy, to a judgment by the Almighty. Men who became ill reacted in various different ways, and watching Ross, Daniel and other familiar friends try to find their path is painful in a myriad of ways. But despite that, this book ends positively for Nick, as he rises from his own ashes to reach for a little of the confident, diligent investigator he once was. Much of his life path still remains in doubt, waiting for the next installment. As I am...