Bourbon Street Blues [Hardcover]

Greg Herren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

Native boy Scotty Bradley knows how to bend his hometown's every unwritten rule. it doesn't hurt that he's buff, boyish, and completely irresistible, with a job by day as a personal trainer...and the occasional night gig dancing on the bar for rent money. Hey, it's a living. Scotty likes his relaxed life, living upstairs from the coddling lesbian couple he calls his aunties, and hanging out with his eccentric, close-knit family -- stoner-hippie parents, Uptown but well-meaning sister, and scheming lawyer brother. And with New Orleans's biggest circuit party -- Southern Decadence -- about to hit town, Scotty's looking forward to plenty of dancing, cruising, and maybe, just maybe, an adorable Mr. Right.

But then Scotty discovers one of his best clients in front of his Decatur Street apartment, shot through the head, execution style. It's even more troubling when his friend Jeremy, he of the disappearing act a year ago, reappears briefly in the bar, begging Scotty to take care of a computer disk for him and spouting something crazy about people being after him. And things get really, really bad when everyone from the cops -- who don't believe anything Scotty says -- to a shadowy man claiming to be an FBI agent is tailing Scotty's every move, waiting for a chance to arrest him...or worse.

Now, with help from his best friend David and a gorgeous new lover who just happens to be a cat burglar of the real and not-Cary Grant variety, Scotty's diving into a web of tawdry Southern secrets that stretches all the way to a corrupt political machine whose members would do anything and use anyone to get to Scotty and that disk. Suddenly, the Big Easy's liveliest gay celebration has just taken on asinister glow, and Scotty's carefree living is turning into a desperate race for his life.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Bourbon Street Blues introduces Dick Dansoir, personal trainer and occasional go-go dancer at the boys' bars in the Big Easy. He is irresistible, especially for a guy whose real name is Milton "Scotty" Bradley. Of course, he keeps in shape, which helps as the book's wrong-man-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time plot unfolds. A friend and client turns up shot, execution style, in front of his place. Add a mysterious computer disk found in his dancing boot, an attempted mugging, an eerily attractive stranger who claims to be FBI, and his home being trashed by a Molotov cocktail--and a gorgeous go-go boy just must get help. He turns to his attorney brother, Storm (his sister is Rain), for advice, then risks everything by assisting the Feds in preventing the destruction of New Orleans, a horror Scotty has foreseen in visions (forgot to tell you: he is "gifted" with sporadic psychic powers, too). Dashing Dick saves the day, natch, and who could ask for anything more? Thoroughly engaging in every way. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758202121
• ISBN-13: 978-0758202123
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,316,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Quite Live Up To Its Promise, June 5, 2003

By 

Josh Aterovis (Baltimore, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bourbon Street Blues (Hardcover)

Bourbon Street Blues is the second book by Greg Herren and the first of what appears to be a series featuring amateur sleuth Scotty Bradley. Scott, who was given the name Milton by his hippy parents (say his first and last name and you'll understand why he chose to go by Scott), is a personal trainer and sometimes go-go boy. He lives in New Orleans where anything can happen and usually does. He rents an apartment from his lesbian aunts and has a great relationship with his Proud-to-have-a-gay-son parents.

It's Decadence (sometimes referred to as the gay Mardi Gras) in the Big Easy, and Scotty is having a great time. That is, until a former client who vanished a year ago reappears and asks Scott if he can hide at his apartment. "They're after me," he tells Scott at the club where Scott is dancing. Scott thinks his old friend is on drugs and decides to ignore him, but when he gets home, he finds a mysterious computer disk has been slipped into his boot along with his tips for the night. Technophobe Scott doesn't have a computer, so he heads out in the wee hours of the morning to use his friend's computer. When his friend turns out to be unavailable, he returns home to find an acquaintance dead on his doorstep.

Scott suddenly finds himself in the middle of a plot to destroy New Orleans, a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah according to an extreme right wing gubernatorial candidate. It's up to Scott, his friends, and Frank Sobieski, the sexy FBI agent, to prevent the murder of thousands of people.

Author Greg Herren has created likeable characters that show a lot of promise. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't really live up to that promise. I really liked Scotty and his family and friends, and I wanted so badly to like the book as well, but the plot was just so outlandishly unrealistic that it left me feeling a little cheated. I ended up reading it just as escapist fare, since there was no way you could possibly take it as a serious mystery.

The main character is one of those types that you just can't help but like. He comes across as a genuinely good person, but also as very human, as do his friends and family. I especially liked the touches of supernatural that Herren includes in the book; Scott, it turns out, is somewhat psychic. The characters alone kept me reading to the end.

Herren concludes the book with the implication that the series will continue. I'd probably read the next book in the series, just because I liked his characters so much. However, if the plot turns out to be as preposterous as this one, it will probably be the last one I read.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Flat and uninspired, April 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Bourbon Street Blues (Paperback)

Though some of the visuals were fun, overall I found the writing so flat and the plotline so hackneyed that I didn't even finish the book. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I don't want to read good writing. I was very disappointed in this book.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We Want More..........DON'T STOP NOW!, April 12, 2003

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bourbon Street Blues (Hardcover)

He's every gay man's dream, he's irresistible, he's hot, he's sexy, he's good-looking & muscular, a personal trainer, and a part-time go-go boy. And on top of all that, he has psychic powers that reveal to him visions of some horrible events to come. He goes by the name of Dick Dansoir, but his real name is "Scotty" Bradley. He's a native of New Orleans, where the biggest circuit party, "Southern Decadence", is about to begin. This is the time for Scotty to shine, dance, cruise and be admired. Scotty is going to find out his life is about to change dramatically and it's going to be one unforgettable bumpy ride.

Hold on to your hats! This is a new mystery that you are going to really enjoy. There's one event after another that will keep you flipping the pages so fast you'll get paper cuts. Why has one of Scotty's best clients been shot execution style? Why has an old friend who had disappeared unexpectedly reappeared? What does the discovery of a mystery computer disk mean? And why are corrupt public officials interested in Scotty? Could this good-looking FBI agent be a new love interest for Scotty? And why has this sexy cat burglar sparked an erotic desire in Scotty? There is so much more as the plot gets deeper and deeper in this story. We get an exciting tour of gay life in the French Quarter and a view of its many fascinating characters. The story reaches an exciting climax, and you will find yourself eagerly awaiting the next installment in this new mystery series.

I know I am hooked on this talented author's debut mystery writing. The characters are vividly described and developed so well, you will feel you personally know them. Greg Herren has done a great job in introducing us to his delightful and exciting world of New Orleans, and he now has his work cut out for him. So DON"T STOP NOW, Greg! We Want More! Be sure you DON'T Miss This One!

Joe Hanssen