Customer Reviews

The Burning Plain: A Henry Rios Mystery (Henry Rios Mysteries)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
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I've said before in other places that it's hard to find a solid, appealing gay protagonist in mainstream writing, but here's one. Henry Rios is not just appealing; no, he's more than that--moral, flawed, intelligent, compassionate, sharp, critical, wounded, exhausted--and seeing things through his eyes really makes the reader snap-to.

When we begin this book, Henry has already suffered the loss of his partner, Josh, to AIDS. Throughout this book, Henry attempts to adapt to a world without the man he loved in it, to feelings he can't anticipate or handle. He confronts his own needs, his loneliness, his own flawed nature. He also speaks frankly of the challenges a gay man faces, even relatively recently (this book was published maybe 6 years ago, if I remember correctly). He speaks of family and the way a child can be traumatized by the wounds inflicted by those who are supposed to love him but who have their own flaws defining them. He maneuvers society with a clear awareness of how many hurdles he will have to face on any given day.

And in the course of all that, he solves a mystery.

His intellect is sharp, and I never felt he knew less than I did (which really irks me; I hate when I know something and the protagonist doesn't have a clue). He also has a sense of humor, although you won't find him cracking wise like some of my other fave protags.

All in all, you'll enjoy the social commentary and mystery blended together, and you'll likely race through this one. I plan on buying them all, even though they're now issued in trade paperback format, which makes them a titch more expensive than I'd like. Still--they're worth it.

This is my third or fourth Henry Rios book. So far, I enjoy reading them.

Henry Rios is a gay Hispanic lawyer who is a recovering alcoholic. Not too long after burying his lover, Josh, from AIDS, Henry finds himself as a suspect of a murder. The victim was a hustler that Henry spent the night and had a brief spat before they went their own ways. A few hours later, the hustler is found dead.

Henry is cleared as a suspect after 2 more gay men are found murdered. Of course, Henry cannot ignore a pattern he detects among the murders. His investigation leads him to some interesting characters. A possibly corrupt homicide detective and a band of vigilantes. An overzealous magazine reporter. A movie studio head honcho and his assistant. Closeted men. A runaway brother of a murdered victim. A lesbian assistant of the hate crime task force.

Henry is so confident that certain people are responsible for these murders. However, he is reminded by the police and colleagues that there is not enough evidence to arrest them. Those who are behind these murders seem to be one step ahead of Henry.

It can be a frustrating book for some readers as it seems that Henry will never get justice. Fortunately, miracles do happen. When compelling evidence starts to appear, the case becomes so large that it's equivalent to the O.J. Simpson's case.

Michael Nava's "The Burning Plain" captures your interest on several levels. Foremost is the page turner well-written mystery. I did not want to put the book down. All of his characters are so well fleshed out that you feel that you know them. Nava's occasional literary references are erudite. The protagonist is totally believable, flawed, and likeable. The Los Angeles descriptions make you think that you are there, and that it is a real place, not some far off make-believe city. He hits on several themes of gay life without preaching or rubbing it in your face: AIDS, loss of a partner, challenges of recovery from alcoholism, touchy relations with a partner's parents, always feeling as the outsider in life and in his profession from being gay, a kid struggling to come out. However, he does this with just a phrase or a sentence occasionally- never lengthy preaching. What a skill with words. As a lawyer myself, I often don't like the fictionalized lawyer stories on TV or in some books, because they get the law all wrong, or have too many unbelievable characters and situations in the story. Not Nava. He writes with authority, and keeps it all gripingly real.

I really liked 'The Burning Plain'. The story of murder, kinky sex, intrigue and corruption in 1990s Hollywood is very well unveiled by the author. The characters are believable, and the story is just about believable too (..okay, it is slightly over the top). Michael Nava writes as well as any popular American mystery novelist today, and so I am puzzled as to why his books are relatively obscure. 'The Burning Plain' is not only very good, I think it would make a great movie.


Bottom line: definitely a high caliber mystery. It's bound to make a Michael Nava fan of anyone who reads it.

Michael Nava's sixth Henry Rios mystery marks a change to a more philosophical style and even more involved plot. The likeable gay Chicano lawyer Henry Rios, still recovering from the recent loss of his lover Josh to AIDS, first becomes involved in what turns out to be a series of ever increasingly complex mysteries when he is asked to defend a young hustler. Infatuated with the young man Henry later unwisely spends the night with him, the next day the hustler is found brutally murdered.

Henry is inevitably arrested for the crime, but it turns out to be the first of a series of murders, and attention is diverted to another suspect. The suspect works for Hollywood's biggest film studio, and the studio's boss engages Henry's services to defend the suspect.

But Henry finds himself investigating in a something far more intricate, and soon realises that there a few that he can trust. With possible corruption and duplicity from within the police and the film industry, and maybe even among his friends, Henry finds himself walking a very narrow line, and with his life in danger.

The Burning Plain is surely Nava's best novel to date more detailed and descriptive, and a most involving read. Highly recommended.

Henry Rios, Michael Nava's defense attorney protagonist in his mystery series is involuntarily enmeshed in another Hollywood film community nail biter. In "The Burning Plain" Rios takes on the case of a second tier film industry wannabe then crosses the line to date his former client. Said client is murdered on the way home after their date and, well, as is so often the case in crime novels, one murder leads to another and the serious killing begins. In his plot, the landscape is soon peppered with good guys versus bad guys among lawyers and film makers. Even the police get its share of both good and bad guys.

Henry Rios, the attorney-detective, is well portrayed as an intelligent, well-schooled attorney with genuinely humanistic values. Because readers care about Henry, their sympathies create much of the tension as they fear for his safety and hope for the defeat of the dark forces with which he struggles. There is so much that is admirable in this novel, it's difficult to choose just a few things to praise. First, for me, is Mr. Nava's ability to present well-developed, credible characters with attributes that make them interesting and human. Not a single cardboard figure in this crowd. Thus, the rich characterization creates the reader's empathy which enhances reader involvement in the plot. Another great strength in this book is Nava's "voice" -- the author's experience as defense attorney no doubt contributes to his skill in creating Henry Rios, a perfect protagonist.

Although I have some problems with Nava's sometimes convoluted plot, e.g., Henry Rios's gratuitous intercession with an adolescent's coming out vs. Evangelical parents. But, at last, the "Burning Plain" is a rip-rootin', nail-bitin', page-turner of a crime novel whether as beach book or airline traveling companion. Once you start you won't put it down till the last page.

Michael Nava's Burning Plain is a tightly woven mystery that operates on many levels. Filled with classical allusions to Dante, the novel also provides insights into LA's history,present and past. The complex mystery will keep readers guessing and the end is a tribute to the author's complex mind. No easy answers here. Just strong, complex plotting. You cheer for Henry Rios. The characterizations are complex, balanced and fresh.

I gotta say that this was a great whodunit. The characters were distinct and there were many plot twists that came together well. Nava definitely took the time to create a mystery that could easily be turned into an episode arc on Law & Order. With that said, there was something missing from this story that made his previous Rios novel, The Death of Friends, so compelling.

By going so far into throwing multiple plost twists at you, I felt the emotional connection that was available in DoF was mostly missing. I got so deep in the mystery that I stopped paying attention to Henry's involvement in it. Truthfully, by the end, I had mostly forgotten where the story began.

Nevertheless, Nava has an amazing ability with pacing and I found it hard to stop turning the pages. I have found that to be true with all of his writing (sans The Hidden Law) and am truly disappointed that he only wrote one more book in the series.

The main character is Henry Rios. He is a hispanic gay lawyer that has a very unique set of friends that assist him along the twist and turns of this novel.

I will be honest and found it so extremely slow at the start of the book I was ready to put it down. I was in the middle of chapter 3 and was committed to give it a try so I was going to stop if it did not grab me soon. Boy it grabbed me and took me along for the ride. The whole first of the book was building to the first murder and his release. By the second murder you were on a ride with this book. I end up loving the book in the end and can not wait to read another Henry Rios Mystery.