Customer Reviews

Fatal Shadows

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

According to the cover of this book FATAL SHADOWS is the first in a new series of Los Angeles murder mysteries featuring Adrien English. Mr. English, who has "heart problems" both physical (tremors) and emotional (near celibacy), owns a small Pasadena book store which has the largest collection of gay and gothic mysteries in Los Angeles.

The mystery begins with him becoming the chief suspect in the brutal murder of his life long friend and temporary employee, Robert Hersey. Naturally, (and isn't this always the case) one of the detectives gives him heart tremors (in more ways than one).

Soon he finds out that other friends and former classmates are being killed or are already dead. It's obvious that he is the next one on the killer's stab list. Thinking that the police are more interested in proving he is the killer rather than discovering who really is, he sets out to unmask the murderer himself.

Adrien, his lifestyle and his world provide interesting possibilities for a new mystery series. I enjoyed Lanyon's witty writing very much and I look forward to future books. However, the author is not well served by the sloppy editing and/or production of the book. I was annoyed by what seemed to be strange typos until I realized that the non-words were really parts of two other words that had been joined together leaving out several lines of the story. It seems that someone should be proofreading the galleys a little closer if they want this series to get off the ground. Actually, I'm my own worst proofreader, so I usually have a friend do it.

This is a hugely entertaining first book in a proposed new mystery series set in L.A. The mystery
surrounding the brutal murder of a young gay man is deftly and cleanly handled. What makes the
book really go is the narrator, Adrien English, whose best friend and erstwhile lover (sort of)
Robert has been stabbed to death in a Los Angeles alley. Adrien finds himself implicated in the
crime, but, worse, he's being stalked himself by the person who likely killed his buddy.

Adrien is a wonderful character and narrator, a real person, unlike some protagonists of more
established and touted series. He's funny without being mean and smart as a tack.

This is a smart book, well-paced, sweet, and suspenseful too. What more could one ask for?

Well, the second installment. I can't wait for A DANGEROUS THING!

Josh Lannyon writes in an even, unpretentious, relaxed style. There is very good character development, ingenuity of plot, believability, dialogue, and pacing.

I read mystery 90 minutes per day, year in and year out, and I can say that "Fatal Shadows" rates easily in my top five percent.

In-context humor is also important to my enjoyment. It demonstrates to me that the author has done careful in-depth thinking about his manuscript; it demonstrates his skill and his love of his work.

Consider these:

"...isn't this too much of a coincidence?" ... I thrust the `In Sympathy' card at Riordan. He read it. Turned it over. Handed it to Chan. Said gravely, "It's not a Hallmark."

I poured some brandy in my Ovaltine. Not bad. Next round I poured some Ovaltine in my brandy.

"How's the heart?" "Takes a licking, keeps on ticking."

"...I hadn't had a date in six months." "But --?" "No butts." He laughed. After a second it clicked and I laughed too. "Not on the first date anyway," agreed Bruce.

I look forward to the second in this series.

I just finished reading Fatal Shadows and found myself saying, "This was a good book!" I ordered Josh Lanyon's next book, A Dangerous Thing, before reading Fatal Shadows, so am now *really* looking forward to it. I liked Adrien's sense of humor. I hope his and Riordan's relationship continue in the next book. I like Lanyon's dialog style of writing. If he had gone mostly narrative, it would have been boring.

I would have given the book 5 stars, but the typos were bothersome because you had to re-read some passages in order to figure out what Lanyon was writing. And, the book wasn't long enough. With just 150 pages, it ended way too soon. You wanted to keep reading.

This is the first of a promising new series. The protagonist is a bit of a smart alec bookish book store owner with a heart problem. He came into a bit of money from his grandmother that allowed him to buy the book store and apartment above and which left him financially comfortable if not rich. The inheritance has also, conveniently, left him with the time and money to persue these surprising little mysteries that fall in his lap. The character is a bit of a stereotype, but a very likeable stereotype in this case.

The story develops quickly with an appropriate amount of red herrings thrown in to keep things moving along. A couple of characters pop up with very little backstory to explain them but that is a small quibble.

One of two weaknesses in this book is a character whose self loathing and general nastiness make him repulsive despite descriptions of his physical georgeousness and appeal (which the author lingers over generously). The character just doesn't feel right in the story until quite late in the book. It takes quite a while for the reader to accept this character and a good thing they do because he's heavily involved in the second installment of this series. The other problem with the book - for all it's good qualities - is extremely bad editing. Misspellings abound and in one case a paragraph simply stops mid sentence, mid-page. Somebody's wordprocesser's delete key burped and it was never discovered all the way through press. That's hard to believe in this day and age.

The main character reminded me a little of the fussiness of Angela Landsbury's character in the Murder She Wrote series. Although this character is a youngish, good looking gay man and has a heart condition - the way he acts still reminded me of the Murder She Wrote character... <lol>

I've already read the follow up - it's better still than this first entry in this series. By the second installment you'll be enjoying this author as you might other gay oriented "whodunit" series books by authors like Michael Craft, R.D. Zimmerman, and John Morgan Wilson. Those authors began with somewhat weak entries but developed their characters and story lines into good strongly written character driven stories. John Lanyon's books are a less ambititous efforts than those other authors but are still recommendation worthy for a light enjoyable read.

As an avid reader I am always on the lookout for books that I feel I have to continue reading until the very last page. This book filled that need. It was fast paced, with characters that I enjoyed reading about.

The only problem I had with this book was the editing and proofreading.

Still, I can't wait to find out what develops between English and Riordan. Riordan is a character that I hope will be fleshed out in coming novels. I feel that there is an iteresting story there.

I was very impressed with this book. It keeps you going all the time. From the time I picked this book up I couldn't put it down until I was done reading it. There was never a dull moment in this book.

I am looking forward to the next book to see how these characters develop. I hope that Adrien and Riordan do something with this relationship and maybe work together in the next book.

This book was fast pace and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I loved how it started right off with the murder and how Adrien developed from trying to survive to solving the mystery just to protect himself. I don't want to give to much away but I loved how he came from being defensive with the police to defending himself with the help of the police.

I LOOK FORWARD TO HIS NEXT BOOK. I ALREADY HAVE IT ON HOLD AND AM JUST WAITING FOR ITS RELEASE. I AM VERY IMPRESSED WITH THIS BEING HIS FIRST BOOK.

This is an auspicious beginning to a proposed new mystery series featuring Adrien English, a young California bookseller whose sedate, secure life is turned upside down when his best friend and employee Robert is brutally murdered. At first police suspect Adrien himself of the crime, but Adrien is too busy warding off the subtle (and not so subtle) attacks of a stalker. Then other friends and acquaintances of Adrien's turn up dead, and he realizes he's in a fight for his life.

Adrien English is an engaging new narrator. He's smart without being overbearing and witty without straining for humor. Lanyon has set the mystery at a crisp pace, and the suspense builds accordingly. There's also a whiff of romance in the air. You will be hard-pressed to put this one down once you start it.

I'm already panting for part two.

Perhaps the fact that I live in the LA area and was able to pinpoint/recognize many of the landmarks mentioned in the book made the story all the more realistic and/or humorous for me, but I very much enjoyed FATAL SHADOWS. And while I'm not typically a fan of murder mysteries, I had a thoroughly pleasant time reading about Adrien, Claude, Riordan, and even Bruce ^_~

Given the title, the story is appropriately grim, but Adrien's somewhat smart-aleck attitude flavors the book with a typically, cynically LA humor, which, combined with the various hang-ups of the diverse characters, creates a wonderfully colored picture that I wouldn't mind revisiting time and again.

Excellent characterization, and a plot that managed to keep me fairly engrossed. Somewhat rough in certain areas, a bit hurried/didn't explain enough in a few places, but while it's not as refined as it could be, the smart personality of the book more than makes up for it.

My name is Aunt Lynn and I am a Fanyon.

Ok, that's out of the way.

I am not a regular reader or fan of mystery in any format, but I had heard great things about Josh Lanyon's Adrien English series, and since I am reading almost nothing other than m/m right now, I took the plunge. I am so glad I did! I purchased books 1-4 (Fatal Shadows, A Dangerous Thing, The Hell You Say, and Death of a Pirate King) all at one time and had a marathon reading session one weekend. Oh, and I should mention that I bought the ebooks after the re-edits and the new publishers, so I did not experience the editing problems many people had with especially FS (reflected in many of the more negative reviews).

I knew by the end of the first chapter -- hell, by the end of the first three lines of FS ("Cops before breakfast. Before coffee even. As if Mondays weren't bad enough." Loved. It.) -- that this series would be a keeper for me, regardless of the mystery elements. His writing is so tight and spare and laced with laugh out loud humor at times, and only gets better though the series. It's brilliant and I was sucked in. It is first-person narration, which doesn't always work, but here it does stupendously.

Quickie plot: Adrien "with an e" English is an LA mystery bookseller and author, a gay man with a wonky heart who lives above his store. His longtime friend/employee is murdered and he is suspect number one. To clear his name (and make sure he's not next!), he does some sleuthing on his own. On the case is sexy, closeted LAPD Detective Jake Riordan, with whom Adrien has some major UST.

I realized early on that I would be reading the series for Adrien (and hopefully Adrien and Jake), the surrounding mystery elements bonuses. Adrien is a wonderful, realistic, imperfect character. I adore him, want to feed him, would like to be friends with him. In fact, Adrien needs more friends, which is apparent in this and the other books. I grew to care for him. He has heart problems -- both physically and emotionally; he is lonely and has been hurt before. He is self deprecating and witty and smart and sarcastic and determined and stubborn and fallible and vulnerable. He has faults and he is "normal." He drinks Tab. Tab! He has a thing for pirates. He is thankfully not stereotypically gay: he may be thin and somewhat fragile, but not effeminate; he is practically celibate; he's not flamboyant or affected or swishy; he can't cook; and doesn't spend his time shopping.

As for Jake... Ah, Jake. There are three camps around feelings for Jake: you either love him, hate him, or fall somewhere in the middle, where you do both. I fall into that last group; my love-hate thing for him significantly intensifies as the series progresses. In FS, he is difficult to get to know; he doesn't have as much on-screen time and interaction with Adrien as in the other books, though what is there is very important. He is a bit of a mystery in this first installment, but I could already tell that if he was featured in the other books, he would be a tortured hero, which I love. It's obvious that he's not quite what he seems, though for sure he is an alpha cop, self-loathing and closeted. By his own admission, he is an asshole, and there are moments where you want to strangle him, but we get a peek that there is more to him than what he projects. I am really looking forward to seeing how this character develops.

I liked the secondary characters very much: his retired ballerina widowed mum, whom he calls "Lisa;" Claude, his restaurateur friend who slips between New Orleans French and South Central LA slang quite humorously; Angus, his new employee/resident warlock; the members of the Partners in Crime mystery writing book club he hosts. They all add to the charm.

Although there is definitely attraction and chemistry between the two, the romance is very subtle and the ending is so perfect that I smiled. When Jake unexpectedly calls Adrien "baby" towards the end, I damn near melted. One thing that bothers me in many m/m books is the overwhelming, often gratuitous sex scenes, but here there are very few, and throughout the series, the (often very hawt) sex is like another character, included to further the plot.

I had a clue early on who the killer was (wasn't sure the motive, however), though I enjoyed it nonetheless. I didn't have the issues that other reviewers had with the "contrived" ending, maybe because I don't read mysteries routinely.

I found it a quick, fun read, fast-paced (but not rushed at all) and smooth. What a great debut. Josh Lanyon, and specifically future books in this series, is now an auto-buy for me.