Customer Reviews

Government Gay

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This author was new to me, and I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect what I got: a really playful mystery featuring one of the most engaging sleuthing couples I've seen yet. Alex and Peter are such a wonderfully matched, loving couple they made me jealous! They demonstrate a kind of old-married-couple sensibility that was different from a lot of gay fiction I've come across. And the addition of Alex's mother, Jean, to the mix was a wonderful touch. The plot, involving Russian spies and defectors, was hilariously complicated (and somewhat silly, but that was part of the fun). I'm going to get the rest of the series ASAP.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery, and very out of the ordinary. Alex Reynolds and his husband, Peter Livesay, join the ranks of happily married sleuthing couples along with such luminaries as Nick and Nora Charles and Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Added to the mix is Jean Reynolds, Alex's mother, an irrepresible Brit with whom the two men live. Jean is a positively delightful character, forever coming up with schemes and devising ways out of the predicament in which the trio find themselves, quite by accident. Believeability is not exactly the matter here, as with most romps. I wonderered if one would actually meet foreign agents in a gay bar, but the story and the prose were so delightful that I really didn't spare much time to worry about it! The best thing about the book was that these characters were so personable and believable (particularly the relationship between Alex and Peter, which was very complementary and compelling) that it made me want to come back and revisit them. I really am looking forward to the next entry in this series.

This is probably one of the funniest books I've read in years. It was so refreshing to discover a new series that doesn't take itself so seriously! It was equally refreshing to find a book featuring gay characters in which the leading men are actually happily married and devoted to each other - there is none of the gay-angst that plagues a lot of gay literature. Additionally, the set up is very unusual. Alex Reynolds and his husband, Peter, not only live happily together, they live happily with Alex's mother Jean (and she's a stitch on her own!) This book contains a delightful trio in a mystery that was obviously meant to be more fun than mysterious. The real hallmark of this book was not so much that the mystery was entertaining (though it was), but that the relationships are so alive. These are people you will want to revisit again and again. Buyer beware: if you take yourself too seriously, you will not like this book!

I did not know what to expect from this author since I'd never read anything by him before. I'm adventuresome in reading and this time I was not let down. Governmnent Gay seldom gets stereotypical in its characterizations except when the two lovers engage in love talk which is not often thank goodness. The story is interesting, the pace of the writing is varied to fit the action and we come to really care about these people as the book goes along. In fact, I found myself thinking about them after I had finished the book. Two scenes that stick in my mind are when the main character goes out on a lonely stretch of road at night waiting for the bad guys and the finale on top of the Sears Tower. I could imagine quite well the urban danger in the first scene and could feel the wind and had sweaty palms during the final scene. I highly recommend this book as a quick, amusing read. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

The first book in the Alex Reynolds mystery series offers a smooth and diverting introduction to the amateur CIA agent. Together with his unconventional cohorts (his mother, Jean, and his partner - or as Alex calls him, his "husband" - Peter Livesay), Alex becomes innocently involved in the international intrigue surrounding a band of kidnappers. As Alex and his family attempt to extricate themselves from danger, they instead find themselves becoming more enmeshed in a deadly game of spy versus spy in which almost no one is who they claim to be. The perplexing plot finally comes to an exciting (albeit unlikely) climax atop the roof of Chicago's famous Sears Tower.

The mystery itself is clever cloak-and-dagger stuff, with sufficient twists and turns to keep most readers interested. The larger question to be evaluated is whether or not you will warm to the main characters, a fairly nondescript white middle-class gay couple in their thirties who live with one of the men's somewhat eccentric British-born mother. I personally was entertained enough to know that I will seek out the next book in the series to see where author Hunter takes his characters next. You will want to make that decision for yourself after finishing the overall worthwhile "Government Gay".

When Peter, his lover, is working late one night, a bored Alex Reynolds stops at a Chicago gay bar that he used to frequent before he married Peter. It quickly becomes obvious to Alex that the bar has lost its luster so he decides to go home, but first makes a pit stop. In the bathroom, he is accosted by two individuals asking him "where is it?". Before they can beat him up, Alex manages to flee into night. He gets home in one pie ce and thinks that the incident at Charlene was just a case of mistaken identity. ...... The only mistake made is by Alex as the two thugs think he has been given something in the bar that belongs to them. The next day, the CIA show up at Alex' home and start questioning him, Peter, and Alex' mother (she lives with them). The two villains from the bar are also following poor Alex, leaving him under the surveillance of both the Feds and the crooks. If he and his two partners fail to figure out soon what they all want from him, Alex may find himself in a more perilous situation that could cost him his life. ...... GOVERNMENT GAY is a hilarious mystery novel without being offensive. Peter and Alex are one of the most charming couples that have appeared in a novel in a long time and their deep love for each other feels so real. However, it is mom who steals the show with her original ideas. Fred Hunter provides a jocular time that will be enjoyed by anyone who gives the novel a chance. This reviewer cannot wait for the next tale to appear. ......Harriet Klausner

It's really a shame this wasn't any good because the idea is great: take Mr. Gay Everyman and involve him in espionage--with plenty of laughs. Except that for this premise to work you have to mix the laughs with danger. If you think about NORTH BY NORTHWEST, the viewer does believe that Cary Grant is in danger, and that Eva Marie Saint is in trouble. There are plenty of chuckles, but the threat is always there, always real. That's one reason (one) that GOVERNMENT GAY does not work. Not for one moment do we believe the main characters are imperiled. Even THEY don't seem to think so. It's all so silly. And not a good silly either. And you know, Roger Thornhill's mother does offer some comic relief in NORTH BY NORTHWEST, but she's not in every single scene! She's not the main character; she doesn't rescue Roger and his lady every time they are in a tight spot. Finally, since the main inspiration for GOVERNMENT GAY seems to be NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Cary Grant and Eva Marie do not seem like the same character, correct? Not even the female and male version of the same character. But Alex Reynolds and his lover Peter do. They have different hair color, that's about it. I couldn't really pin any personality tags on either of them. Who is the outgoing one? Who likes to dance, who doesn't? Who is allergic to cats? You know, details that make characters seem like people. Obviously you don't get details in a film, but you need them in a book. By the end of this one I was hoping Alex and Peter and Jean would do us all a favor and defect to the other side.

This is a lightweight, light-hearted book about a gay man who gets involved with the CIA after he is seen talking with a Russian defector at a gay bar in Chicago.

Alex Reynolds lives with his lover, Peter, and his British-born mother, and the two of them act as his sidekicks, along with his mother's ex-boyfriend, a local police captain. While I liked the book, it had too many coincidences and I didn't believe for a second that Alex would continue to involve himself in the cloak-and-dagger stuff. But if you can overlook that, you might enjoy this one.

Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery)

I really enjoy the 3 main characters in Hunter's books. His books make me laugh out loud in quite a few places, and leave me with a smile at the end. Most importantly, I would want to be friends with Alex, Peter and Jean. These books are missing the straight-bashing that I've often seen in books with gay characters, something else I appreciate. All in all, a very enjoyable read!

Hunter creates a cast of characters we'll want to visit agin and again. Government Gay is a welcome addition to the growing ranks of gay sleuths!" --Ellen Hart, author of the Jane Lawless series