The Hell You Say: The Third Adrien English Mystery [Paperback]

Josh Lanyon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

British born Josh Lanyon is the author of two other Adrien English mysteries, FATAL SHADOWS and A DANGEROUS THING published through the Gay Men’s Press.

Josh currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with his partner, a former LAPD Detective. For more information visit Josh at www.joshlanyon.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (March 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595385125
• ISBN-13: 978-0595385126
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,685,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A distinct voice in gay fiction, multi-award-winning author JOSH LANYON has been writing gay mystery and romance for over a decade. In addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and novels, Josh is the author of the critically acclaimed Adrien English series, including the Hell You Say, winner of the 2006 USABookNews awards for GLBT Fiction and a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Gay Mystery. Josh is also the author of the definitive M/M writing guide Man, Oh Man: Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks and Ca$h.

Josh is an Eppie Award winner and a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist -- and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adrien English is back!, March 25, 2006

By 

D. Kirby "bibliophile" (New England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hell You Say: The Third Adrien English Mystery (Paperback)

This is the third book in the Adrien English mystery series. This book will keep you up well past your bedtime. Adrien is a mystery bookstore owner in his early thirties. He is also a new writer, the author of a murder mystery starring a gay Shakespearean actor. He has a target painted on his back - due to a tendency to become involved in murder cases. This tendency is great for giving Adrien a chance to be an amateur sleuth, but not so great for his health. Adrien is getting better at the sleuthing, too - he has a flair for it!

The first Adrien English novel, Fatal Shadows, introduced Adrien and involved him in a series of murders leading to a dramatic confrontation with a killer. The second novel, A Dangerous Thing, involved Adrien in murder at a California ranch, providing a change in pace in locale. The novels are narrated in first person by Adrien, who has a quick, witty and sarcastic tongue even under duress. The other major character, Jake Reardon of the LAPD, on the other hand, is a darker presence who is dealing with personal conflicts that play out in an interesting and unexpected way in the newest novel.

In this novel, Adrien's bookstore employee embroils him in murder that may be the work of a satanic cult. Adrien's efforts to prove his employee innocent, and the subplots regarding his personal life and relationships, make for exciting reading. In addition, he is as sarcastically funny as always and the series just keeps getting better. I have missed you, Adrien! Now when will that fourth novel be ready...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Witty, Excellent Mystery, April 3, 2006

By 

Cindy Chow (Kaneohe, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hell You Say: The Third Adrien English Mystery (Paperback)

In this third Adrien English novel, Adrien's very odd bookstore employee has been receiving telephone threats, and in the interest of holiday goodwill - and a possible a lack of truly good sense - Adrien gives Angus money to take a vacation and basically get out of town. Unfortunately, a series of possibly satanic murders are linked to the absent clerk, bringing down the wrath of Adrien's very in-the-closet LAPD boyfriend.

Despite the comprehensive exploration of Satanism, witchcraft, and the occult, THE HELL YOU SAY is much funnier than the first novel in this series, with Adrien as well being much more developed and complex as a character. There's a lot to enjoy in this mystery, with pop culture references, mystery ngenre lore, and of course, a mystery plot that keeps the reader sucked in until the very end. Adrien's relationship with his self-centered but ultimately very loving mother is both unique and believable. I was disturbed by Adrien's extremely rocky relationship with his boyfriend, but this only adds a much deeper element to the novel. I will definitely be ordering copies of this series for our library and hope that Lanyon will continue this series without waiting another five years for the next installment.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adrien English Is Back!, March 29, 2006

By 

Tony Squared "Book Freak" (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hell You Say: The Third Adrien English Mystery (Paperback)

Adrien English fans, rejoice! He's back in "The Hell You Say," which is even better than the first two novels in this excellent "amateur sleuth" series by Josh Lanyon. It's tough to say which generates more suspense: the murderous satanic cult that's after Adrien, or his relationship with Jake Riordan. Don't wonder about it - go ahead and order the book if you haven't already. Trust me, you'll be glad you did, (and so will Josh).

For those who haven't read the first two books, "Fatal Shadows" and "A Dangerous Thing," all three mystery novels are squarely in the California Noir tradition of Raymond Chandler and Michael Nava.

"The Hell You Say" is especially well written. The protagonist's first person narrative is just right: witty, but not brittle; ironic but not bitter. Despite the cool, lapidary surface of the narrative, it's not affectless. Far from it - there are scenes of real emotional impact. That's the magic of really good writing.

One of the many pleasures of the book - all three books, actually - is the author's play with allusions. He's not showing off - he's having fun - and so will you. Except for the overt references to books and movies, the allusions are quite subtle: you'll be a full page past one of them, and your brain will go, "Oohh, he did it again." Fair warning: if you ever get into a trivia contest on the subjects of movies, detective novels or English Lit with Josh Lanyon, you're likely to lose your, um, pride.

Some potential reviewers, editors and readers may be tempted to consign "The Hell You Say" to the "routine gay mystery" bin. But so what if the hero's gay? Now that almost everyone has read or at least heard about Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain," and Christopher Rice's novels are being marketed to a mainstream audience, "gay" shouldn't be an issue for reviewers or editors anymore. Especially when real literary skill is on display, as it is here.

To the general reader who might shy away from this kind of material, don't. The relatively few "bedroom" scenes are a lot less explicit than many "frank" mainstream novels with heterosexual characters. Once you get past that, you'll see that Adrien is just like anyone else who yearns for a fulfilling relationship. And you'll be missing a very good story if you don't give it a try.

And finally, you can bet that somewhere out there, Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammet are raising their glasses of Scotch to Adrien English and his creator, Josh Lanyon.